How much do drill operators make in 2026?
Drill operators are counted in the BLS earth drillers, except oil and gas series: OEWS May 2025 gives SOC 47-5023 a national median of $60,190 a year ($28.94 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $44,460 and the top 10% at $83,800 across 19,450 workers. The code deliberately excludes oil and gas drilling, which has its own occupations and its own pay dynamics, and covers instead the drillers who work on mining blastholes, water wells, geotechnical investigation, foundation and shoring, environmental monitoring wells and geothermal loops. Sector explains most of the band. Blasthole drilling at mines and quarries is production work, often rotating shifts, paid steadily around the median. Foundation and shoring drilling on construction sites pays above it, particularly on unionised commercial projects, and carries the rigging and load-handling complexity of urban sites. Water well drilling is licensed in most states and combines drilling with pump installation and customer work, which makes experienced operators genuinely hard to replace. Geotechnical drilling pays around the middle but travels constantly. Across all of them, the differentiator is the same: an operator who can maintain and troubleshoot the rig rather than only run it. Employment is projected to grow 2.9% through 2034 with roughly 1,700 openings a year. → Full drill operator career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $60,190 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Drill Operators earn a national median $60,190/yr ($28.94/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-5023); the P10 to P90 range is $44,460 to $83,800.
- This code excludes oil and gas drilling entirely and covers blasthole, water well, geotechnical, foundation and environmental drilling, which behave as different labour markets.
- Foundation and shoring drilling on construction sites pays above the $60,190 median, and licensed water well drilling combines drilling with pump work in a way that makes experienced operators hard to replace.
- Across every sector the differentiator is the same: an operator who maintains and troubleshoots the rig is worth considerably more than one who only runs it.
US Drill Operator Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do drill operators earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 47-5023; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-5023, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a drill operator earn at each career stage?
Drilling pay follows rig type, sector and whether you can keep the machine running. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 47-5023.
By State
Which states pay drill operators the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the national earth driller median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Water well drilling is licensed at state level with limited reciprocity, and groundwater conditions vary enormously, so drilling demand does not follow general wage patterns.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($69,220), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay drill operators the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations. Foundation and geotechnical drilling concentrates around construction activity in metros, while water well and mine drilling is rural.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a drill operator’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does drill operator pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Drill Operators sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify drill operator wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a drill operator actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Drill Operator Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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