Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $61K, rent takes 25% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,034/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new service unit operators, oil and gas typically earn — is $38K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,256/month. At HUD’s $1,034/month FMR, rent would take 46% 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 — $61K locally vs. $58K nationally, a 5% difference.

North Dakota pays $61K median vs. the U.S. average of $58K — that’s +5%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 88.89), the purchasing-power equivalent is $68K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $60,810 a year, that works out to about $29 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $37,600, and experienced service unit operators, oil and gas can clear $88,410. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,143/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,034/month, which eats 25% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

North Dakota has a Regional Price Parity of 88.89 (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 service unit operators, oil and gas salary is worth about $68,410 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.