There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a compressor operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.61 an hour? That's $44,954 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 32,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does a Compressor Operator Do

There are certain skills that many compressor operators have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, coordination and mechanical skills.

How To Become a Compressor Operator

If you're interested in becoming a compressor operator, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 28.2% of compressor operators have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 2.4% of compressor operators have master's degrees. Even though some compressor operators have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Average Salary for a Compressor Operator

Compressor Operators in America make an average salary of $44,954 per year or $22 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $66,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $30,000 per year.
Average Compressor Operator Salary
$44,954 Yearly
$21.61 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Compressor Operator

There are several types of compressor operator, including:

Operator

Role:

As an operator, it's your job to know how specific equipment or machines work. You should know how to install and repair certain machinery as well as knowing how to use tools to help with the manufacturing process.

Operators often spend their time checking in on equipment and making sure it's properly working. Every problem that is detected, you'll often call upon an operators to come and save the day. They're essentially the superhero in an office setting.

In most cases, operators work full-time, normal hours. But when a client needs help, you'll need to be available. which means that sometimes duty calls at night or on the weekends.
  • Average Salary: $37,928
  • Degree: High School Diploma

Gas Engineer

Role:

Gas engineers work with a variety of gas appliances for both private and commercial facilities. Some of these appliances include boilers, gas cookers, central heating systems, hot water storage cylinders, and wall heaters. Gas engineering is no simple role; hence, requires a certification for specific appliances. As a gas engineer, you will perform repairs, carry out maintenance checks, and offer guidance and safety precautions on the usage of these appliances. Gas engineers usually move from place to place to solve gas and energy issues. If you require a more fixated role with higher pay, you should consider a career in gas management, where you become a specialist.

Gas engineering requires a minimum qualification of a bachelor's degree. Most gas engineers have bachelor's degrees in mechanical, petroleum, or civil engineering. You must also be certified under the Gas safe register to work on specific gas appliances. Dealing with gas can lead to catastrophic events if not handled properly; hence, gas engineers are taken very seriously. This explains why they earn an average of $70,616 per year.

  • Average Salary: $94,427
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Compressor Operator Jobs

Number Of Compressor Operator Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1Massachusetts1,196$42,015
2New Jersey865$50,560
3California162$53,529
4Rhode Island150$43,325
5Hawaii104$44,509
6Texas103$48,058
7Alaska95$44,128
8New York79$50,478
9Pennsylvania66$48,368
10Illinois59$47,120
11Georgia44$45,514
12Florida40$49,179
13Ohio40$42,490
14Maryland37$44,094
15Virginia36$47,656
16Indiana31$45,435
17North Carolina31$45,666
18Tennessee28$44,424
19Colorado27$40,185
20Arizona24$49,423
21Missouri24$39,981
22Minnesota23$45,694
23Kentucky23$41,038
24Wisconsin21$45,878
25Connecticut20$44,146
26Washington19$46,113
27Oregon18$46,632
28Iowa17$46,131
29Michigan17$46,271
30South Carolina17$41,802
31Maine16$42,346
32Alabama15$45,747
33Utah12$41,556
34Nevada11$46,486
35Arkansas11$44,410
36West Virginia11$42,678
37New Hampshire10$40,711
38New Mexico9$47,774
39Oklahoma8$44,748
40North Dakota7$41,727
41Kansas6$45,182
42Mississippi6$42,229
43Nebraska5$39,917
44Wyoming4$44,030
45Idaho3$45,103
46Louisiana3$44,145
47Delaware3$44,601
48Montana3$41,179
49South Dakota2$41,210
50Vermont2$39,451

Compressor Operator Education

Compressor Operator Majors

25.2 %

Compressor Operator Degrees

High School Diploma

37.1 %

Bachelors

28.2 %

Associate

22.4 %

Top Skills For a Compressor Operator

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 24.3% of compressor operators listed dehydration on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and coordination are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Compressor Operator Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Compressor Operator templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Compressor Operator resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Compressor Operator Resume
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Compressor Operator Demographics

Compressor Operator Gender Distribution

Male
Male
85%
Female
Female
15%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among compressor operators, 15.2% of them are women, while 84.8% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among compressor operators is White, which makes up 58.2% of all compressor operators.

  • The most common foreign language among compressor operators is Spanish at 100.0%.

Online Courses For Compressor Operator That You May Like

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1. MLOps (Machine Learning Operations) Fundamentals

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This course introduces participants to MLOps tools and best practices for deploying, evaluating, monitoring and operating production ML systems on Google Cloud. MLOps is a discipline focused on the deployment, testing, monitoring, and automation of ML systems in production. Machine Learning Engineering professionals use tools for continuous improvement and evaluation of deployed models. They work with (or can be) Data Scientists, who develop models, to enable velocity and rigor in deploying the...

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2. Centrifugal compressors: Principles, Operation and design

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A complete understanding of construction details and functioning of centrifugal compressors for successful operations...

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3. Operations Management: Facilities Planning and Management

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Operations Management Training Program (Course 8 of 8)...

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Top Compressor Operator Employers

Most Common Employers For Compressor Operator

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Novartis$90,772$43.644
2Texaco$63,506$30.533
3General Electric$55,664$26.763
4Pioneer Natural Resources$54,340$26.137
5Kinder Morgan$52,186$25.092
6Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc$49,974$24.033
7Weatherford International$49,353$23.732
8Qualitest$49,246$23.684
9Mylan$49,183$23.654
10KV Pharmaceutical$49,038$23.584