Also called: Logging Engineer
Lowers high-tech sensors down oil, gas and geothermal wells to measure rock and fluids miles underground.
You drive a truck full of electronics to a rig, lower tools down the well on a steel cable, and read the logs in real time. Shifts can be 24 hours on call.
Overtime and field bonuses add a lot.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in engineering or physics.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Petroleum Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics.
Growing slowly (about 1% over 10 years). Petroleum engineers overall; cyclical.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI interprets logs faster and some tools run automatically; running tools at the rig in all weather stays hands-on.
Classes: Physics, Electronics CTE, Earth science, AP Calculus.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2171.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.