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Employment and wages in mining industries

October 03, 2018

In March 2018 there were nearly 654,000 people employed in all private mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industries. This was up from 600,000 in March 2017, and down from a series high of 865,000 in November 2014. In March 2018 there were about 142,000 employees working in private oil and gas extraction, compared with 144,000 employees a year prior.

Employment in mining, total private, January 2001–March 2018
Month Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction Oil and gas extraction Coal mining Metal ore mining Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying Support activities for mining

Jan 2001

510,253 121,057 71,367 35,308 103,415 179,106

Feb 2001

515,629 122,044 71,497 34,673 104,404 183,011

Mar 2001

523,486 122,475 72,317 34,131 107,658 186,905

Apr 2001

529,803 121,803 73,018 33,422 111,873 189,687

May 2001

538,428 123,277 73,893 33,525 115,486 192,247

Jun 2001

548,043 125,711 75,672 33,343 117,351 195,966

Jul 2001

549,165 124,956 76,411 32,816 118,252 196,730

Aug 2001

550,909 125,339 76,796 32,560 117,917 198,297

Sep 2001

547,351 124,104 76,890 32,220 116,902 197,235

Oct 2001

542,193 123,590 77,119 31,624 114,883 194,977

Nov 2001

535,996 123,822 77,662 30,838 112,924 190,750

Dec 2001

531,012 125,008 77,953 30,066 109,619 188,366

Jan 2002

508,306 122,551 77,420 29,472 99,788 179,075

Feb 2002

504,439 121,983 76,578 28,576 100,293 177,009

Mar 2002

504,895 121,943 75,634 28,811 103,533 174,974

Apr 2002

504,914 120,593 74,711 28,915 106,981 173,714

May 2002

508,568 120,782 73,720 28,824 109,925 175,317

Jun 2002

513,124 122,005 73,800 29,251 111,560 176,508

Jul 2002

509,638 121,990 72,393 28,340 111,387 175,528

Aug 2002

511,073 122,063 72,402 28,339 111,779 176,490

Sep 2002

508,025 120,567 72,545 28,140 111,081 175,692

Oct 2002

502,967 119,604 71,538 28,209 109,988 173,628

Nov 2002

499,842 119,413 71,463 27,854 108,086 173,026

Dec 2002

495,959 119,994 71,131 27,825 104,516 172,493

Jan 2003

485,298 119,058 70,781 26,724 97,335 171,400

Feb 2003

485,222 119,206 69,819 26,696 96,745 172,756

Mar 2003

489,656 119,649 70,016 26,671 99,044 174,276

Apr 2003

493,614 119,407 68,478 26,343 103,771 175,615

May 2003

500,469 119,847 67,831 26,504 107,792 178,495

Jun 2003

506,787 121,132 68,667 26,803 109,371 180,814

Jul 2003

507,229 121,696 68,257 26,834 108,936 181,506

Aug 2003

508,981 121,654 67,867 26,134 109,764 183,562

Sep 2003

506,937 120,361 68,217 25,823 109,074 183,462

Oct 2003

506,784 120,553 68,108 25,664 108,869 183,590

Nov 2003

505,209 120,282 68,572 25,748 106,984 183,623

Dec 2003

505,048 121,089 68,987 25,888 103,966 185,118

Jan 2004

495,988 119,911 68,673 26,211 97,617 183,576

Feb 2004

496,086 119,665 67,855 26,274 97,296 184,996

Mar 2004

503,423 120,051 68,224 26,414 100,703 188,031

Apr 2004

512,004 120,121 69,128 26,724 106,682 189,349

May 2004

518,445 120,470 69,733 26,931 109,609 191,702

Jun 2004

525,794 121,876 70,677 27,460 110,948 194,833

Jul 2004

528,750 122,269 70,963 27,993 111,533 195,992

Aug 2004

531,629 122,072 71,215 28,288 111,705 198,349

Sep 2004

530,485 121,200 70,910 28,138 111,250 198,987

Oct 2004

531,771 122,362 70,631 27,825 110,086 200,867

Nov 2004

532,235 122,735 70,912 27,974 108,707 201,907

Dec 2004

532,564 123,418 71,343 28,222 105,840 203,741

Jan 2005

527,251 122,863 71,560 28,559 97,926 206,343

Feb 2005

530,779 122,990 71,987 28,629 98,315 208,858

Mar 2005

537,003 123,383 71,582 28,901 101,283 211,854

Apr 2005

547,834 123,074 72,690 29,561 107,068 215,441

May 2005

555,331 123,807 73,340 29,650 110,103 218,431

Jun 2005

565,707 126,320 74,853 30,235 112,236 222,063

Jul 2005

571,115 127,449 75,320 29,539 112,743 226,064

Aug 2005

574,578 127,411 75,365 29,225 112,812 229,765

Sep 2005

575,902 126,738 75,902 28,750 112,092 232,420

Oct 2005

577,975 128,177 76,289 28,946 111,028 233,535

Nov 2005

580,075 128,783 76,880 29,117 109,917 235,378

Dec 2005

581,438 128,818 77,626 29,893 105,924 239,177

Jan 2006

575,880 128,594 77,767 30,445 100,059 239,015

Feb 2006

582,680 129,507 77,825 30,690 100,833 243,825

Mar 2006

591,074 130,037 78,244 30,857 103,421 248,515

Apr 2006

600,941 131,379 78,299 31,297 108,194 251,772

May 2006

610,652 132,447 78,481 31,459 111,455 256,810

Jun 2006

623,219 135,065 79,665 31,262 113,709 263,518

Jul 2006

629,470 136,655 79,761 32,818 113,710 266,526

Aug 2006

634,387 137,991 78,909 32,805 113,584 271,098

Sep 2006

636,666 137,653 78,854 32,512 112,801 274,846

Oct 2006

637,199 138,395 78,297 32,502 111,236 276,769

Nov 2006

638,085 139,582 78,668 32,850 109,480 277,505

Dec 2006

638,923 140,986 79,007 33,094 106,062 279,774

Jan 2007

631,757 140,559 77,548 33,874 99,867 279,909

Feb 2007

633,167 140,908 76,705 34,088 99,257 282,209

Mar 2007

640,446 141,394 76,668 34,368 102,678 285,338

Apr 2007

648,082 142,691 76,166 34,604 106,732 287,889

May 2007

656,408 143,920 76,226 34,874 110,453 290,935

Jun 2007

668,268 147,141 77,403 36,002 112,370 295,352

Jul 2007

672,110 148,640 77,215 36,700 112,409 297,146

Aug 2007

677,200 149,533 77,300 37,039 112,308 301,020

Sep 2007

671,695 148,174 75,948 36,888 110,957 299,728

Oct 2007

673,399 149,045 75,604 37,160 109,750 301,840

Nov 2007

675,988 149,817 76,045 37,517 108,165 304,444

Dec 2007

674,796 151,144 76,415 37,693 104,191 305,353

Jan 2008

674,415 152,592 76,475 38,487 97,186 309,675

Feb 2008

678,212 154,048 76,910 38,671 96,482 312,101

Mar 2008

683,524 154,766 77,196 38,881 98,029 314,652

Apr 2008

694,336 156,284 78,371 39,168 102,956 317,557

May 2008

705,824 157,712 79,473 39,798 106,096 322,745

Jun 2008

718,371 161,300 80,514 40,796 106,961 328,800

Jul 2008

727,629 163,593 81,232 41,646 106,555 334,603

Aug 2008

735,709 164,194 82,316 41,943 106,369 340,887

Sep 2008

735,106 162,719 83,050 41,577 104,747 343,013

Oct 2008

742,163 164,234 85,142 40,798 102,647 349,342

Nov 2008

737,345 164,355 85,907 40,250 99,735 347,098

Dec 2008

728,136 165,169 86,548 39,851 95,027 341,541

Jan 2009

695,129 162,310 86,182 37,442 87,180 322,015

Feb 2009

678,260 161,495 85,533 36,228 86,154 308,850

Mar 2009

664,881 161,034 85,059 35,339 87,037 296,412

Apr 2009

646,271 160,163 84,196 34,001 90,816 277,095

May 2009

638,253 159,329 82,751 32,735 93,350 270,088

Jun 2009

635,684 160,789 82,116 32,748 94,485 265,546

Jul 2009

630,066 161,845 80,559 33,433 94,470 259,759

Aug 2009

626,941 161,246 80,080 33,334 94,296 257,985

Sep 2009

621,722 159,681 79,600 32,534 93,781 256,126

Oct 2009

620,023 159,608 79,113 33,835 92,281 255,186

Nov 2009

619,544 159,838 79,338 33,764 89,529 257,075

Dec 2009

619,622 160,916 79,474 33,808 84,644 260,780

Jan 2010

605,237 154,580 78,711 34,145 77,370 260,431

Feb 2010

611,115 154,868 78,989 34,289 77,247 265,722

Mar 2010

619,695 155,539 78,966 34,368 79,811 271,011

Apr 2010

635,340 155,915 79,569 35,040 86,649 278,167

May 2010

645,856 156,756 79,947 35,459 89,729 283,965

Jun 2010

657,948 159,112 81,325 35,831 91,234 290,446

Jul 2010

665,104 160,393 81,513 36,929 91,505 294,764

Aug 2010

670,930 160,551 82,265 37,010 91,439 299,665

Sep 2010

671,919 159,550 82,337 36,498 90,917 302,617

Oct 2010

677,356 160,571 82,641 36,856 89,821 307,467

Nov 2010

678,481 160,919 83,327 37,260 87,954 309,021

Dec 2010

680,585 162,327 83,922 37,747 83,352 313,237

Jan 2011

674,271 163,191 83,389 38,547 77,098 312,046

Feb 2011

681,081 164,058 83,812 39,052 77,489 316,670

Mar 2011

690,832 164,669 84,368 39,297 80,371 322,127

Apr 2011

706,196 166,483 85,222 39,502 85,797 329,192

May 2011

715,364 166,353 86,002 40,088 88,341 334,580

Jun 2011

731,491 170,543 87,286 41,386 90,482 341,794

Jul 2011

745,049 173,356 87,455 41,576 91,548 351,114

Aug 2011

753,752 174,702 88,254 41,775 91,633 357,388

Sep 2011

756,461 173,194 88,569 41,244 91,082 362,372

Oct 2011

764,508 175,865 89,073 42,347 90,277 366,946

Nov 2011

768,606 177,081 89,474 42,248 89,042 370,761

Dec 2011

772,959 179,328 90,007 42,584 85,527 375,513

Jan 2012

772,802 180,684 90,119 42,794 80,130 379,075

Feb 2012

779,524 181,622 89,666 43,075 80,565 384,596

Mar 2012

786,814 182,686 88,866 43,375 83,656 388,231

Apr 2012

791,260 184,281 87,456 43,695 87,824 388,004

May 2012

799,478 186,014 86,677 43,948 90,423 392,416

Jun 2012

809,469 189,582 87,102 45,050 92,031 395,704

Jul 2012

812,188 191,813 86,042 45,645 92,174 396,514

Aug 2012

812,590 192,090 85,356 45,631 91,945 397,568

Sep 2012

805,668 190,282 84,485 45,100 90,848 394,953

Oct 2012

805,349 191,334 82,113 44,976 89,965 396,961

Nov 2012

803,175 192,195 82,076 44,840 88,069 395,995

Dec 2012

799,272 193,447 81,144 44,885 84,984 394,812

Jan 2013

787,968 190,943 80,108 45,056 79,504 392,357

Feb 2013

791,865 192,074 79,433 45,245 79,990 395,123

Mar 2013

797,241 192,765 79,304 45,304 82,587 397,281

Apr 2013

804,098 194,070 78,094 45,173 85,996 400,765

May 2013

812,352 195,206 78,128 45,688 89,790 403,540

Jun 2013

821,956 198,225 78,324 46,380 91,326 407,701

Jul 2013

824,380 199,823 77,074 46,546 91,792 409,145

Aug 2013

827,866 199,920 76,717 46,424 92,221 412,584

Sep 2013

823,019 198,045 75,861 45,247 91,436 412,430

Oct 2013

823,211 199,321 75,545 44,847 91,245 412,253

Nov 2013

823,868 199,658 75,311 44,578 90,270 414,051

Dec 2013

821,276 200,733 74,813 44,435 86,336 414,959

Jan 2014

806,019 191,474 73,868 43,976 80,879 415,822

Feb 2014

809,692 192,174 73,204 44,062 80,686 419,566

Mar 2014

816,226 192,425 73,462 43,890 83,384 423,065

Apr 2014

825,801 193,445 72,946 43,881 88,144 427,385

May 2014

835,540 194,891 72,812 44,086 91,572 432,179

Jun 2014

845,458 197,027 72,864 44,709 93,198 437,660

Jul 2014

854,533 199,924 71,986 45,055 93,868 443,700

Aug 2014

860,412 200,295 71,863 44,590 94,352 449,312

Sep 2014

859,017 197,996 71,414 43,844 94,043 451,720

Oct 2014

863,700 199,707 71,012 43,517 93,620 455,844

Nov 2014

864,579 200,240 70,698 43,445 92,226 457,970

Dec 2014

861,566 200,850 69,937 43,366 89,094 458,319

Jan 2015

843,388 200,916 68,993 42,950 84,280 446,249

Feb 2015

815,795 197,227 68,090 42,852 84,459 423,167

Mar 2015

795,092 195,473 67,597 42,614 86,282 403,126

Apr 2015

772,949 194,433 66,859 42,453 90,916 378,288

May 2015

761,334 193,827 66,295 42,557 93,398 365,257

Jun 2015

755,544 195,465 65,034 43,155 94,881 357,009

Jul 2015

746,479 194,044 64,204 43,346 95,503 349,382

Aug 2015

737,094 192,895 62,845 42,712 95,351 343,291

Sep 2015

720,901 189,046 61,969 41,321 94,658 333,907

Oct 2015

705,261 187,488 60,999 40,888 93,877 322,009

Nov 2015

689,753 185,385 58,906 40,568 92,401 312,493

Dec 2015

679,347 184,245 57,829 40,279 89,529 307,465

Jan 2016

656,597 185,184 53,876 39,528 84,188 293,821

Feb 2016

641,304 183,475 52,769 39,415 84,760 280,885

Mar 2016

628,066 181,333 51,874 38,736 87,420 268,703

Apr 2016

615,913 177,533 50,482 38,651 91,579 257,668

May 2016

608,166 175,417 49,069 38,871 93,580 251,229

Jun 2016

605,988 175,365 48,710 39,037 94,935 247,941

Jul 2016

603,419 173,862 48,073 39,502 95,266 246,716

Aug 2016

601,104 172,259 47,780 39,311 94,621 247,133

Sep 2016

597,907 169,442 47,548 38,607 94,080 248,230

Oct 2016

600,612 169,394 48,439 38,972 92,966 250,841

Nov 2016

599,929 167,838 48,785 38,437 91,954 252,915

Dec 2016

601,665 168,272 49,370 38,683 88,894 256,446

Jan 2017

583,810 144,296 50,334 38,662 85,119 265,399

Feb 2017

592,598 143,874 50,474 38,614 86,555 273,081

Mar 2017

600,004 143,530 50,810 38,696 89,130 277,838

Apr 2017

610,270 143,004 51,085 38,561 93,321 284,299

May 2017

619,458 143,246 51,216 38,666 95,679 290,651

Jun 2017

630,286 145,024 51,518 39,341 97,635 296,768

Jul 2017

637,060 144,821 51,564 39,790 98,211 302,674

Aug 2017

639,274 144,587 51,478 39,759 98,308 305,142

Sep 2017

640,000 142,829 51,355 39,332 97,711 308,773

Oct 2017

643,139 143,768 51,153 39,428 97,305 311,485

Nov 2017

645,107 143,830 51,036 39,318 96,428 314,495

Dec 2017

646,203 144,291 50,884 39,751 94,203 317,074

Jan 2018 (p)

638,318 141,041 50,157 40,420 88,689 318,011

Feb 2018 (p)

646,598 141,504 50,137 40,850 89,761 324,346

Mar 2018 (p)

653,864 141,679 50,385 40,973 92,524 328,303
Footnotes:

(p) Preliminary

In March 2018 there were a little more than 328,000 people employed in support activities for mining, up from 278,000 in March 2017, and down from a high of about 458,000 in December 2014.

Employees in private mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industries earned, on average, $103,000 in 2016 and $102,000 in 2017. Average earnings in oil and gas extraction have been higher than earnings in the other mining industries. Workers in oil and gas extraction earned nearly $166,000, on average, in 2017, up from $162,000 in 2016.

 Average annual pay in mining, total private, 2001–2017
Year Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, total Oil and gas extraction Coal mining Metal ore mining Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying Support activities for mining

2001

$59,686 $92,718 $54,336 $56,388 $42,504 $51,111

2002

60,392 93,044 54,639 57,720 43,307 51,150

2003

62,313 95,867 56,628 60,298 44,483 52,738

2004

66,632 107,803 59,325 62,590 46,067 55,433

2005

72,226 117,147 64,058 65,363 47,847 62,287

2006

78,224 131,165 66,638 71,137 49,347 67,317

2007

82,019 132,510 68,862 73,236 50,995 72,776

2008

87,160 143,914 72,241 75,891 51,127 75,799

2009

85,526 134,456 73,501 75,943 50,323 73,268

2010

90,628 145,684 77,466 81,345 52,892 76,616

2011

95,250 152,101 81,258 85,506 54,047 82,131

2012

96,685 155,062 80,450 85,495 55,220 82,796

2013

98,186 154,290 82,068 86,954 56,604 84,312

2014

102,137 161,674 83,750 88,195 59,811 88,530

2015

102,462 161,934 83,595 88,859 61,887 85,981

2016

102,988 161,747 82,403 88,553 62,849 83,522

2017

102,130 165,545 86,325 91,249 64,599 87,380

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. You can get more industry employment data for the nation, states, counties, and metropolitan areas through the data viewer tool.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employment and wages in mining industries at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/employment-and-wages-in-mining-industries.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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