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Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers · SOC 51-8093

Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers Salary in the Houston Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area

Figures describe the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Houston city limits.

Median annual wage$84,100
Median hourly wage$40.43

Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area earned a median of $84,100 per year ($40.43 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $45,670 at the 10th percentile to $114,350 at the 90th. BLS estimates 5,510 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers in the Houston metro area earn more than $84,100 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $77,560 and $98,100.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$45,670$77,560$84,100$98,100$114,350
Hourly$21.96$37.29$40.43$47.17$54.98

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

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How this area compares

  • Houston metro areathis metro area
    $84,100
  • Texasstate (TX)
    $84,100
  • United Statesnational
    $96,710

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is about the same vs Texas overall and −13% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$57,080$77,273$97,467$117,660Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $57,080Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $66,350Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $67,940Farmington, NM — $70,080Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $70,220Jacksonville, FL — $72,050Pittsburgh, PA — $72,190San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $72,930Lubbock, TX — $77,240Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $78,350Corpus Christi, TX — $78,630Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH — $78,670Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $79,260Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $79,840Midland, TX — $80,540Wheeling, WV-OH — $81,090Shreveport-Bossier City, LA — $82,920Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $84,100Oklahoma City, OK — $84,750Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $85,220Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $86,240Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $86,860Anchorage, AK — $92,930Columbus, OH — $93,600Greeley, CO — $93,750Urban Honolulu, HI — $94,900Memphis, TN-MS-AR — $96,730Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN — $97,210Bakersfield-Delano, CA — $97,530Kansas City, MO-KS — $98,770Casper, WY — $99,500Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX — $100,660Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO — $101,600Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $101,910Vallejo, CA — $103,040Billings, MT — $103,110Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $103,250New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $104,540Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $105,580Bellingham, WA — $105,640Ogden, UT — $105,980Tulsa, OK — $107,170Wichita, KS — $107,260New Orleans-Metairie, LA — $107,490Toledo, OH — $107,520Baton Rouge, LA — $108,420Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $109,390Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $111,370San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $117,660

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The Houston metro area has the 32nd-highest published median for this occupation among the 49 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Other metro areas in Texas

Metro areas in the same state with published May 2025 medians for petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers, highest first. Areas without published estimates are not listed.

  • Houston metro areathis page
    $84,100
  • Beaumont metro area
    $100,660
  • Midland metro area
    $80,540
  • Corpus Christi metro area
    $78,630
  • Lubbock metro area
    $77,240
  • Dallas metro area
    $67,940

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$37,890Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$46,630Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers$57,940First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers$75,330Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders$79,430Machinists$61,280

Highest-paying metro areas for petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugerss · Highest-paying occupations in Houston Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

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.