Careers / Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers

Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers — Career Decision Dashboard

United States

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Median annual wage

$61,770

United States, 2025

Employment

9,780

United States, 2025

Typical education

High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)

Job Zone 2

Skills identified

35

10 related careers

Career overview

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.

O*NET code
53-7072.00
Job zone
2
Experience required
Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years

Typical 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.

Choose a location

Salary analysis — United States

$39,420
10th
$47,560
25th
$61,770
Median
$77,210
75th
$91,820
90th

10th percentile

$39,420

25th percentile

$47,560

75th percentile

$77,210

90th percentile

$91,820

Most important skills

  • Operations Monitoring3.9
  • Operation and Control3.5
  • Monitoring3.5
  • Reading Comprehension3.1
  • Critical Thinking3.1
  • Active Listening3.1
  • Speaking3.1
  • Troubleshooting3.0
  • Time Management3.0
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.0
  • Writing2.9
  • Active Learning2.9

What skills do you need?

Select the skills you already have

Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.

Skill coverage

0%

0 of 10 identified skills

Matched

0

Missing

10

Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.

Skills to develop

SkillImportanceRequired levelYour levelGap
Operations Monitoring3.93.8Not selected3.8
Monitoring3.53.4Not selected3.4
Operation and Control3.53.3Not selected3.3
Critical Thinking3.13.1Not selected3.1
Reading Comprehension3.13.0Not selected3.0
Active Listening3.13.0Not selected3.0
Judgment and Decision Making3.03.0Not selected3.0
Speaking3.12.9Not selected2.9
Troubleshooting3.02.9Not selected2.9
Time Management3.02.9Not selected2.9

Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.

Related careers

How salary varies by location

LocationMedianEmploymentYear
IL$92,310502025
Beaumont, TX$82,090902025
ND$81,400702025
AK$80,2101202025
Baton Rouge, LA$79,8401002025
Cincinnati, OH$79,010402025
WY$77,8202902025
Houston, TX$76,6707702025
Anchorage, AK$75,810602025
CT$71,890302025
San Francisco, CA$71,7801102025
MT$71,770502025
MI$69,540402025
Salt Lake City, UT$67,550902025
Virginia Beach, VA$66,920602025
AL$66,8901002025
VA$66,5001502025
NJ$64,9903102025
OH$64,7001502025
Shreveport, LA$64,2201002025
All locations with published data

Career transition paths

Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.

Build a transition comparison

Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0.

Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).

Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.