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Pay · 47-5013

Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas earn $58,160 a year at the midpoint

From about $38,940 at the low end to $97,560 at the top, with $58,160 in the middle — the 2025 survey, published as reported.

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$58,160median a year · United States
$27.96an hour $62,470average 43,140people
Nine in ten people in this work earn between the two ends. The shaded part is the middle half — where most people are.
$47,48025th $58,160median $73,23075th
$38,94010th percentile $97,56090th percentile
$47,480a year at the 25th percentile, nearer a first job
$106,480best-paying state · Alaska
$28,280lowest-paying state · Kentucky
+83%top state against the national median
  • Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
  • What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
  • The annual figure is arithmetic. For hourly occupations the annual figure is the hourly rate times 2080 hours. It is a calculation, not observed earnings: part time is the norm in retail and food service.
  • Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
  • Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”

State matters a lotThe same job pays $106,480 in Alaska and $28,280 in Kentucky — a gap of $78,200 a year.

Oil and gas service unit operator earnings, from starting pay to the highest 10%

Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.

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An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →

Number 430 of 788 by median pay

Better paid than 45% of the occupations in the survey.

  1. 428 Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks $58,260
  2. 429 Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors $58,170
  3. 430 Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas $58,160
  4. 431 Audio and Video Technicians $58,100
  5. 432 Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders $58,040

Oil and gas service unit operator wages, state by state

The 21 states where the most people do this work, of 27 with a published figure: their medians range by 3.77 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.

State Median a year Where most start 10th to 90th Employed
Alaska $106,480 $62,280 $62,280 — $182,740 1,090
Montana $77,750 $47,150 $47,150 — $97,290 310
New Mexico $64,990 $47,400 $47,400 — $101,900 2,600
California $62,580 $46,030 $46,030 — $104,900 2,820
Wyoming $62,560 $47,090 $47,090 — $93,110 820
Florida $62,050 $45,790 $45,790 — $72,520 200
Ohio $61,260 $39,520 $39,520 — $104,810 930
North Dakota $60,810 $37,600 $37,600 — $88,410 3,000
Louisiana $60,760 $39,740 $39,740 — $93,120 3,130
Colorado $60,290 $46,490 $46,490 — $109,290 2,930
Oklahoma $56,680 $34,490 $34,490 — $97,950 2,980
Utah $56,290 $39,070 $39,070 — $80,550 1,060
West Virginia $56,250 $37,680 $37,680 — $81,930 580
Pennsylvania $54,780 $39,310 $39,310 — $73,600 1,520
Michigan $52,000 $39,350 $39,350 — $76,930 230
Texas $49,820 $37,560 $37,560 — $79,770 16,820
Mississippi $49,610 $35,480 $35,480 — $97,590 250
Arkansas $48,120 $32,610 $32,610 — $66,140 220
Kansas $46,230 $38,480 $38,480 — $62,540 370
Illinois $41,680 $37,110 $37,110 — $71,440 220
Kentucky $28,280 $25,810 $25,810 — $77,330 210

Writing a resume for service unit operators, oil and gas

Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.

Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft WordMicrosoft Office softwareSupervisory control and data acquisition SCADA softwareSAP softwareComputerized maintenance management system CMMSMicrosoft PowerPointInventory tracking software
  • Maintained and performed safety inspections on equipment and tools.
  • Operated controls that raise derricks or level rigs.
  • Listened to engines, rotary chains, or other equipment to detect faulty operations or unusual well conditions.

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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

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Nearby work, and what it pays

Occupations in the same group of the federal classification — the usual next steps, or the ones beside this one.

Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas$58,160
Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining$74,500+$16,340 Underground Mining Machine Operators, All Other$70,130+$11,970 Continuous Mining Machine Operators$61,810+$3,650 Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas$58,620+$460 Rock Splitters, Quarry$48,740−$9,420 Roustabouts, Oil and Gas$46,960−$11,200

Oil and gas service unit operator pay rate, from hourly to yearly

Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.

$58,157a year

Questions people often ask

What is an oil and gas service unit operator’s yearly income?

An oil and gas service unit operator makes a median of $58,160 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $47,480 and $73,230.

What is an oil and gas service unit operator’s hourly pay rate?

The median pay rate is $27.96 an hour; the average is $62,470 a year.

What is the starting pay for an oil and gas service unit operator?

Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $47,480 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $38,940.

Which state pays service unit operators, oil and gas the most?

Alaska, with a median of $106,480 a year.

How many people work as service unit operators, oil and gas?

About 43,140 in the United States — number 430 of 788 occupations by median pay.

Work that pays roughly the same

Median pay within $160 of what service unit operators, oil and gas earn — $58,160 a year — but not always the same spread.

See all 788 occupations