Petroleum Engineers · SOC 17-2171
Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Petroleum Engineerss
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas
Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for petroleum engineers. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (3 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.
Top 25 of 36 metro areas
| # | Metro area | Median annual | Employment | Per 1,000 jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anchorage, AK | $212,240 | 200 | 1.2 |
| 2 | Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | $180,230 | 110 | 0.1 |
| 3 | Oklahoma City, OK | $176,200 | 700 | 1.0 |
| 4 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $174,580 | 900 | 0.6 |
| 5 | Midland, TX | $172,070 | 940 | 7.7 |
| 6 | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $169,870 | 4,770 | 1.5 |
| 7 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $168,860 | 150 | 0.1 |
| 8 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $168,600 | 910 | 0.2 |
| 9 | Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX | $167,600 | 90 | 0.6 |
| 10 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $167,000 | 330 | 0.1 |
| 11 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $166,570 | 70 | 0.1 |
| 12 | Lubbock, TX | $164,480 | 100 | 0.6 |
| 13 | Grand Junction, CO | $161,940 | 50 | 0.8 |
| 14 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | $161,050 | 40 | 0.1 |
| 15 | Ogden, UT | $158,300 | 40 | 0.1 |
| 16 | Corpus Christi, TX | $155,870 | 110 | 0.6 |
| 17 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | $148,390 | 320 | 0.7 |
| 18 | Bakersfield-Delano, CA | $147,440 | 160 | 0.5 |
| 19 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $143,590 | Not published | Not published |
| 20 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | $135,630 | Not published | Not published |
| 21 | Odessa, TX | $135,620 | 220 | 2.7 |
| 22 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $134,800 | 40 | 0.0 |
| 23 | Tyler, TX | $132,530 | 60 | 0.5 |
| 24 | Greeley, CO | $132,240 | 300 | 2.5 |
| 25 | El Paso, TX | $131,740 | 40 | 0.1 |
Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Petroleum Engineers overview.
About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.