Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers
Tend, control, or operate power-driven, stationary, or portable pumps and manifold systems to transfer gases, oil, other liquids, slurries, or powdered materials to and from various vessels and processes.
9,780 people do this job in the US. $61,770 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 29%
- 0%
- 71%
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, 5%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 29%. Today's estimate: 29%.
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 . 14 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean, lubricate, and repair pumps and vessels, using hand tools and equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 18% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Plan movement of products through lines to processing, storage, and shipping units, using knowledge of interconnections and capacities of pipelines, valve manifolds, pumps, and tankage.Done daily by most who do it. | 17% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Monitor gauges and flowmeters and inspect equipment to ensure that tank levels, temperatures, chemical amounts, and pressures are at specified levels, reporting abnormalities as necessary.Done daily by most who do it. | 11% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Connect hoses and pipelines to pumps and vessels prior to material transfer, using hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 25 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Turn valves and start pumps to start or regulate flows of substances such as gases, liquids, slurries, or powdered materials.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Pump two or more materials into one tank to blend mixtures.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Record operating data such as products and quantities pumped, stocks used, gauging results, and operating times.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Tend vessels that store substances such as gases, liquids, slurries, or powdered materials, checking levels of substances by using calibrated rods or by reading mercury gauges and tank charts.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Add chemicals and solutions to tanks to ensure that specifications are met.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Test materials and solutions, using testing equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Tend auxiliary equipment such as water treatment and refrigeration units, and heat exchangers.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Communicate with other workers, using signals, radios, or telephones, to start and stop flows of materials or substances.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now |
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.
- Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators45% now, 45% by 2028
- Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers42% now, 47% by 2028
- Wellhead Pumpers15% now, 15% by 2028
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders6% now, 6% by 2028
- Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators13% now, 22% by 2028
- Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators11% now, 11% 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).