Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $67K, rent takes 24.8% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,085/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new rotary drill operators, oil and gas typically earn — is $45K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,682/month. At HUD’s $1,085/month FMR, rent would take 40% 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 — $67K locally vs. $68K nationally, a 1% difference.

Alabama pays $67K median vs. the U.S. average of $68K — that’s -1%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 88.36), the purchasing-power equivalent is $76K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $67,400 a year, that works out to about $32 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $44,700, and experienced rotary drill operators, oil and gas can clear $120,610. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,383/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,085/month, which eats 24.8% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Alabama has a Regional Price Parity of 88.36 (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 rotary drill operators, oil and gas salary is worth about $76,279 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.