Compare Occupations

	Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers	Environmental Compliance Inspectors	Occupational Health and Safety Technicians	First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers	Gas Plant Operators
SUMMARY	65% High Risk	24% Low Risk	21% Low Risk	38% Low Risk	57% Moderate Risk
JOB SCORE	4.1/10	6.0/10	6.4/10	5.2/10	2.9/10
POLLING	49% (Moderate Risk, Based on 25 votes)	There hasn't been enough votes on this occupation yet	34% (Low Risk, Based on 28 votes)	54% (Moderate Risk, Based on 29 votes)	68% (High Risk, Based on 19 votes)
GROWTH by year 2034	-2.8%	3.0%	8.5%	1.2%	-8.8%
WAGES	$97,540 or $46.89 per hour	$78,420 or $37.70 per hour	$58,440 or $28.09 per hour	$71,190 or $34.22 per hour	$83,400 or $40.09 per hour
VOLUME as of 2024	34,860	397,770	31,450	685,140	15,910
SNOWFLAKE [?] The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
DESCRIPTION	Operate or control petroleum refining or processing units. May specialize in controlling manifold and pumping systems, gauging or testing oil in storage tanks, or regulating the flow of oil into pipelines.	Inspect and investigate sources of pollution to protect the public and environment and ensure conformance with Federal, State, and local regulations and ordinances.	Collect data on work environments for analysis by occupational health and safety specialists. Implement and conduct evaluation of programs designed to limit chemical, physical, biological, and ergonomic risks to workers.	Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of production and operating workers, such as inspectors, precision workers, machine setters and operators, assemblers, fabricators, and plant and system operators. Excludes team or work leaders.	Distribute or process gas for utility companies and others by controlling compressors to maintain specified pressures on main pipelines.

Compare Occupations Side by Side

Curious how automation and AI could affect your career? Our comparison tool lets you view two or more jobs side by side, helping you quickly spot differences in risk level, pay, growth, and popularity. All of this is based on a mix of academic research, user polling, and official labour data.

Automation Risk

Each occupation shows a probability of automation. A higher score means machines and algorithms are more likely to take over the role in the future.

Job Score

A quick summary of how a job performs overall — factoring in wages, growth, volume, and automation risk. It’s a handy way to see the bigger picture at a glance.

Polling Data

Thousands of visitors cast their votes on how “automatable” each job feels. These community insights are shown alongside the calculated probabilities.

Growth & Wages

See how fast each occupation is projected to grow and what people earn on average. High wages don’t always mean high security — automation risk still matters.

Volume of Workers

Explore how many people currently work in each occupation and in which year the data was recorded. Popularity can affect how disruptive automation will be for the wider economy.

The Snowflake Diagram

Each snowflake visualises the balance between automation risk, wages, growth, and job volume. Bigger and greener areas mean stronger performance in that dimension.

Use this comparison page to research careers, guide students, or simply explore the future of work. All data is regularly updated to keep the results relevant.