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Continuous Mining Machine Operators vs Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Continuous Mining Machine Operators and Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Continuous Mining Machine Operators Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$63,380
$59,600
Employment · BLS OEWS
14,340
17,410
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
8th pct
9th pct

At a glance

Dimension Continuous Mining Machine Operators Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
Median pay $63,380 $59,600
Employment 14,340 17,410
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+0.6%) About average (+2.9%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 1,600 1,700
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 8th pct Low · 9th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 23rd pct · 17% of tasks —
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No —

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Control Precision, Mechanical, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Problem Sensitivity, Multilimb Coordination, Reaction Time, Rate Control, Near Vision, Depth Perception, Hearing Sensitivity, Equipment Maintenance, Manual Dexterity, Far Vision, Critical Thinking, Troubleshooting, Oral Expression, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Flexibility of Closure, Perceptual Speed, Active Listening, Speaking, Monitoring, Complex Problem Solving, Information Ordering, Visualization.

Specific to Continuous Mining Machine Operators

  • Production and Processing
  • Selective Attention
  • Law and Government
  • Education and Training
  • Repairing
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Response Orientation
  • Trunk Strength

Specific to Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas

  • Administration and Management
  • Transportation
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Oral Comprehension
  • Finger Dexterity
  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Design
  • Coordination

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Word processing software , Mobile location based services software .

Specific to Continuous Mining Machine Operators

Specific to Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Continuous Mining Machine Operators or Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

    More comparisons

    Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

    Sources for this page

    Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

    Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

    Cite this page
    Plain

    Singulariki. "Continuous Mining Machine Operators vs Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/continuous-mining-machine-operators-vs-earth-drillers-except-oil-and-gas

    APA

    Singulariki. (2026). Continuous Mining Machine Operators vs Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/continuous-mining-machine-operators-vs-earth-drillers-except-oil-and-gas

    BibTeX 
    @misc{singulariki-continuous-mining-machine-operators-vs-earth-drillers-except-oil-and-gas,
  title  = {Continuous Mining Machine Operators vs Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/continuous-mining-machine-operators-vs-earth-drillers-except-oil-and-gas}
}

    Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.