← Back to Careers
Wellhead Pumpers
Transportation and Material Moving · SOC 53-7073
0.0% AI Exposure — Low
$69,960
Median Annual Salary
Average
O*NET Outlook
1,700
Proj. Annual Openings
17,990
Employment (OEWS 2025)
+5.6%/yr
Empl. growth (2019–2025)
100/100
AI Resiliency Score
AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.
Decision card
Career Evidence Passport
SOC 53-7073 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.
Proxy / seed data labeledDescriptive-only
- SOC exposure
- 0.0%
- Low · Anthropic AEI
- Automation friction
- 52/100
- Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
- Wages
- $69,960
- No H-1B offered-wage row for this SOC.
- Projected openings
- 1,700
- BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change -4.7%.
- Observed/proxy demand
- —
- FY— certified LCAs; 2,120 postings in 2025.
Skill evidence
Operations MonitoringOperation and ControlCritical ThinkingMonitoringEquipment Maintenance
Transition context
- H-1B values are certified Labor Condition Applications, not visa approvals.
- Job postings are seed-static / seed-derived; treat as provider-ready proxy coverage until observed provider data is wired in.
- Transition matches are directional skill-overlap context, not placement guarantees.
- This release is a FutureGrid broad-SOC seed derived from public BLS ORS requirement concepts and categories, not direct occupation-level ORS survey estimates. It describes job requirements, not worker ability, AI capability, or displacement probability. Automation friction is a FutureGrid derived score and should be read alongside exposure, demand, wage, and projection signals.
AI Exposure Analysis
AI Exposure0.0%
AI Resiliency100/100
Exposure BandLow
Sector Avg. Exposure0.2%
Across AI measures
Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.
12.5%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic0%
AI capability · OpenAI0%
AI ability · AIOE37.6%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne84%
Top Skills
1.Operations Monitoring
2.Operation and Control
3.Critical Thinking
4.Monitoring
5.Equipment Maintenance
H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand
View full H-1B trends →No H-1B certified LCA filings recorded for this occupation in FY2016–FY2025.
O*NET occupation profile
What this work involves
Operate power pumps and auxiliary equipment to produce flow of oil or gas from wells in oil field.
Common titles: Field Operator, Lease Attendant, Lease Operator, Oilfield Plant Operator, Pumper, Well Field Technician
Representative Tasks
- •Monitor pumps and flow lines for gas and fluid leaks.
- •Gauge oil and gas production.
- •Start compressor engines and divert oil from storage tanks into compressor units and auxiliary equipment to recover natural gas from oil.
- •Monitor control panels during pumping operations to ensure that materials are being pumped at the correct pressure, density, rate, and concentration.
- •Operate engines and pumps to shut off wells according to production schedules, and to switch flow of oil into storage tanks.
Detailed Work Activities
- •Inspect gas systems or components to identify leaks or other potential hazards.
- •Monitor equipment operation to ensure proper functioning.
- •Calculate weights, volumes or other characteristics of materials.
- •Measure equipment outputs.
- •Control pumps or pumping equipment.
Tools & Technologies
Microsoft Excel · hotMicrosoft Office software · hotMicrosoft Outlook · hotSAP software · hotMoxa softwareSupervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software
Employment Projections & AI Exposure
15
Occupations Shown
0.8%
Avg AI Exposure
6
Bright Outlook
Horizontal bar chart showing occupations with the highest projected annual openings. Each bar length represents annual projected openings. Color uses a gradient from violet (lower) to cyan (higher). Summary statistics are shown above the chart.
Employment & Wage Trend
BLS OEWS, 2019–2025
Multi-year BLS OEWS history for SOC 53-7073: 2019 — employment: 12,970, median wage: $55,040; 2020 — employment: 12,050, median wage: $60,720; 2021 — employment: 16,040, median wage: $63,740; 2022 — employment: 14,550, median wage: $63,280; 2023 — employment: 18,230, median wage: $71,830; 2025 — employment: 17,990, median wage: $69,960.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.
Sector Comparison
| Metric | This Career | Sector Average |
|---|---|---|
| AI Exposure | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Outlook | Average | 20% Bright |
| Median Salary | $69,960 | N/A |
| AI Resiliency | 100/100 | N/A |