Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $60K, rent takes 28% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,119/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new derrick operators, oil and gas typically earn — is $32K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $1,900/month. At HUD’s $1,119/month FMR, rent would take 59% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $60K locally vs. $59K nationally, a 2% difference.

New Mexico pays $60K median vs. the U.S. average of $59K — that’s +2%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 93.06), the purchasing-power equivalent is $64K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $59,570 a year, that works out to about $29 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $31,670, and experienced derrick operators, oil and gas can clear $74,800. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $3,998/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,119/month, which eats 28% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

New Mexico has a Regional Price Parity of 93.06 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median derrick operators, oil and gas salary is worth about $64,012 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.