GreaseBook now has dozens of independent operators and hundreds of pumpers using its app spread out over nine oil and gas producing States…
That being said, it’s not uncommon for service companies or independent operators to call and ask if we know any (good) pumpers looking for work. And, many times we can help out with these sorts of requests…
Anyways, we stumbled across what we think is a pretty cool set of data outlined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics regarding wellhead pumpers the nation over…
We get pretty excited about this stuff, so we thought we’d share it with you!
The first photo outlines the concentration of Pumpers in the lower 48:
Next, we have the same map, only a little more granular. We think it’s cool to see how this coincides with specific oil plays…
States with the highest employment level in this occupation:
State Employment(1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Texas 3,780 0.35 3.42 $23.31 $48,490
Oklahoma 1,130 0.73 7.20 $21.30 $44,300
Pennsylvania 930 0.17 1.65 $20.35 $42,330
New Mexico 930 1.18 11.71 $23.77 $49,440
West Virginia 880 1.24 12.28 $19.06 $39,650
Side note: Now, lot’s of folks ask us what’s the appropriate amount to pay a pumper. This varies from State to State, as many pumpers are paid per well in Texas (as opposed to per lease due to well spacing laws in States like Oklahoma). Also, contract pumpers are generally responsible for their own tools, truck, insurance, etc…
While we think the numbers posted below are well below what we’ve seen (it’s not uncommon for a good contract gauger to make 6 figures…), it’s still interesting to check out how much salaries vary by locale…
Top paying metropolitan areas for this occupation:
Metropolitan area Employment(1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division (8) (8) (8) $32.69 $68,000
Farmington, NM 220 4.32 42.77 $28.17 $58,590
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX 90 0.10 1.01 $25.32 $52,660
Greeley, CO 160 1.84 18.20 $25.26 $52,550
Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO 300 0.23 2.32 $25.11 $52,230
Odessa, TX (8) (8) (8) $24.64 $51,250
Victoria, TX (8) (8) (8) $24.20 $50,340
Wichita, KS (8) (8) (8) $24.18 $50,290
Midland, TX 250 3.05 30.15 $24.16 $50,240
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX 1,020 0.37 3.68 $23.88 $49,680
Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest employment in this occupation:
Nonmetropolitan area Employment(1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Eastern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area 670 5.20 51.44 $22.25 $46,270
Northwestern Texas nonmetropolitan area 650 2.51 24.87 $23.76 $49,420
North Central West Virginia nonmetropolitan area 520 3.68 36.40 $18.83 $39,160
Kansas nonmetropolitan area 420 1.10 10.83 $19.33 $40,200
Northwestern Oklahoma nonmetropolitan area 280 2.40 23.78 $23.96 $49,850
Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in this occupation:
Nonmetropolitan area Employment(1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Northwestern Wyoming nonmetropolitan area 230 5.75 56.87 $24.43 $50,810
Eastern Montana nonmetropolitan area 200 5.68 56.18 $23.60 $49,080
Eastern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area 670 5.20 51.44 $22.25 $46,270
Eastern Utah nonmetropolitan area 260 5.10 50.46 $24.18 $50,300
Northeastern Wyoming nonmetropolitan area 230 4.70 46.50 $19.46 $40,480
We take our oilfield app building very seriously — in fact, nothing excites us more than a lease operator telling us how much time the GreaseBook app saves him (even better, how many new wells or relief pumpers he’s been able to take on with the new time he’s found… cha-ching!)
Anyways, we work with operators and their pumpers every day, so think the above data is pretty interesting — we hope you found it as informative as we did…
Happy Pumping,
~GreaseBook