Rig hand vs production roustabout

The differences between rig hands and production roustabouts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a rig hand has an average salary of $33,851, which is higher than the $32,768 average annual salary of a production roustabout.

The top three skills for a rig hand include tongs, CDL and H2S. The most important skills for a production roustabout are production equipment, rig, and .

Rig hand vs production roustabout overview

	Rig Hand	Production Roustabout
Yearly salary	$33,851	$32,768
Hourly rate	$16.27	$15.75
Growth rate	1%	-
Number of jobs	4,329	51,594
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	-	-

Rig hand vs production roustabout salary

Rig hands and production roustabouts have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Rig Hand	Production Roustabout
Average salary	$33,851	$32,768
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $42,000	Between $25,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between rig hand and production roustabout education

There are a few differences between a rig hand and a production roustabout in terms of educational background:

	Rig Hand	Production Roustabout
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	General Studies	Petroleum Engineering
Most common college	-	-

Rig hand vs production roustabout demographics

Here are the differences between rig hands' and production roustabouts' demographics:

	Rig Hand	Production Roustabout
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 96.7% Female, 3.3%	Male, 94.6% Female, 5.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.3% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 1.2% White, 65.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.3%	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.3% Asian, 1.2% White, 63.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.2%
LGBT Percentage	2%	2%

Differences between rig hand and production roustabout duties and responsibilities

Rig hand example responsibilities.

Manage and perform rig operations, repair large mud pump motors, hoppers, shakers, generators, valves and agitators.
Complete OSHA 10 and H2S certifications.
Maintain current OSHA and CDL license.
Wear proper personal protective equipment (PPE).
Operate a methane work over rig and run a crew .... CDL
Help guide objects while elevate in air by crane inspect tools, equipment and PPE before using.

Production roustabout example responsibilities.

Deliver materials and equipment as CDL driver.
Help develop and retro-fit lac unit systems.
Certify in fighting and extinguishing fires and certify CPR.
Install rig liners, disassemble and reassemble rig flares.
Operate equipment and deliver CDL loads to Conoco Phillips locations.
Pipe fitting.Operating man lift, skid steer, backhoe, telehandler

Rig hand vs production roustabout skills

Common rig hand skills

Tongs, 20%
CDL, 16%
H2S, 11%
CPR, 7%
Flow Lines, 6%
PPE, 4%

Common production roustabout skills

Production Equipment, 91%
Rig, 9%

Rig Hand vs. similar jobs

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Roustabout responsibilities

Updated January 8, 2025

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