I work in the oil and gas industry here in Wyoming. I've been I several big refineries and worked on the Ruby Pipeline when El Paso/Colorado interstate gas was building it. I've been here since 2008 and it had a slow down right before Obama got elected but shortly after took off and hasn't looked back. I'm busier now than I've ever been. Natural gas drilling and cracking here is crazy. They are now pumping CO2 back down in the wells and it's regenerating the wells and fields that were thought to be dry are running full tilt again.
In Wyoming, the starting pay at mcd is between 10.50 and 12 an hour, same with gas station clerks. When you go for lunch and it's 20 dollars for 2 people to eat or a 20oz bottle of pop is 2.00 at a gas station it doesn't seem so great.