What the work involves, what it pays, and real lines you can start from. Answer a few small questions and leave with a resume.
Also called blast driller, blast hole driller, churn driller and construction driller.
Pay and headcount are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The lines are written from what the US Department of Labor records about this work.
An example
Every line below comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Earth Driller
Earth driller operating various drills to access water and minerals, control drilling speed, and manage equipment for soil testing and construction projects
Where you worked
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becomes
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The line
Operated controls several times each shift to stabilize drilling machines and ensure precise alignment during operations
Add how often you operated the machines during a shift
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Adding it to the line…
The line
Regulated air pressure and drilling speed to optimize performance based on geological conditions
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The work itself
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Operate a variety of drills such as rotary, churn, and pneumatic to tap subsurface water and salt deposits, to remove core samples during mineral exploration or soil testing, and to facilitate the use of explosives in mining or construction. Includes horizontal and earth boring machine operators.
What it pays
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
| 25th percentile | $49,900 |
|---|---|
| Median | $60,190 |
| 75th percentile | $72,450 |
| State | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| AK | $61,770 | $80,040 | $94,600 |
| AL | $44,980 | $46,440 | $48,950 |
| AR | $38,150 | $46,160 | $57,040 |
| AZ | $55,140 | $58,870 | $66,670 |
| CA | $58,870 | $66,910 | $79,420 |
| CO | $59,220 | $64,820 | $81,390 |
| CT | $61,490 | $65,710 | $69,050 |
| DE | $52,760 | $57,160 | $60,800 |
| FL | $47,150 | $55,320 | $57,920 |
| GA | $44,770 | $50,030 | $59,440 |
| IA | $49,220 | $54,000 | $61,020 |
| ID | $47,100 | $54,830 | $63,930 |
| IL | $67,820 | $79,080 | $103,480 |
| IN | $55,190 | $62,750 | $70,810 |
| KS | $49,870 | $65,600 | $76,010 |
| KY | $47,580 | $56,160 | $67,250 |
| LA | $47,690 | $55,690 | $65,220 |
| MA | $54,510 | $64,180 | $74,770 |
| MD | $51,240 | $61,260 | $68,350 |
| ME | $34,720 | $45,560 | $60,260 |
| MI | $56,710 | $62,570 | $74,780 |
| MN | $50,650 | $63,790 | $77,340 |
| MO | $44,090 | $51,530 | $62,490 |
| MS | $45,070 | $60,680 | $76,060 |
| MT | $60,760 | $71,470 | $77,210 |
| NC | $45,760 | $57,300 | $69,360 |
| ND | $48,510 | $62,570 | $78,990 |
| NE | $49,660 | $60,200 | $63,150 |
| NH | $53,340 | $66,410 | $81,180 |
| NJ | $64,600 | $77,950 | $94,490 |
| NM | $50,440 | $60,140 | $77,450 |
| NV | $45,810 | $61,030 | $68,840 |
| NY | $54,410 | $60,860 | $77,310 |
| OH | $47,940 | $61,010 | $80,220 |
| OK | $48,160 | $54,180 | $59,270 |
| OR | $59,280 | $64,920 | $76,790 |
| PA | $51,390 | $57,400 | $63,920 |
| SC | $47,100 | $61,500 | $78,240 |
| SD | $51,980 | $57,160 | $60,760 |
| TN | $47,620 | $58,670 | $64,670 |
| TX | $48,390 | $58,700 | $67,160 |
| UT | $48,820 | $60,490 | $69,640 |
| VA | $47,890 | $55,470 | $64,150 |
| VT | $60,400 | $61,420 | $76,800 |
| WA | $61,920 | $80,490 | $100,000 |
| WI | $59,860 | $68,320 | $77,750 |
| WV | $51,210 | $55,540 | $60,850 |
| WY | $54,210 | $64,450 | $67,710 |
Other names
blast driller, blast hole driller, churn driller, construction driller, core driller, diamond driller, directional driller, driller, environmental driller, machine driller, raise driller, test driller.
wagon driller, wash driller, water well driller, well driller, earth drillers except oil and gas, auger operator, boring machine operator, churn drill operator, construction well drill operator, debris monitor, deep well contractor, directional drill operator, drill hand, drill operator, drill rig operator, drill runner, drill technician, drilling assistant, drilling machine operator, drilling machine runner, earth auger operator, earth boring machine operator, electric drill operator, environmental sampler, foundation drill operator, geotechnical operating engineer, geothermal and well drilling operator, geothermal operating engineer, ground water contractor, hard rock drill operator, highwall drill operator, hole digger operator, horizontal directional drill operator, horizontal drill operator, horizontal earth boring machine operator, horizontal machinist, hydraulic rock drill operator, jumper, post hole digger, post hole digging machine operator, rock drill operator, shot core drill operator, soil sampler, stoper, test borer, tunneling machine operator, underground drill operator, wagon drill operator.
If you served
From the crosswalk the US Department of Labor publishes itself. If one of these was your job, this page is about the civilian work it maps to.
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This page is about the occupation Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. Rung is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either agency. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.