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Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers pay in New Orleans-Metairie, LA and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers is $107,490 per year in New Orleans-Metairie, LA. It is $117,660 per year in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. New Orleans-Metairie, LA is 8.6% below San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-8093 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 1,560 wage and salary jobs in New Orleans-Metairie, LA and 870 in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.