Money · 1 of 4
What rig workers make
Median
$83,000
Lower end
$52,000
Upper end
$98,000
Job Bank's national median is $40 an hour, about $83,000 a year at 40 hours a week. The lower end ($25) and upper end ($47.30) are the bottom and top of the wage range for everyone in the group. Rigs run 12-hour shifts, so a full year of work grosses more than the hourly rate suggests, but the patch slows every spring and in every price crash, and there is no pay when the rig is stacked.