Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
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.
19,450 people do this job in the US. $60,190 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 14%
- 0%
- 86%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 10%. Today's estimate: 11%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 29 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operate water-well drilling rigs and other equipment to drill, bore, and dig for water wells or for environmental assessment purposes.Done daily by most who do it. | 18% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Drill or bore holes in rock for blasting, grouting, anchoring, or building foundations.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 7% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Start, stop, and control drilling speed of machines and insertion of casings into holes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Regulate air pressure, rotary speed, and downward pressure, according to the type of rock or concrete being drilled.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Select and attach drill bits and drill rods, adding more rods as hole depths increase, and changing drill bits as needed.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Create and lay out designs for drill and blast patterns.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 2.1 h50 min to 5 h | 65%Half by now | |
| Perform pumping tests to assess well performance.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Operate machines to flush earth cuttings or to blow dust from holes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Assemble and position machines, augers, casing pipes, and other equipment, using hand and power tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.1 h33 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform routine maintenance and upgrade work on machines and equipment, such as replacing parts, building up drill bits, and lubricating machinery.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Pour water into wells, or pump water or slush into wells to cool drill bits and to remove drillings.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate controls to stabilize machines and to position and align drills.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min8 min to 42 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas5% now, 5% by 2028
- Helpers--Extraction Workers0% now, 0% by 2028
- Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic12% now, 12% by 2028
- Continuous Mining Machine Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining10% now, 10% by 2028
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators9% now, 9% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).