By state, average salaries for petroleum technicians within the United States ranged from a low of $34,000 in North Carolina to a excessive of $80,a hundred and fifty in Nevada. Different high-paying states for this occupation included California, Alaska, New York, Indiana and Louisiana. The best-paying metropolitan space within the nation for this occupation was the Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine space of California, where petroleum engineers averaged $92,330 per yr. The very best-paying nonmetropolitan space was the northwest lower peninsula of Michigan, with an average pay of $81,030 per year.