Career
Roustabouts, oil and gas
Do the physical work of oil and gas fields.
$46,960
Median pay
+3.6%
Job growth, 2025–35
4,100
Openings a year
No formal educational credential
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Unscrew or tighten pipes, casing, tubing, and pump rods, using hand and power wrenches and tongs.
- Dismantle and repair oil field machinery, boilers, and steam engine parts, using hand tools and power tools.
- Guide cranes to move loads about decks.
- Walk flow lines to locate leaks, using electronic detectors and by making visual inspections, and repair the leaks.
- Lay gas and oil pipelines.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Unscrew or tighten pipes, casing, tubing, and pump rods, using hand and power wrenches and tongs.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Critical Thinking, Monitoring, Operation and Control, Quality Control Analysis.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though moderate-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $46,960 a year and 4,100 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- NO MATCHCIP 99.9999
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas$67,890 · +0.8%
- Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas$58,160 · +1.1%
- Hoist and Winch Operators$56,450 · +0.2%
- Helpers--Extraction Workers$47,730 · +1.7%
- Riggers$62,640 · +3.9%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.