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Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers vs Power Plant Operators

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers and Power Plant Operators 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.”

Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers Power Plant Operators
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$60,020
$99,670
Employment · BLS OEWS
12,600
30,720
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
50th pct
17th pct

At a glance

Dimension Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers Power Plant Operators
Median pay $60,020 $99,670
Employment 12,600 30,720
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+2.6%) Declining (-11.2%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 1,500 2,500
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 Moderate · 50th pct Low · 17th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 51st pct · 28% of tasks 51st pct · 28% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — Automation-leaning (54.8%)
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No 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: Operations Monitoring, Near Vision, Oral Comprehension, Problem Sensitivity, Perceptual Speed, Oral Expression, Monitoring, Operation and Control, Production and Processing, Mechanical, English Language, Written Expression, Information Ordering, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Written Comprehension, Deductive Reasoning, Flexibility of Closure, Selective Attention, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Manual Dexterity, Far Vision, Troubleshooting, Judgment and Decision Making, Inductive Reasoning, Category Flexibility, Finger Dexterity.

Specific to Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers

  • Control Precision
  • Multilimb Coordination
  • Mathematics
  • Time Management
  • Visualization
  • Rate Control
  • Reaction Time
  • Static Strength

Specific to Power Plant Operators

  • Public Safety and Security
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Chemistry
  • Quality Control Analysis
  • Physics
  • Writing
  • Coordination
  • Equipment Maintenance

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 , Electronic mail software , Word processing software , Facilities management software , Data base user interface and query software , Industrial control software .

Specific to Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers

    Specific to Power Plant Operators

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers or Power Plant Operators — 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. "Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers vs Power Plant Operators." 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; 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/pump-operators-except-wellhead-pumpers-vs-power-plant-operators

    APA

    Singulariki. (2026). Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers vs Power Plant Operators. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/pump-operators-except-wellhead-pumpers-vs-power-plant-operators

    BibTeX 
    @misc{singulariki-pump-operators-except-wellhead-pumpers-vs-power-plant-operators,
  title  = {Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers vs Power Plant Operators},
  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; 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/pump-operators-except-wellhead-pumpers-vs-power-plant-operators}
}

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