Construction Equipment Operators: Compensation Across the United States
Statewide and metro medians ranked against the national figure, OEWS May 2025
Where equipment operators earn the most and least across 49 states, the District, and 22 profiled metros — Illinois leads at a $97,740 median (+63.3% vs. the US figure), Arkansas trails at $44,520 — BLS OEWS May 2025.
Overview
This profile ranks what equipment operators are paid across the United States — every state plus the District of Columbia, and the twenty-two metropolitan areas with released WIL Compensation Profiles — against the national median, using the most recent federal occupational wage statistics. It covers the heavy-equipment workforce behind civil and site work. All figures are annual wages in US dollars from the BLS OEWS May 2025 reference period; statewide estimates average across metro and non-metro areas within each state. Unlike the state and metro profiles in this series, cross-geography comparison is the purpose of this page. The profile is produced under the Lab's public-source compensation benchmarking method (WIL-CBM-1.0): it is a public-data profile, not a peer survey, and it describes pay positioning only — it makes no claim about labor availability or hiring conditions.
| Geography | 10th pctile | Median | Mean | 90th pctile | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $42,190 | $59,850 | $66,290 | $101,090 | 478,090 |
Annual wages, US dollars. Employment is OEWS-estimated national occupational employment. — Sources: BLS
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 — Construction Equipment Operators (SOC 47-2073); United States, 49 states + DC, 22 profiled MSAs · Methodology WIL-CBM-1.0 · Public-source federal statistics. Annual wages in US dollars; OEWS estimates are modeled from employer surveys and carry published relative standard errors.
| # | State | Median | 10th pctile | 90th pctile | Employment | vs. US |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Illinois | $97,740 | $49,770 | $123,330 | 12,290 | +63.3% |
| 2 | New Jersey | $89,660 | $50,760 | $133,330 | 5,980 | +49.8% |
| 3 | California | $87,160 | $52,760 | $132,210 | 36,020 | +45.6% |
| 4 | Washington | $81,700 | $57,200 | $125,490 | 10,290 | +36.5% |
| 5 | New York | $80,980 | $50,190 | $144,920 | 14,490 | +35.3% |
| 6 | Indiana | $79,580 | $47,630 | $98,850 | 11,520 | +33.0% |
| 7 | Minnesota | $79,130 | $55,960 | $101,930 | 8,590 | +32.2% |
| 8 | Connecticut | $78,750 | $60,000 | $106,920 | 2,860 | +31.6% |
| 9 | Massachusetts | $76,820 | $52,630 | $125,400 | 9,680 | +28.4% |
| 10 | Wisconsin | $75,280 | $51,370 | $100,140 | 8,140 | +25.8% |
| 11 | District of Columbia | $74,610 | $50,540 | $98,270 | 620 | +24.7% |
| 12 | Oregon | $73,430 | $53,410 | $117,310 | 5,630 | +22.7% |
| 13 | Nevada | $71,410 | $51,050 | $111,210 | 5,410 | +19.3% |
| 14 | Ohio | $64,940 | $46,850 | $98,100 | 16,920 | +8.5% |
| 15 | Rhode Island | $63,610 | $52,460 | $98,870 | 970 | +6.3% |
| 16 | Wyoming | $62,960 | $48,370 | $85,630 | 3,800 | +5.2% |
| 17 | Michigan | $62,690 | $46,370 | $90,580 | 9,500 | +4.7% |
| 18 | Colorado | $62,620 | $49,480 | $78,870 | 11,700 | +4.6% |
| 19 | New Hampshire | $62,200 | $49,770 | $87,730 | 1,330 | +3.9% |
| 20 | North Dakota | $62,150 | $49,840 | $100,570 | 4,890 | +3.8% |
| 21 | Idaho | $61,680 | $47,230 | $79,650 | 4,270 | +3.1% |
| 22 | Montana | $61,580 | $48,130 | $79,880 | 3,750 | +2.9% |
| 23 | Maryland | $61,410 | $46,760 | $78,870 | 6,610 | +2.6% |
| 24 | Utah | $60,740 | $47,420 | $75,880 | 7,880 | +1.5% |
| 25 | Arizona | $60,620 | $47,680 | $79,460 | 13,200 | +1.3% |
| 26 | Missouri | $60,540 | $43,290 | $94,130 | 10,470 | +1.2% |
| 27 | Pennsylvania | $60,530 | $46,780 | $94,930 | 22,120 | +1.1% |
| 28 | Iowa | $60,330 | $46,690 | $87,460 | 5,530 | +0.8% |
| 29 | South Dakota | $59,500 | $47,260 | $75,880 | 2,050 | −0.6% |
| 30 | Vermont | $58,870 | $50,270 | $73,860 | 1,280 | −1.6% |
| 31 | Nebraska | $58,360 | $44,620 | $75,700 | 3,180 | −2.5% |
| 32 | Delaware | $58,020 | $39,090 | $97,520 | 1,230 | −3.1% |
| 33 | Kentucky | $57,780 | $44,620 | $80,890 | 7,050 | −3.5% |
| 34 | Virginia | $57,160 | $40,870 | $78,250 | 12,100 | −4.5% |
| 35 | Maine | $56,140 | $46,200 | $75,390 | 2,210 | −6.2% |
| 36 | New Mexico | $52,000 | $44,800 | $69,690 | 5,520 | −13.1% |
| 37 | Tennessee | $52,000 | $41,600 | $75,430 | 10,660 | −13.1% |
| 38 | Louisiana | $51,700 | $37,440 | $75,180 | 7,860 | −13.6% |
| 39 | Kansas | $51,620 | $39,520 | $85,420 | 7,070 | −13.8% |
| 40 | West Virginia | $51,300 | $36,500 | $76,970 | 7,830 | −14.3% |
| 41 | Texas | $50,460 | $38,900 | $70,010 | 55,540 | −15.7% |
| 42 | Florida | $49,400 | $38,820 | $64,020 | 27,510 | −17.5% |
| 43 | North Carolina | $49,310 | $39,050 | $64,450 | 16,580 | −17.6% |
| 44 | South Carolina | $48,940 | $38,720 | $64,330 | 8,160 | −18.2% |
| 45 | Oklahoma | $47,970 | $37,440 | $64,380 | 7,050 | −19.8% |
| 46 | Georgia | $47,880 | $37,810 | $62,840 | 15,700 | −20.0% |
| 47 | Alabama | $47,520 | $36,230 | $67,690 | 9,640 | −20.6% |
| 48 | Mississippi | $47,410 | $36,180 | $67,030 | 4,170 | −20.8% |
| 49 | Arkansas | $44,520 | $35,520 | $58,670 | 5,800 | −25.6% |
Ranked by published median. Percentages computed from OEWS medians as shown; positive = above the national median. Alaska and Hawaii are not in the Lab's warehouse and are omitted. “—” marks an estimate BLS does not publish — missing values are never shown as zero. — Sources: BLS
| # | Metro | State | Median | 10th pctile | 90th pctile | Employment | vs. US |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco | CA | $124,750 | $60,910 | $149,260 | 4,080 | +108.4% |
| 2 | San Jose | CA | $124,340 | $60,680 | $152,760 | 1,360 | +107.8% |
| 3 | Los Angeles | CA | $92,890 | $52,460 | $130,720 | 8,780 | +55.2% |
| 4 | Sacramento | CA | $91,650 | $57,910 | $131,260 | 2,920 | +53.1% |
| 5 | San Diego | CA | $83,670 | $54,520 | $136,080 | 3,130 | +39.8% |
| 6 | Columbus | OH | $78,950 | $50,610 | $99,390 | 3,290 | +31.9% |
| 7 | Riverside–San Bernardino | CA | $78,720 | $48,640 | $127,840 | 4,740 | +31.5% |
| 8 | Fresno | CA | $78,310 | $50,070 | $127,150 | 1,290 | +30.8% |
| 9 | Bakersfield | CA | $77,960 | $52,600 | $126,170 | 1,000 | +30.3% |
| 10 | Las Vegas | NV | $63,910 | $48,820 | $121,480 | 2,460 | +6.8% |
| 11 | Phoenix | AZ | $62,540 | $48,660 | $81,220 | 7,980 | +4.5% |
| 12 | Nashville | TN | $56,030 | $46,630 | $73,900 | 3,820 | −6.4% |
| 13 | Memphis | TN | $53,870 | $40,560 | $72,790 | 1,140 | −10.0% |
| 14 | Dallas–Fort Worth | TX | $51,370 | $41,700 | $71,080 | 11,510 | −14.2% |
| 15 | Raleigh | NC | $51,110 | $40,540 | $65,970 | 3,080 | −14.6% |
| 16 | Houston | TX | $51,040 | $39,170 | $71,960 | 14,000 | −14.7% |
| 17 | Austin | TX | $50,960 | $40,420 | $71,390 | 5,010 | −14.9% |
| 18 | Charlotte | NC | $50,870 | $41,970 | $70,400 | 4,440 | −15.0% |
| 19 | Atlanta | GA | $49,430 | $39,610 | $64,680 | 8,360 | −17.4% |
| 20 | Savannah | GA | $48,810 | $38,210 | $70,900 | 720 | −18.4% |
| 21 | San Antonio | TX | $48,750 | $39,840 | $70,040 | 3,980 | −18.5% |
| 22 | College Station–Bryan | TX | $47,980 | $38,630 | $75,390 | 590 | −19.8% |
The twenty-two metropolitan statistical areas with released WIL Compensation Profiles; each links to its own profile in the series. — Sources: BLS
What the figures show
Illinois pays equipment operators the highest statewide median in the country, $97,740 — +63.3% against the $59,850 national figure — followed by New Jersey at $89,660. At the other end, Arkansas posts $44,520 (−25.6%), making the highest statewide median 2.20 times the lowest. 28 of the 49 states exceed the national median; 21 sit below it. Among the profiled metros, San Francisco leads at $124,750 (+108.4% vs. the US median), while College Station–Bryan is lowest at $47,980. Employment is concentrated: the five largest states — Texas (55,540), California (36,020), Florida (27,510), Pennsylvania (22,120), Ohio (16,920) — account for 33% of the 478,090 equipment operators counted nationally. These are observed wage comparisons only; nothing here measures how hard this occupation is to hire.
Method and limitations
Prepared under WIL-CBM-1.0 (Public-Source Compensation Benchmarking: A Method Note, WIL-RB-2026.3-COMP-METHOD). All figures are BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates for SOC 47-2073 read from the Lab's governed warehouse (BLS_OEWS ingest, September 2026): the United States, 49 states and the District of Columbia (Alaska and Hawaii are not in the warehouse and are omitted rather than estimated), and the twenty-two MSAs with released WIL Compensation Profiles. Rankings use the published median; the 10th and 90th percentiles are shown for distribution context. OEWS wages are modeled estimates with published relative standard errors, wider in small cells; statewide figures average metro and non-metro areas and can mask within-state variation visible in the metro table. Any cell BLS does not publish is shown as missing, never zero. Union density and prevailing-wage coverage differ sharply across these geographies and likely explain part of the spread, but OEWS does not identify bargaining status, so that is context, not a finding. This profile asserts pay positioning only — not workforce availability, not hiring conditions.
Version 1.0 · Published 2026-10-07T17:00:00Z · Permanent ID WIL-RB-2026.3-COMP-OCC-OPER. This record is versioned; the URL is permanent and stable for citation.
Export citation (BibTeX · RIS)
@techreport{WILRB20263COMPOCCOPER,
title = {Construction Equipment Operators: Compensation Across the United States: Statewide and metro medians ranked against the national figure, OEWS May 2025},
author = {AlphaHire Workforce Intelligence Lab},
institution = {AlphaHire Workforce Intelligence Lab},
type = {WIL Compensation Profiles},
number = {WIL-RB-2026.3-COMP-OCC-OPER},
year = {2026},
note = {Version 1.0; methodology WIL-CBM-1.0},
url = {https://wilinstitute.org/library/p/compensation-equipment-operators-across-the-united-states},
}RISTY - RPRT AU - AlphaHire Workforce Intelligence Lab TI - Construction Equipment Operators: Compensation Across the United States: Statewide and metro medians ranked against the national figure, OEWS May 2025 PY - 2026 PB - AlphaHire Workforce Intelligence Lab M1 - WIL-RB-2026.3-COMP-OCC-OPER ET - Version 1.0 UR - https://wilinstitute.org/library/p/compensation-equipment-operators-across-the-united-states AB - A public-source national compensation profile of equipment operators (SOC 47-2073), ranking statewide and metro-area median annual wages against the national median of $59,850 using BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates. 28 of 49 states sit above the national median; the highest statewide median (Illinois, $97,740) is 2.20 times the lowest (Arkansas, $44,520). Prepared under methodology WIL-CBM-1.0; this is a public-data profile, not a peer survey. ER -