National Salary Info » Petroleum Engineers

Highest Paying Industries for Petroleum Engineers

The top 43 highest paying industries for petroleum engineers (ranked by average annual salary) are listed in Table 1. The entry level salary (as measured by the salary of the lowest 10% paid earners) and the number of employment in those industries are also shown. As shown in the table, with an average annual salary of $162,840, other financial investment activities is the highest paying industry for petroleum engineers. It is followed by securities, commodity contracts, and other financial investments and related activities industry (average annual salary $162,840). The salary and employment information is computed from data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2015 [1]. For more information about salaries of petroleum engineers in a specific industry, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 43 Highest Paying Industries for Petroleum Engineers

Rank	Industry	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	Other Financial Investment Activities	$162,840	$64,350	60
2	Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities	$162,840	$64,350	60
3	Finance and Insurance	$161,680	$54,730	90
4	Management of Companies and Enterprises	$154,410	$96,380	3,250
5	Engineering Services	$143,940	$78,940	1,410
6	Chemical and Allied Products Merchant Wholesalers	$143,840	$67,790	n/a
7	Oil and Gas Extraction	$142,620	$82,840	15,310
8	Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services	$140,550	$74,540	1,610
9	Basic Chemical Manufacturing	$135,800	$90,240	n/a
10	Agriculture, Construction, and Mining Machinery Manufacturing	$135,750	$87,510	200
11	Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas	$135,700	$78,310	720
12	Chemical Manufacturing	$135,520	$91,620	n/a
13	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	$134,620	$61,450	3,360
14	Temporary Help Services	$134,420	$65,370	60
15	Employment Services	$134,420	$65,370	60
16	Administrative and Support Services	$134,420	$65,370	60
17	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	$132,480	$65,920	60
18	Mining	$131,810	$72,070	20,670
19	Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences	$129,420	$81,060	610
20	Scientific Research and Development Services	$129,420	$81,060	610
21	Machinery Manufacturing	$128,890	$80,690	220
22	Pipeline Transportation	$124,480	$76,180	1,290
23	Transportation and Warehousing	$124,070	$75,540	1,330
24	Manufacturing	$118,980	$81,360	3,290
25	Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services	$118,730	$54,560	1,060
26	Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	$118,190	$81,270	3,000
27	Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution	$117,750	$103,060	80
28	Pipeline Transportation of Crude Oil	$115,350	$80,270	410
29	Utilities	$115,320	$69,950	930
30	Wholesale Trade	$115,140	$74,140	140
31	Natural Gas Distribution	$114,630	$69,020	850
32	Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods	$113,150	$78,280	120
33	Other Pipeline Transportation	$111,880	$60,350	160
34	Petroleum and Petroleum Products Merchant Wholesalers	$106,740	$82,440	70
35	Support Activities for Mining	$102,370	$55,520	5,360
36	Federal government, including USPS	$98,910	$53,170	310
37	Federal Executive Branch (OES Designation)	$98,910	$53,170	310
38	Federal, State, and Local Government (OES Designation)	$98,910	$53,180	450
39	Federal, State, and Local Government	$98,910	$53,180	450
40	Public sector -- Federal, state, and local government, including government owned schools and hospit	$98,900	$53,180	460
41	State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation)	$98,360	$57,420	100
42	State government, including schools and hospitals	$98,350	$57,410	120
43	Testing Laboratories	$90,230	$47,670	n/a