Home / Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers / Best Cities Best Cities for Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugerss Cities ranked by purchasing power — where petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugerss 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 Alaska State 1.23 $124,530 $119,396 13% 2 Louisiana State 1.22 $106,640 $118,357 12% 3 Ohio State 1.20 $105,150 $116,316 12% 4 Kansas State 1.17 $101,880 $113,200 12% 5 Wyoming State 1.12 $100,350 $107,903 12% 6 Oklahoma State 1.11 $95,140 $107,503 12% 7 Kansas City, MO-KS Metro 1.10 $98,770 $106,433 16% 8 Illinois State 1.09 $102,890 $105,637 15% 9 Tennessee State 1.09 $96,730 $105,716 16% 10 Utah State 1.09 $105,980 $105,768 17% 11 Minnesota State 1.08 $101,910 $103,990 15% 12 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro 1.06 $101,910 $102,422 17% 13 Iowa State 1.05 $90,160 $101,076 13% 14 Montana State 1.05 $98,310 $101,981 14% 15 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro 1.05 $105,580 $102,010 18% 16 Arkansas State 1.04 $86,580 $100,324 12% 17 North Dakota State 1.04 $93,130 $100,572 13% 18 Columbus, OH Metro 1.04 $93,600 $100,107 17% 19 West Virginia State 1.03 $83,910 $99,656 12% 20 Washington State 1.00 $103,620 $96,570 22% 21 New Jersey State 0.99 $104,540 $96,085 21% 22 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro 0.98 $86,860 $95,241 17% 23 California State 0.96 $103,250 $93,270 26% 24 Michigan State 0.94 $84,030 $91,040 16% 25 Missouri State 0.94 $80,960 $91,377 15% 26 Colorado State 0.92 $93,750 $88,947 24% 27 Kentucky State 0.92 $78,670 $88,893 15% 28 Mississippi State 0.92 $75,180 $88,656 14% 29 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro 0.92 $103,250 $88,627 26% 30 Texas State 0.91 $84,100 $87,971 20% 31 Hawaii State 0.89 $94,900 $86,273 30% 32 Pennsylvania State 0.89 $83,870 $86,464 19% 33 North Carolina State 0.88 $80,060 $84,809 20% 34 Alabama State 0.87 $73,510 $84,397 16% 35 New Mexico State 0.84 $74,340 $80,804 17% 36 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro 0.84 $86,240 $81,512 23% 37 New York State 0.82 $88,880 $79,004 25% 38 Pittsburgh, PA Metro 0.81 $72,190 $78,043 20% 39 Wisconsin State 0.80 $71,450 $77,411 18% 40 Indiana State 0.77 $67,420 $74,497 19% 41 Maryland State 0.74 $78,580 $71,960 26% 42 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro 0.72 $79,260 $69,833 39% 43 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro 0.72 $67,940 $69,897 28% 44 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro 0.70 $66,350 $67,360 31% 45 Maine State 0.68 $65,150 $65,281 24% 46 New Hampshire State 0.68 $70,050 $66,085 27% 47 Florida State 0.65 $63,480 $62,542 33% 48 South Carolina State 0.65 $58,160 $63,217 26% 49 Nevada State 0.64 $62,420 $62,295 28% 50 Georgia State 0.63 $57,180 $61,221 30% 51 Arizona State 0.62 $60,070 $59,534 30% 52 Virginia State 0.59 $58,970 $56,976 32% 53 Connecticut State 0.55 $56,880 $52,862 33%
Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).