Best Cities for Derrick Operators, Oil and Gass

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where derrick operators, oil and gass get the most value from their salary after accounting for cost of living. A score above 1.00 means better than national average.

How we calculate this: City Score = (Local Salary ÷ National Median) ÷ (Local Cost ÷ National Avg Cost). A score of 1.20 means 20% better purchasing power than average.

#	Location	Score	Raw Salary	Adjusted Salary	Rent/Income
1	LouisianaState	1.65	$86,980	$96,537	14%
2	WyomingState	1.41	$76,750	$82,527	15%
3	North DakotaState	1.32	$71,850	$77,592	16%
4	AlaskaState	1.28	$78,050	$74,832	21%
5	OklahomaState	1.12	$58,270	$65,842	20%
6	New MexicoState	1.10	$59,570	$64,750	21%
7	FloridaState	1.09	$64,950	$63,990	32%
8	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	1.06	$57,350	$62,000	25%
9	ColoradoState	1.05	$64,730	$61,414	34%
10	PennsylvaniaState	1.05	$59,720	$61,567	26%
11	West VirginiaState	1.03	$50,640	$60,143	20%
12	TexasState	1.00	$56,100	$58,682	30%
13	ArkansasState	0.99	$50,070	$58,019	21%
14	AlabamaState	0.97	$49,350	$56,659	23%
15	UtahState	0.97	$56,980	$56,866	31%
16	OhioState	0.96	$50,650	$56,029	25%
17	MississippiState	0.95	$47,340	$55,825	23%
18	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	0.91	$48,880	$53,130	32%
19	CaliforniaState	0.85	$55,480	$50,117	49%
20	MichiganState	0.84	$45,180	$48,949	30%
21	IllinoisState	0.80	$45,900	$47,125	34%

Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).