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Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers pay in Bakersfield-Delano, CA and Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers is $60,990 per year in Bakersfield-Delano, CA. It is $82,090 per year in Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX. Bakersfield-Delano, CA is 25.7% below Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 53-7072 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 40 wage and salary jobs in Bakersfield-Delano, CA and 90 in Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX. 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.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings