Skip to content

An independent salary reference. Not affiliated with BLS or any U.S. government agency.

Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Gas Compressor And Gas Pumping Station Operators Salary: Montana vs New Mexico

Gas Compressor And Gas Pumping Station Operators earn a median of $73,540 in Montana and $84,960 in New Mexico. That is a nominal gap of $11,420 (-13.4%), with New Mexico paying more before any cost-of-living adjustment.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates. Cost-of-living adjustment uses BEA Regional Price Parities, most recent release.

$73,540
Montana median
$77,701 after COL
$84,960
New Mexico median
$92,136 after COL
-13.4%
Nominal gap
New Mexico leads
-15.7%
Adjusted gap
New Mexico leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, New Mexico pays $11,420 more per year than Montana for gas compressor and gas pumping station operators, a gap of +13.4%.

After adjusting for cost of living, New Mexico still comes out ahead, with roughly $14,435 of extra purchasing power (+15.7% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for gas compressor and gas pumping station operators in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Gas Compressor And Gas Pumping Station Operators

Montana

Median salary
$73,540
Mean salary
$79,990
Employment
N/A
Location quotient
N/A
Jobs per 1,000
N/A
COL-adjusted median
$77,701
Regional Price Parity
94.6%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Gas Compressor And Gas Pumping Station Operators page for Montana →

Gas Compressor And Gas Pumping Station Operators

New Mexico

Median salary
$84,960
Mean salary
$86,460
Employment
70
Location quotient
2.31
Jobs per 1,000
0.1
COL-adjusted median
$92,136
Regional Price Parity
92.2%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Gas Compressor And Gas Pumping Station Operators page for New Mexico →

Related pages

Keep digging into gas compressor and gas pumping station operators from a different angle.

Common questions about this comparison

What does the cost-of-living adjustment actually do? +

It divides each location's nominal median wage by its Regional Price Parity (RPP), which measures how local prices compare to the national average (100 = national). A wage of $100,000 in an area with RPP 120 has the same purchasing power as roughly $83,000 nationally.

Why would the nominal and adjusted winners disagree? +

High-cost metros often pay higher salaries, but not by enough to fully offset the higher cost of housing, goods, and services. When that happens, the location with the lower nominal wage actually offers more real purchasing power.

What is a location quotient? +

The location quotient measures how concentrated an occupation is in a given area versus the national average. A value of 2.0 means the occupation is twice as common there as nationally. It is a signal of what a state specializes in.