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Dredge 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 Dredge 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.”

Dredge Operators Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$48,430
$59,600
Employment · BLS OEWS
1,030
17,410
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
0th pct
9th pct

At a glance

Dimension Dredge Operators Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
Median pay $48,430 $59,600
Employment 1,030 17,410
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+1.2%) About average (+2.9%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 100 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 · 0th pct Low · 9th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 11th pct · 13% 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: Mechanical, Control Precision, Operation and Control, Multilimb Coordination, Operations Monitoring, Depth Perception, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Manual Dexterity, Reaction Time, Problem Sensitivity, Near Vision, Far Vision, Public Safety and Security, Administration and Management, Finger Dexterity, Hearing Sensitivity, Critical Thinking, Coordination, Information Ordering, Active Listening, Speaking, Monitoring, Troubleshooting, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Flexibility of Closure, Perceptual Speed, Complex Problem Solving.

Specific to Dredge Operators

  • English Language
  • Selective Attention
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Auditory Attention
  • Speech Recognition
  • Speech Clarity
  • Production and Processing
  • Response Orientation

Specific to Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas

  • Rate Control
  • Transportation
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Deductive Reasoning
  • Visualization
  • Inductive Reasoning
  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Design

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: Mobile location based services software .

Specific to Dredge Operators

Specific to Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Dredge 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. "Dredge 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/dredge-operators-vs-earth-drillers-except-oil-and-gas

APA

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

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-dredge-operators-vs-earth-drillers-except-oil-and-gas,
  title  = {Dredge 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/dredge-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.