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Pipeline Transportation: NAICS 486

About the Pipeline Transportation subsector

The pipeline transportation subsector is part of the transportation and warehousing sector.

Industries in the Pipeline Transportation subsector use transmission pipelines to transport products, such as crude oil, natural gas, refined petroleum products, and slurry. Industries are identified based on the products transported (i.e., pipeline transportation of crude oil, natural gas, refined petroleum products, and other products).

The Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas industry includes the storage of natural gas because the storage is usually done by the pipeline establishment and because a pipeline is inherently a network in which all the nodes are interdependent.

North American Industry Classification System

The pipeline transportation subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Pipeline Transportation of Crude Oil: NAICS 4861
  • Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas: NAICS 4862
  • Other Pipeline Transportation: NAICS 4869

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in pipeline transportation. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

52.1 51.8 (p)52.4 (p)52.5

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2022

Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door

940

Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators

1,010

Gas plant operators

3,550

Industrial machinery mechanics

3,710

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

8,020

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for pipeline transportation.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in pipeline transportation.

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2022
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door

44.60 43.44 92,780 90,350

Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators

35.95 36.78 74,780 76,500

Gas plant operators

38.40 38.70 79,870 80,500

Industrial machinery mechanics

39.45 41.00 82,060 85,270

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

38.90 40.36 80,910 83,960

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in pipeline transportation. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.

Data series 2014 2015 2016 2017

Fatalities

Number of fatalities

3 3 7 4

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Data series 2022

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

Total recordable cases

0.5

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

0.3

Cases involving days away from work

0.2

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.1

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Prices

This section provides industry-specific pricing information. The producer price index measures the percentage change in prices that domestic producers receive for goods and services. The prices included in the producer price index are from the first commercial transaction.

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Producer price index

(p)109.673 (p)109.676 (p)109.770 (p)109.111

Percent change from previous month

  (p)-0.1% (p)0.0% (p)0.1% (p)-0.6%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in pipeline transportation.

Establishments

Data series Back
data
4th quarter
2022
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023

Number of establishments

Private industry

3,312 (p)3,321 (p)3,338 (p)3,360

Local government

19 (p)19 (p)19 (p)19

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

 

Data extracted on: March 22, 2024