Construction and Extraction · Holland code RC
Roustabouts, Oil and Gas
Assemble or repair oil field equipment using hand and power tools. Perform other tasks as needed.
Also called: Floor Hand, Roustabout, Roustabout Hand, Roustabout Pusher, Field Service Roustabout, Oil and Gas Roustabout, Oil Field Roustabout, Production Roustabout.
O*NET 47-5071.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $46,960
- Middle half earn $38,850 to $58,120. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma
- 64% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Unscrew or tighten pipes, casing, tubing, and pump rods, using hand and power wrenches and tongs.
- Dismantle and repair oil field machinery, boilers, and steam engine parts, using hand tools and power tools.
- Guide cranes to move loads about decks.
- Walk flow lines to locate leaks, using electronic detectors and by making visual inspections, and repair the leaks.
- Lay gas and oil pipelines.
- Dig holes, set forms, and mix and pour concrete into forms to make foundations for wood or steel derricks.
- Bolt together pump and engine parts.
- Move pipes to and from trucks, using truck winches and motorized lifts, or by hand.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Critical Thinking3.1 / 5
- Monitoring3.0 / 5
- Active Listening2.9 / 5
- Speaking2.8 / 5
- Active Learning2.5 / 5
- Learning Strategies2.3 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Mechanical3.6 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service3.1 / 5
- Production and Processing2.5 / 5
- Transportation2.5 / 5
- Mathematics2.5 / 5
- English Language2.4 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic100
- Investigative13
- Artistic0
- Social0
- Enterprising0
- Conventional38
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- drilling engineer · DE Bohringenieur/Bohringenieurin · FR ingénieur de forage/ingénieure de forage
- petroleum pump system operator · DE Steuerer Ölpumpsysteme/Steuerin Ölpumpsysteme · FR conducteur de systèmes de pompage de pétrole/conductrice de systèmes de pompage de pétrole
- driller · DE Bohranlagenbediener/Bohranlagenbedienerin · FR foreur de roche/foreuse de roche
- derrickhand · DE Bühnenmann/Bühnenfrau · FR accrocheur/accrocheuse
- drill operator · DE Bohrmeister/Bohrmeisterin · FR foreur chef de poste/foreuse chef de poste
- oil rig motorhand · DE Maschinenführer auf Ölbohrinseln/Maschinenführerin auf Ölbohrinseln · FR motoriste en installation de forage
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Chemical and related process operatives (8113)34,100 employed
- Mining and quarry workers and related operatives (8132)9,200 employed
- Civil engineers (2121)94,100 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Plant and machine operators and assemblers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €39,630 |
| Netherlands | €37,567 |
| Austria | €37,304 |
| Sweden | €36,005 |
| Germany | €34,433 |
| Ireland | €32,617 |
| France | €28,550 |
| Italy | €28,330 |
| Spain | €24,409 |
| Portugal | €11,309 |
| Poland | €10,259 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -1.52. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (47-5071).
Related careers
Is it a fit for you?
Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.
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