Best Cities for Roustabouts, Oil and Gass

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where roustabouts, 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	Columbus, OHMetro	1.52	$66,940	$71,594	23%
2	North DakotaState	1.39	$60,480	$65,313	19%
3	MontanaState	1.30	$58,800	$60,996	23%
4	AlaskaState	1.24	$60,810	$58,303	27%
5	MississippiState	1.24	$49,240	$58,066	22%
6	NebraskaState	1.24	$53,340	$58,295	24%
7	IndianaState	1.22	$51,740	$57,171	24%
8	AlabamaState	1.21	$49,400	$56,716	23%
9	OhioState	1.21	$51,230	$56,670	24%
10	FloridaState	1.20	$57,080	$56,236	36%
11	MichiganState	1.19	$51,720	$56,035	26%
12	South DakotaState	1.18	$50,370	$55,474	23%
13	New MexicoState	1.16	$50,000	$54,348	25%
14	OklahomaState	1.14	$47,260	$53,401	25%
15	ArkansasState	1.11	$44,960	$52,097	23%
16	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	1.10	$47,830	$51,708	30%
17	KansasState	1.09	$46,220	$51,356	27%
18	WyomingState	1.07	$46,660	$50,172	25%
19	LouisianaState	1.06	$44,850	$49,778	28%
20	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	1.06	$45,690	$49,663	34%
21	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.05	$48,030	$49,414	40%
22	PennsylvaniaState	1.04	$47,520	$48,990	33%
23	UtahState	1.03	$48,270	$48,174	37%
24	IllinoisState	1.02	$46,500	$47,741	34%
25	TexasState	1.02	$45,950	$48,065	36%
26	ColoradoState	0.99	$49,050	$46,537	45%
27	CaliforniaState	0.94	$48,880	$44,155	56%
28	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.89	$48,790	$41,880	56%

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