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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Wellhead Pumpers?
Task-level automation exposure for Wellhead Pumpers: 14 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
19%
weighted task index
14 of 14 tasks scored
Median Salary
$69,960 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
17,990 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-2.0%
employment change
1,700 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 19 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$45,490 – $79,820
Highest medians
North Dakota $79,820
New Mexico $78,010
Louisiana $76,930
Texas $75,860
Colorado $72,700
Lowest medians
Pennsylvania $45,490
Ohio $46,750
Michigan $47,630
New York $48,980
Illinois $51,440
State figures come from the 53-7073 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 19%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 66%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 5%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 0%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 39/100
Moderate
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
14 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 0%
0 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 10%
1 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 90%
13 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Emerging & rewritten tasks
Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.
- New 05/2025 · AI/SME
Conduct regular inspections of equipment using drones or other advanced technology.
Constituent Tasks
#21159 · Core · 28% automatable
Monitor pumps and flow lines for gas and fluid leaks.
visual inspection — Sensor/vision monitoring possible, but physical verification and accountability remain human
Monitor equipment operation to ensure proper functioning. Inspect gas systems or components to identify leaks or other potential hazards.
#21160 · Core · 51% automatable
Gauge oil and gas production.
data analysis — Weight/volume calculations from given data
Measure equipment outputs. Calculate weights, volumes or other characteristics of materials.
#5019 · Core · 15% automatable
Start compressor engines and divert oil from storage tanks into compressor units and auxiliary equipment to recover natural gas from oil.
physical manipulation — Physical control of pumping equipment
Control pumps or pumping equipment.
#5013 · Core · 30% automatable
Monitor control panels during pumping operations to ensure that materials are being pumped at the correct pressure, density, rate, and concentration.
visual inspection — Gauge reading requires physical presence
Monitor equipment gauges or displays to ensure proper operation.
#5014 · Core · 15% automatable
Operate engines and pumps to shut off wells according to production schedules, and to switch flow of oil into storage tanks.
physical manipulation — Physical control of pumping equipment
Control pumps or pumping equipment.
#5016 · Core · 8% automatable
Repair gas and oil meters and gauges.
physical manipulation — Precision hand repair of delicate devices
Repair precision devices or workpieces.
#5015 · Core · 8% automatable
Perform routine maintenance on vehicles and equipment.
physical manipulation — Physical vehicle maintenance work
Maintain vehicles in good working condition.
#5020 · Supplemental · 15% automatable
Open valves to return compressed gas to bottoms of specified wells to repressurize them and force oil to surface.
physical manipulation — Physical control of pumping equipment
Control pumps or pumping equipment.
#21161 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Change water filters.
physical manipulation — Installing parts requires hands-on mechanical work
Install parts, assemblies, or attachments in transportation or material handling equipment. Install machine or equipment replacement parts.
#5023 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Prepare trucks and equipment necessary for the type of pumping service required.
physical manipulation — Physical lab equipment setup
Set up laboratory or field equipment.
#5018 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Attach pumps and hoses to wellheads.
physical manipulation — Connecting hoses requires physical fitting
Connect hoses to equipment or machinery.
#5025 · Supplemental · 15% automatable
Mix acids, chemicals, or dry cement as required for a specific job.
physical manipulation — Chemical preparation requires hands-on handling
Prepare chemicals for work application.
#5017 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Unload and assemble pipes and pumping equipment, using hand tools.
physical manipulation — Installing parts requires hands-on mechanical work
Install parts, assemblies, or attachments in transportation or material handling equipment.
#5021 · Supplemental · 22% automatable
Supervise oil pumpers and other workers engaged in producing oil from wells.
physical manipulation — Material handling direction is on-floor supervision
Direct material handling or moving activities.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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