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Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining vs Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining and Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining 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.”

Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$52,550
$68,860
Employment · BLS OEWS
34,210
6,130
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
30th pct
10th pct

At a glance

Dimension Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining
Median pay $52,550 $68,860
Employment 34,210 6,130
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Declining (-0.4%) Declining (-22.3%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 3,100 500
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 · 30th pct Low · 10th 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: Operation and Control, Control Precision, Multilimb Coordination, Depth Perception, Manual Dexterity, Reaction Time, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Rate Control, Far Vision, Operations Monitoring, Near Vision, Finger Dexterity, Auditory Attention, Mechanical, Monitoring, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Speech Recognition, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Social Perceptiveness, Coordination, Equipment Maintenance, Troubleshooting.

Specific to Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

  • Response Orientation
  • Spatial Orientation
  • Peripheral Vision
  • Hearing Sensitivity
  • Building and Construction
  • Active Learning
  • Persuasion
  • Complex Problem Solving

Specific to Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining

  • Perceptual Speed
  • Selective Attention
  • Time Sharing
  • Trunk Strength
  • Education and Training
  • Information Ordering
  • Category Flexibility
  • Visualization

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 , Electronic mail software , Presentation software , Operating system software , Industrial control software .

Specific to Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

Specific to Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining or Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining — 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. "Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining vs Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining." 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; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining-vs-loading-and-moving-machine-operators-underground-mining

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining vs Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining-vs-loading-and-moving-machine-operators-underground-mining

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining-vs-loading-and-moving-machine-operators-underground-mining,
  title  = {Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining vs Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); 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/excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining-vs-loading-and-moving-machine-operators-underground-mining}
}

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