Occupational Employment and Wages, 2002

47-5081 Helpers—Extraction Workers

Help extraction craft workers, such as earth drillers, blasters and explosives workers, derrick operators, and mining machine operators, by performing duties of lesser skill. Duties include supplying equipment or cleaning work area. Exclude apprentice workers and report them with the appropriate extraction trade occupation (47-5011 through 47-5099).

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
State profile for this occupation
Metropolitan area profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1) Employment
RSE (3)
Mean hourly
wage
Mean annual
wage (2)
Wage RSE (3)
28,690 4.1 % $12.86 $26,750 1.0 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $8.07 $9.70 $12.12 $15.53 $18.58
Annual Wage (2) $16,790 $20,170 $25,200 $32,310 $38,650

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Support activities for mining 11,600 $12.86 $26,750 1 5
Utility system construction 4,590 $11.10 $23,080 2 14
Coal mining 3,490 $16.53 $34,390 3 2
Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying 1,980 $12.55 $26,100 4 7
Architectural and engineering services 610 $10.56 $21,960 5 17

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Remediation and other waste services (6) $17.23 $35,830 (6) 1
Coal mining 3,490 $16.53 $34,390 3 2
Highway, street, and bridge construction 220 $13.31 $27,680 9 3
Employment services 450 $13.19 $27,440 7 4
Support activities for mining 11,600 $12.86 $26,750 1 5

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
Wyoming 1,220 $14.52 $30,190 0.508% 240
West Virginia 1,010 $13.72 $28,540 0.148% 327
New Mexico 1,000 $12.61 $26,240 0.137% 352
North Dakota 340 $16.82 $34,990 0.109% 175
Louisiana 1,940 $11.53 $23,980 0.106% 460

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
Alaska 260 $23.54 $48,960 0.091% 153
Iowa (6) $20.01 $41,630 (6) 172
Massachusetts 280 $17.36 $36,110 0.009% 374
North Dakota 340 $16.82 $34,990 0.109% 175
New Jersey 210 $15.52 $32,280 0.005% 441

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Casper, WY MSA 220 $13.92 $28,940 0.681%
Lafayette, LA MSA 870 $12.12 $25,220 0.531%
Odessa-Midland, TX MSA 440 $11.49 $23,900 0.433%
Shreveport-Bossier City, LA MSA 170 $10.81 $22,480 0.104%
Abilene, TX MSA 50 $8.92 $18,550 0.093%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Lawrence, MA-NH PMSA 60 $19.70 $40,980 0.039%
Evansville-Henderson, IN-KY MSA (6) $17.21 $35,800 (6)
Erie, PA MSA (6) $16.97 $35,310 (6)
Parkersburg-Marietta, WV-OH MSA (6) $16.32 $33,940 (6)
Philadelphia, PA-NJ PMSA 470 $15.51 $32,270 0.020%

About 2002 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

To see profiles of other occupations, select from the major groups below:

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia. The top five employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable Excel files(XLS).

Percentile wage estimates show the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.


(1) Data for detailed occupations does not sum to the totals because the totals include data for occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(6) Estimates not released.

All Construction and Extraction Occupations

2002 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2002 Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2002 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download 2002 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: November 26, 2003