Best degree programs for Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 1 schools train Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $67,890 median wage, 12,600 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 1 schools train rotary drill operators, oil and gas, graduating 7 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Well Drilling/Driller. The job pays a median of $67,890 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About rotary drill operators, oil and gas
Set up or operate a variety of drills to remove underground oil and gas, or remove core samples for testing during oil and gas exploration.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 46.0504 | 7 | 100.0% | 1 | $35,730 | $9,500 |
Top 1 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southwest Mississippi Community College Summit, MS Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Well Drilling/Driller | 56% | — | — |
What rotary drill operators, oil and gas earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippilimited | $67,290 | 130 | 1.39× | 1 | 7 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Train crews, and introduce procedures to make drill work more safe and effective.
- Observe pressure gauge and move throttles and levers to control the speed of rotary tables, and to regulate pressure of tools at bottoms of boreholes.
- Count sections of drill rod to determine depths of boreholes.
- Push levers and brake pedals to control gasoline, diesel, electric, or steam draw works that lower and raise drill pipes and casings in and out of wells.
- Connect sections of drill pipe, using hand tools and powered wrenches and tongs.
- Maintain records of footage drilled, location and nature of strata penetrated, materials and tools used, services rendered, and time required.
- Maintain and adjust machinery to ensure proper performance.
- Start and examine operation of slush pumps to ensure circulation and consistency of drilling fluid or mud in well.
Skills
- Critical Thinking3.6
- Monitoring3.5
- Active Listening3.4
- Speaking3.3
- Reading Comprehension3.1
- Writing3.0
- Learning Strategies3.0
- Active Learning2.9
Knowledge areas
- Mechanical3.9
- Mathematics3.8
- Administration and Management3.3
- Education and Training3.2
- Personnel and Human Resources3.1
- Public Safety and Security2.8
Abilities
- Control Precision4.0
- Problem Sensitivity4.0
- Near Vision3.9
- Multilimb Coordination3.8
- Manual Dexterity3.8
- Arm-Hand Steadiness3.8
Core activities
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials4.6
- Controlling Machines and Processes4.5
- Handling and Moving Objects4.3
- Performing General Physical Activities4.2
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.2
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.2
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Rotary Drill Operator
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- No formal educational credential
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 46.0504Well Drilling/Driller
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Rotary Drill Operator?+
No formal educational credential is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Well Drilling/Driller, which awarded 7 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Rotary Drill Operator?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Plumbing and Related Water Supply Services. Together they graduate about 7 people a year.
How much do rotary drill operators, oil and gas earn?+
The median is $67,890 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $47,010 at the 10th percentile to $101,860 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for rotary drill operators, oil and gas growing?+
BLS projects a +0.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 1,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
1 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do rotary drill operators, oil and gas work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Driller, Tool Pusher, Drill Operator, Daylight Driller among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 47-5012.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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