Average petroleum engineering major salary

Updated September 14, 2023

$85,578

$49,00010%

$85,578Median

$147,00090%

What is the average petroleum engineering major salary in the US?

Petroleum engineering major graduates in the US make on average $85,578 annually or $41.14 hourly.While the top 10 percent make over $147,000 per year, the bottom 10 percent make under $49,000.technology companies and professional companies are the best when it comes to the number of employment opportunities.The best states for high paying jobs for petroleum engineering major graduates are California, Washington, Nevada, Delaware, and Alaska.

Best paying cities

$103,804

$97,833

$96,250

Average petroleum engineering salary by company

There is good job security for petroleum engineering major graduates. However, some industries offer better pay and benefit packages than others.The most abundant employment opportunities for petroleum engineering majors are in technology companies and professional companies.The two companies that report the highest salaries for petroleum engineering major graduates are Apple and BP America Inc.Companies like Marathon Oil and Devon Energy also pay high salaries to petroleum engineering major graduates.

Average salary by company

Rank	Company	Zippia score	Average petroleum engineering salary
1	1.Apple	4.8	$131,454
2	2.BP America Inc	4.8	$120,230
3	3.Marathon Oil	4.8	$118,417
4	4.Devon Energy	4.9	$115,536
5	5.Chevron	4.8	$113,816
6	6.Texaco	4.5	$112,005
7	7.Koch Industries	4.7	$108,741
8	8.Apache	4.8	$107,154
9	9.Chesapeake Energy	4.6	$106,515
10	10.Applied Materials	4.5	$106,438
11	11.Continental Resources	4.7	$105,233
12	12.Occidental Petroleum	4.9	$104,130
13	13.ConocoPhillips	4.9	$103,257
14	14.BJ Energy Solutions	4.9	$102,673
15	15.Texas Instruments	4.6	$102,229
16	16.Schlumberger	4.5	$102,062
17	17.EOG Resources	4.9	$101,609
18	18.Baker Hughes	4.9	$100,985
19	19.Halliburton	4.6	$100,258
20	20.EQT	4.6	$99,404

Average petroleum engineering major salary by city

As a petroleum engineering major graduate in the U.S., you can expect to earn on average $85,578 per year or $41.14 per hour.The top city when it comes to salaries for petroleum engineering majors is San Francisco, CA at $103,804 per year.Even entry-level jobs for petroleum engineering majors have an average salary of $62,000 per year in San Francisco, CA.Washington, DC, Seattle, WA, Las Vegas, NV, San Antonio, TX, New York, NY, and Phoenix, AZ all pay above-average salaries for petroleum engineering major graduates.Some of the states with the best salaries for petroleum engineering majors are California, Washington, Nevada, Delaware, Alaska, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.The lowest earning states are Tennessee, Utah, Alabama, South Dakota, and Arkansas.

Average salary by location

Rank	City	Average petroleum engineering salary	Salary range
1	San Francisco, CA	$103,804	$57k $135k
2	Washington, DC	$97,833	$57k $135k
3	Seattle, WA	$96,250	$57k $135k
4	Las Vegas, NV	$94,237	$57k $135k
5	San Antonio, TX	$88,376	$57k $135k
6	New York, NY	$88,135	$57k $135k
7	Phoenix, AZ	$87,007	$57k $135k
8	Boston, MA	$86,686	$57k $135k
9	Arlington, VA	$86,379	$57k $135k
10	Tampa, FL	$83,729	$57k $135k
11	Albany, OR	$83,499	$57k $135k
12	Portland, ME	$82,442	$57k $135k
13	Baltimore, MD	$82,243	$57k $135k
14	Oklahoma City, OK	$81,432	$57k $135k
15	Jacksonville, NC	$80,297	$57k $135k
16	Chicago, IL	$79,776	$57k $135k
17	Denver, CO	$79,402	$57k $135k
18	Detroit, MI	$77,177	$57k $135k
19	Philadelphia, PA	$76,865	$57k $135k
20	Saint Louis, MO	$76,724	$57k $135k

Average petroleum engineering major salary by state

The darker areas on the map show where petroleum engineering majors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average salary

Petroleum engineering major average salary by state

State	Average petroleum engineering major salary	Average hourly rate
California	$98,493	$47.35
Washington	$95,611	$45.97
Nevada	$94,547	$45.46
Delaware	$90,179	$43.36
Alaska	$89,468	$43.01
Rhode Island	$89,319	$42.94
New Hampshire	$89,295	$42.93
New York	$87,918	$42.27
New Jersey	$87,692	$42.16
Texas	$87,542	$42.09
Arizona	$86,868	$41.76
Idaho	$86,822	$41.74
Connecticut	$86,822	$41.74
Massachusetts	$86,585	$41.63
Virginia	$85,641	$41.17
Oregon	$83,191	$40.00
Florida	$82,624	$39.72
Maryland	$82,126	$39.48
Maine	$81,829	$39.34
Oklahoma	$80,951	$38.92
New Mexico	$80,525	$38.71
Vermont	$80,426	$38.67
Wyoming	$80,126	$38.52
Louisiana	$79,995	$38.46
Hawaii	$79,841	$38.39
Colorado	$79,654	$38.30
Illinois	$79,458	$38.20
North Carolina	$79,356	$38.15
Montana	$77,793	$37.40
Mississippi	$77,204	$37.12
Michigan	$76,975	$37.01
Missouri	$76,505	$36.78
Pennsylvania	$76,395	$36.73
West Virginia	$74,921	$36.02
Minnesota	$74,826	$35.97
Wisconsin	$73,883	$35.52
Nebraska	$73,712	$35.44
Iowa	$73,700	$35.43
Kansas	$73,690	$35.43
South Carolina	$73,322	$35.25
Indiana	$72,734	$34.97
Georgia	$72,720	$34.96
Ohio	$71,979	$34.61
North Dakota	$71,642	$34.44
Tennessee	$71,608	$34.43
Utah	$71,292	$34.27
Alabama	$69,515	$33.42
South Dakota	$69,234	$33.29
Arkansas	$63,014	$30.30
Kentucky	$62,832	$30.21

Highest paying jobs for petroleum engineering majors

Rank	Job title	Average salary	Open jobs
1	Completion Engineer	$156,227	11,512
2	Reservoir Engineer	$124,309	17,430
3	Senior Production Engineer	$115,074	94,542
4	Geologist	$111,877	869
5	Senior Engineer	$108,743	343,200
6	Data Scientist	$106,104	106,973
7	Geophysicist	$105,067	287
8	Drilling Engineer	$101,224	25,035
9	Software Engineer	$100,259	339,938
10	Nuclear Engineer	$99,676	8,747
11	Integration Engineer	$99,674	103,437
12	Structural Analysis Engineer	$98,208	26,462
13	Solutions Engineer	$95,482	123,287
14	Sales Engineer	$93,726	132,324
15	Development Engineer	$93,206	224,881
16	Application Engineer	$92,921	111,338
17	Operations Engineer	$91,522	155,188
18	Drilling Fluids Engineer	$89,973	5,121
19	Generation Engineer	$89,735	83,526
20	Production Engineer	$89,726	94,789

Average petroleum engineering major salary by industry

Petroleum engineering major salaries can vary depending on the industry.Our analysis shows that energy companies, construction companies, and technology companies pay higher-than-average wages for petroleum engineering major graduates.energy companies pay petroleum engineering major graduates the highest wages, averaging $82,973 per year. Construction companies and technology companies pay well too, at $73,402 and $65,383, respectively.The types of companies that pay petroleum engineering majors the least are in the government industry, where the average annual salary is $34,955.

Average salary by industry

Rank	Industry	Average petroleum engineering major salary	Range
1	Energy	$82,973	$27k $112k
2	Construction	$73,402	$27k $112k
3	Technology	$65,383	$27k $112k
4	Manufacturing	$52,690	$27k $112k
5	Telecommunication	$51,893	$27k $112k
6	Automotive	$50,006	$27k $112k
7	Professional	$43,265	$27k $112k
8	Hospitality	$42,370	$27k $112k
9	Government	$34,955	$27k $112k

Salary history for petroleum engineering major graduates

This data shows the national average salary between 2011-2020 among Petroleum Engineering major graduates.

Salaries for related majors

Rank	Major	Average salary	Range
1	Systems Engineering	$92,720	$41k $114k
2	Manufacturing Engineering	$86,102	$41k $114k
3	Plastics Engineering	$85,097	$41k $114k
4	Engineering	$84,098	$41k $114k
5	Operations Research	$82,068	$41k $114k
6	Mining Engineering	$81,856	$41k $114k
7	Aerospace Engineering	$80,340	$41k $114k
8	Computer Engineering	$79,862	$41k $114k
9	Industrial Engineering	$79,503	$41k $114k
10	Mechanical Engineering	$75,070	$41k $114k
11	Electrical Engineering	$75,040	$41k $114k
12	Biological Engineering	$72,923	$41k $114k
13	Engineering Science	$72,902	$41k $114k
14	Civil Engineering	$72,245	$41k $114k
15	Materials Science And Engineering	$70,247	$41k $114k
16	Environmental Engineering	$70,158	$41k $114k
17	Mechatronics And Robotics	$69,788	$41k $114k
18	Chemical Engineering	$68,316	$41k $114k
19	Architectural Engineering	$65,064	$41k $114k
20	Biomedical Engineering	$55,912	$41k $114k

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Petroleum Engineering
Petroleum Engineering Salary