Longview is among the lowest-paying cities in Texas for this specific role. That's well below the national average for petroleum engineers — one of the largest gaps in this dataset. Cost of living here runs below the national average, which can offset a lower headline salary. This is a reasonably reliable estimate, though the underlying sample is moderate in size.
Combining these four figures gives a fuller picture than salary alone: Longview ranks #168 for cost of living and #157 for home prices among the 188 cities in this pilot dataset, which matters as much as the headline salary number when comparing where to live.
| City | Mean salary | vs. Longview |
|---|---|---|
| Austin, Texas | $170,520 | +47.2% |
| Bakersfield, California | $137,320 | +18.5% |
| Beaumont, Texas | $161,270 | +39.2% |
| Charleston, West Virginia | $112,480 | -2.9% |
| Corpus Christi, Texas | $162,190 | +40.0% |
| Dallas, Texas | $178,520 | +54.1% |
| Detroit, Michigan | $131,810 | +13.8% |
| El Paso, Texas | $139,830 | +20.7% |
| Houston, Texas | $177,780 | +53.4% |
| Los Angeles, California | $161,650 | +39.5% |
| Lubbock, Texas | $158,220 | +36.5% |
| Midland, Texas | $184,150 | +58.9% |
| Odessa, Texas | $147,120 | +27.0% |
| Oxnard, California | $162,800 | +40.5% |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | $117,270 | +1.2% |
| Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | $134,210 | +15.8% |
| Sacramento, California | $168,400 | +45.3% |
| San Antonio, Texas | $129,910 | +12.1% |
| San Francisco, California | $150,800 | +30.1% |
| Seattle, Washington | $151,000 | +30.3% |
| Tyler, Texas | $144,170 | +24.4% |
Single filer, federal income tax + FICA only, 2025 rates — Texas has no state income tax on wages. Does not include state-specific payroll withholdings beyond income tax (see Data transparency). Not tax advice — verify with a professional for your specific situation.
Official occupation and area metadata behind the visible salary, cost, housing and safety signals.
The salary figure is the mean annual wage reported by the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program for this occupation and metro area. Percentile and national-average comparisons are calculated directly from the 188 cities currently in this dataset, not from a fixed external benchmark. Cost of living, crime and housing figures come from BEA, FBI and Zillow respectively — see "Data transparency" above for the exact sources and reference years used on this specific page.
Confidence: the RSE (relative standard error) shown under Overview indicates how reliable the salary estimate is for this metro — a lower RSE means a larger underlying sample.
