Plant and System Operators
Occupation group · SOC minor group
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Plant and System Operators is one of the 98 SOC minor groups — the middle tier of the U.S. Standard Occupational Classification, sitting between the broad job families and individual occupations. It belongs to the Production Occupations family and contains 12 detailed occupations employing about 365,100 people, with a median wage of $90,470 across them. BLS projects employment in this group to change -6.0% between 2024 and 2034 , with roughly 32,500 openings a year.
Occupations in this group
Ranked by U.S. employment (BLS OEWS May 2024). Projected change is BLS 2024–34; AI exposure is the OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" human beta rating (share of an occupation's tasks where an LLM with tools could cut the time to do them by at least half).
| Occupation | Median pay | Employment | 2024–34 | AI exposure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators | $58,260 | 126,750 | -6.5% | 13% |
| Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers | $97,540 | 34,860 | -2.8% | 17% |
| Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators | $75,190 | 30,780 | +2.2% | 10% |
| Biomass Plant Technicians | $99,670 | 30,720 | -11.2% | 8% |
| Hydroelectric Plant Technicians | $99,670 | 30,720 | -11.2% | 8% |
| Power Plant Operators | $99,670 | 30,720 | -11.2% | 8% |
| Chemical Plant and System Operators | $73,540 | 17,840 | -6.1% | 15% |
| Biofuels Processing Technicians | $61,710 | 15,950 | +1.6% | 8% |
| Plant and System Operators, All Other | $61,710 | 15,950 | +1.6% | 8% |
| Gas Plant Operators | $83,400 | 15,910 | -8.8% | 8% |
| Power Distributors and Dispatchers | $107,240 | 9,180 | -3.2% | 25% |
| Nuclear Power Reactor Operators | $122,610 | 5,720 | -15.3% | 12% |
AI exposure across this group
Two published studies estimate how exposed each occupation is to AI. The OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" study rates the share of an occupation's tasks an LLM (with tools) could speed up by half or more; averaged across this group it is 12% — 24th percentile of the 98 groups. The independent Felten/Raj/Seamans AI Occupational Exposure index averages -0.26 here.
Exposure measures where AI could assist tasks — it is not a prediction that these jobs will be automated. High exposure often means augmentation (faster work), and many high-exposure occupations are also projected to grow.
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.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Plant and System Operators." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/occupation-groups/plant-and-system-operators
Singulariki. (2026). Plant and System Operators. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/occupation-groups/plant-and-system-operators
@misc{singulariki-plant-and-system-operators,
title = {Plant and System Operators},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/occupation-groups/plant-and-system-operators}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.