Highest Explosives Workers’ Salaries in the US
The US labor market is on the cusp of transformation as the nation faces worker shortages, especially within skilled trades. A fulfilling career and a stable income gain be had in trade work. To give a sense as to how lucrative, we looked at explosive workers' wages across the United States.
JP Lespinasse
VP of Brand, Content and Comms, Lightcast
Rebecca Milde
Research Analyst
Across the US, skilled trades face a demographic challenge: about one in four workers in Lightcast’s defined group of 135 skilled trade occupations is age 55 or older. But some trades look quite different from that overall picture. One of them is Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters, the skilled trade occupation with the lowest share of workers over 55.
When attracting new workers into a profession, it’s important to know the range of salaries that this occupation typically commands. Pay for Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters depends, in part, on where they work. Median hourly earnings vary by state, and a cost-of-living adjustment offers another way to compare what those earnings may mean for workers in different places.
The state comparisons offer a starting point for understanding the occupation’s earning potential. The cost-of-living-adjusted figures add another lens, helping readers compare purchasing power as well as hourly pay. The states in which you can earn the best living as an explosives worker are: North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Tennesee; while Iowa ranks lowest.
A notably young age profile
Pay is only one part of this occupation’s story. Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters also stand out for having the lowest share of workers over 55 among skilled trades: 4%. Solar Photovoltaic Installers follow at 9%, and Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas, at 11%.
The work helps explain why this is a specialized occupation. Explosives Workers may use explosives to demolish structures or to break up and move earth and rock. Some roles also involve specialized procedures for handling, storing, and accounting for explosives.
The age breakdown offers a closer look at the workforce behind the 4% figure and the distribution of workers across age groups.
The skills behind the work
Many Explosives Workers work in quarries, and the skills employers seek reflect that setting. Job posting data can help show what employers are asking for as they look to fill these specialized roles.
Together, the pay, age, and skills data offer a more complete view of an occupation that can be easy to overlook in broad discussions about the skilled trades. Lightcast’s research report, Defining the Skilled Trades: A Data-Driven Blueprint for the Future, provides wider context on the occupations in this group and the labor market trends affecting them.
