What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called blast driller, blast hole driller, churn driller and construction driller.
Real figures for this work, and lines you can use in your own resume. Where they come from is at the foot of this page.
An example
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Every line 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
Yours will not say this. You choose what matches your experience, and every line remains yours to confirm or change.
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becomes
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A few lines could show more. Each one is asked, and answered by choosing.
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
Pick one that fits
Adding it to the line…
The line
Regulated air pressure and drilling speed to optimize performance based on geological conditions
Show what improved because you regulated air pressure and speed
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Adding it to the line…
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
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.
What you can already claim
Below are the tasks an Earth Driller job is made of. Choose the ones you have really done. There is no wrong answer here, and you can change any of it later.
Which of these tasks have you actually done?
4 chosen. Rung never adds a task you did not choose.
Already yours: Operating drilling equipment, Selecting construction equipment, Recording operational data
4 of the 12 tasks this job is made of
| Median pay | $60,190 a year |
|---|
What you have not done yet. Collecting geological samples, Positioning construction equipment, Driving truck-mounted equipment
Great news! Your skills can open up even more doors.
The tasks for Earth Driller also qualify you for the jobs below. Creating a resume for one of these could help you land even more interviews.
Choose a job below that you would like to target next:
Already yours: Recording operational data, Reviewing blueprints and specifications
2 of the 20 tasks this job is made of
| Median pay | $79,920 a year |
|---|
What you have not done yet. Directing construction personnel, Monitoring construction operations, Evaluating projects
Read about First-Line Supervisor of Construction Trades and Extraction WorkersBuild a First-Line Supervisor of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers resume
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Earth Driller
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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. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.