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Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas vs Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas and Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters 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.”

Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$59,600
$59,110
Employment · BLS OEWS
17,410
5,680
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
9th pct
6th pct

At a glance

Dimension Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters
Median pay $59,600 $59,110
Employment 17,410 5,680
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+2.9%) Declining (-0.9%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 1,700 500
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 · 9th pct Low · 6th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman

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: Operations Monitoring, Control Precision, Operation and Control, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Multilimb Coordination, Reaction Time, Manual Dexterity, Depth Perception, Near Vision, Perceptual Speed, Administration and Management, Transportation, Public Safety and Security, Critical Thinking, Oral Comprehension, Problem Sensitivity, Deductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Visualization, Far Vision, Monitoring, Inductive Reasoning, Finger Dexterity, Visual Color Discrimination, Active Listening, Speaking, Complex Problem Solving, Oral Expression, Flexibility of Closure.

Specific to Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas

  • Mechanical
  • Rate Control
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Hearing Sensitivity
  • Design
  • Coordination
  • Equipment Selection
  • Troubleshooting

Specific to Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

  • Law and Government
  • Mathematics
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Time Management
  • Selective Attention
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Category Flexibility
  • Speech Clarity

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 Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas

    Specific to Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas or Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters — 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. "Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas vs Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters." 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. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/earth-drillers-except-oil-and-gas-vs-explosives-workers-ordnance-handling-experts-and-blasters

    APA

    Singulariki. (2026). Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas vs Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/earth-drillers-except-oil-and-gas-vs-explosives-workers-ordnance-handling-experts-and-blasters

    BibTeX
    @misc{singulariki-earth-drillers-except-oil-and-gas-vs-explosives-workers-ordnance-handling-experts-and-blasters,
      title  = {Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas vs Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters},
      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. Accessed June 7, 2026},
      url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/earth-drillers-except-oil-and-gas-vs-explosives-workers-ordnance-handling-experts-and-blasters}
    }

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