Transportation and material moving
Pump operators, except wellhead pumpers
Tend, control, or operate power-driven, stationary, or portable pumps and manifold systems to transfer gases, oil, other liquids, slurries, or powdered materials to and from various vessels and processes.
Median pay
$61,770
Growth to 2035
+4%
about as fast as average
Openings a year
1,000
Time to qualify*
6 months
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Pump operators, except wellhead pumpers
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
Calculate your switch to pump operators, except wellhead pumpers
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Hazardous conditions
Pump operators, except wellhead pumpers: 92% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- Monitor gauges and flowmeters and inspect equipment to ensure that tank levels, temperatures, chemical amounts, and pressures are at specified levels, reporting abnormalities as necessary.
- Record operating data such as products and quantities pumped, stocks used, gauging results, and operating times.
- Plan movement of products through lines to processing, storage, and shipping units, using knowledge of interconnections and capacities of pipelines, valve manifolds, pumps, and tankage.
- Turn valves and start pumps to start or regulate flows of substances such as gases, liquids, slurries, or powdered materials.
- Communicate with other workers, using signals, radios, or telephones, to start and stop flows of materials or substances.
- Connect hoses and pipelines to pumps and vessels prior to material transfer, using hand tools.
- Tend vessels that store substances such as gases, liquids, slurries, or powdered materials, checking levels of substances by using calibrated rods or by reading mercury gauges and tank charts.
- Clean, lubricate, and repair pumps and vessels, using hand tools and equipment.
Also called: Boom Pump Operator · Chemical Pumper · Day Light Relief Operator · Outside Operator · Pipeline Dispatch Operator · Pipeline Operator · Pump Operator · Pump Station Operator
Outlook and AI
Pump operators, except wellhead pumpers held 9,800 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 10,200 by 2035 (+4%, about as fast as average; all jobs: +3.5%).
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