DERRICK OPERATOR
MEDIAN PAY (BLS 2024)
Derrick Operators nationwide earn a median of $31.14/hr per the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS 2024 survey. 10,420 derrick operators employed across the U.S. See the state-by-state breakdown below — the highest-paying states often run 30%+ over the national median.
$31.14/hr median · $64,762 annualized (40 hr/wk × 52 wk)
Employment-weighted estimate from 50-state BLS OEWS data (the official BLS national row isn't in our dataset yet). State medians below are real BLS figures.
STATE-BY-STATE MEDIAN
BLS · sorted highest first| State | Median /hr | Top 10% /hr | Employed | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | $40.58 | $44.23 | 1,510 | VIEW |
| Alaska | $39.03 | $41.19 | 170 | VIEW |
| North Dakota | $33.58 | $36.62 | 730 | VIEW |
| California | $32.26 | $34.51 | 250 | VIEW |
| Florida | $30.92 | $38.64 | 80 | VIEW |
| Wyoming | $30.00 | $35.96 | 160 | VIEW |
| Texas | $29.62 | $37.05 | 4,840 | VIEW |
| Colorado | $29.51 | $40.40 | 360 | VIEW |
| New Mexico | $28.94 | $35.01 | 1,070 | VIEW |
| West Virginia | $27.69 | $35.01 | 110 | VIEW |
| Pennsylvania | $27.33 | $41.46 | — | VIEW |
| Oklahoma | $26.23 | $32.50 | 710 | VIEW |
| Arkansas | $24.16 | $31.66 | 110 | VIEW |
| Ohio | $23.89 | $29.62 | 120 | VIEW |
| Mississippi | $23.10 | $36.45 | 130 | VIEW |
| Michigan | $21.76 | $27.92 | 70 | VIEW |
| Kansas | — | — | 250 | VIEW |
TOP-PAYING METROS
DAVIS-BACON PREVAILING WAGES
LOOK UP DIRECTFederal construction work (LNG terminals, military bases, GSA, VA, federal infrastructure) uses Davis-Bacon prevailing wage determinations as a legal wage floor — base + fringe benefits, set per county per construction type. If you're on a federally-funded project paying below the WD, the contractor is out of compliance and you can file a WH-3.
Rates change frequently and are county-specific, so we link direct instead of caching stale numbers. Look up the active Wage Determination for your job at sam.gov/wage-determinations or dol.gov/whd/government-contracts.
Anonymous by default. The next hand reads what you post.
16 other trades. State medians + Davis-Bacon + per diem in one spot.