Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$61,390

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$49,630 – $80,370

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

5,100

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

0%

Growing slower than all jobs (0% to under 3.5%)

Openings a year (projected)

400

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

High school diploma or equivalent

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Place and detonate explosives to demolish structures or to loosen, remove, or displace earth, rock, or other materials. May perform specialized handling, storage, and accounting procedures.

Main tasks

• Examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed.
• Tie specified lengths of delaying fuses into patterns in order to time sequences of explosions.
• Place safety cones around blast areas to alert other workers of danger zones, and signal workers as necessary to ensure that they clear blast sites prior to explosions.
• Place explosive charges in holes or other spots; then detonate explosives to demolish structures or to loosen, remove, or displace earth, rock, or other materials.
• Insert, pack, and pour explosives, such as dynamite, ammonium nitrate, black powder, or slurries into blast holes; then shovel drill cuttings, admit water into boreholes, and tamp material to compact charges.
• Mark patterns, locations, and depths of charge holes for drilling, and issue drilling instructions.
• Compile and keep gun and explosives records in compliance with local and federal laws.
• Measure depths of drilled blast holes, using weighted tape measures.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

High school diploma or equivalent

Work experience in a related job: less than 5 years

Training once hired: long-term on-the-job training

O*NET Job Zone 1–2

Little to some preparation

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 3 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

• Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas

  $60,190 median · +3.6% projected

• Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas

  $67,890 median · +0.8% projected

• Continuous Mining Machine Operators

  $61,810 median · +3.2% projected

• Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

  $59,850 median · +4.6% projected

• Pile Driver Operators

  $73,300 median · -5.7% projected

• Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

  $57,430 median · +1% projected