Best Cities for Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gass

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where rotary drill 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	New MexicoState	1.33	$82,780	$89,978	15%
2	NebraskaState	1.27	$79,140	$86,492	16%
3	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.23	$81,360	$83,704	23%
4	AlaskaState	1.21	$85,470	$81,946	19%
5	TexasState	1.20	$77,840	$81,423	21%
6	MississippiState	1.17	$67,290	$79,351	16%
7	AlabamaState	1.14	$67,400	$77,382	17%
8	North DakotaState	1.13	$71,280	$76,976	16%
9	ColoradoState	1.12	$79,830	$75,740	28%
10	OhioState	1.04	$63,600	$70,354	20%
11	UtahState	1.03	$70,400	$70,259	25%
12	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	1.01	$63,310	$68,815	25%
13	West VirginiaState	1.00	$57,020	$67,720	18%
14	KansasState	0.99	$60,600	$67,333	20%
15	WyomingState	0.97	$61,000	$65,591	19%
16	TennesseeState	0.95	$58,780	$64,240	26%
17	PennsylvaniaState	0.94	$61,780	$63,691	25%
18	ArizonaState	0.92	$62,920	$62,359	29%
19	OklahomaState	0.92	$55,160	$62,328	21%
20	FloridaState	0.90	$61,970	$61,054	33%
21	North CarolinaState	0.90	$57,760	$61,186	27%
22	New YorkState	0.88	$67,000	$59,556	33%
23	CaliforniaState	0.87	$65,520	$59,187	41%
24	VirginiaState	0.87	$61,410	$59,333	31%
25	MichiganState	0.86	$54,020	$58,527	25%
26	LouisianaState	0.81	$49,410	$54,839	25%
27	ArkansasState	0.64	$37,700	$43,685	28%
28	KentuckyState	0.64	$38,520	$43,525	30%

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