How much do roughnecks make in 2026?
Roughnecks are reported under SOC 47-5071, roustabouts, oil and gas, which BLS OEWS May 2025 puts at a national median of $46,960 a year, or $22.58 an hour, with a P10 to P90 range of $36,420 to $64,530 across 44,970 workers. This is a close match: roustabout is the entry field position on and around a rig, and roughneck is the common name for floor crew doing much of the same physically demanding work. Two structural facts matter more than the median itself. The first is the hitch. Field crews typically work rotations, commonly two weeks on and two off or similar patterns, with long shifts across every day of the hitch, and annual earnings depend heavily on how many rotations are worked in a year and how much overtime falls inside them. The second is that per diem, travel allowance and camp accommodation are normal in this industry, they vary by employer and location, and they are not part of the BLS wage figure. This page does not publish per-diem amounts because no verified schedule underpins them. BLS projects 2.5% growth through 2034 with roughly 4,300 openings a year. → Full roughneck career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $46,960 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Roughnecks earn a national median $46,960/yr ($22.58/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-5071); the P10 to P90 range is $36,420 to $64,530.
- Field crews work hitch rotations with long shifts, so annual earnings depend on how many rotations are worked and how much overtime falls inside them, which no annual median can show.
- Per diem, travel allowance and camp accommodation are standard in this industry, vary by employer and location, and are not part of the BLS wage series shown here.
- This is a physically demanding entry role with a genuine internal ladder toward derrickhand, driller and supervision, and that progression is the main financial argument for it.
US Roughneck Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do roughnecks 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 47-5071; 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 47-5071, 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 roughneck earn at each career stage?
Roughneck pay follows position on the crew and the certifications behind it. Each median below is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 47-5071.
By State
Which states pay roughnecks the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates, not BLS state observations: the national median for SOC 47-5071 scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index. Oilfield work follows basins rather than population, so Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Louisiana carry most of this employment, and the wage index below does not reflect that concentration or the pay premiums remote basins can carry.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($54,000), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
roughneck pay by state — all 1 state guide
By Metro
Which cities pay roughnecks the most?
Metro figures are modeled, national median times state wage index times published metro index, and are not BLS metropolitan observations. Most oilfield work is not in metropolitan areas at all, so treat this table as general cost-of-living context rather than a hiring map.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a roughneck’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 roughneck pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Roughnecks 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 roughneck wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a roughneck 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
Roughneck Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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