Highest-Paid Heavy Equipment Operators By State [2022] - Zippia

Heavy Equipment Operator Salary By State: Highest-Paid Heavy Equipment Operators by State [2024] By Chris Kolmar Mar. 20, 2024 Heavy Equipment Operator Resources

• Table Of Contents
  • Salary By State
  • Overview
  • Jobs
  • Salary
  • Resume
  • Skills
  • What They Do
  • Education
  • Certifications
  • Demographics
  • Best States

Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of heavy equipment operator salary by state for the United States:

• New Jersey has the highest heavy equipment operator salary of $65,211

• Arkansas has the lowest heavy equipment operator salary of $25,958

• The national average salary for heavy equipment operators is $39,822

• The national hourly pay for heavy equipment operators is $19.15

You can read more on the specific methodology.

Background

Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do heavy equipment operators get paid where I live?

And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for heavy equipment operator by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.

The state with the best salary for heavy equipment operators after this adjustment? That would be New Jersey.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for heavy equipment operator salaries:

1. New Jersey (Jobs)

2. Washington (Jobs)

3. California (Jobs)

4. New Hampshire (Jobs)

5. Alaska (Jobs)

6. Massachusetts (Jobs)

7. Illinois (Jobs)

8. North Dakota (Jobs)

9. New York (Jobs)

10. Oregon (Jobs)

Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.

Highest-Paid Heavy Equipment Operators By State

Rank	State	Average Heavy Equipment Operator Salary	10th Percentile	90th Percentile
1	New Jersey	$65,211	$43,000	$96,000
2	Washington	$58,830	$41,000	$82,000
3	California	$57,498	$39,000	$84,000
4	New Hampshire	$57,250	$40,000	$80,000
5	Alaska	$56,247	$46,000	$67,000
6	Massachusetts	$54,329	$38,000	$77,000
7	Illinois	$52,233	$36,000	$75,000
8	North Dakota	$51,288	$37,000	$70,000
9	New York	$51,047	$34,000	$75,000
10	Oregon	$50,964	$35,000	$72,000
11	Minnesota	$50,104	$35,000	$70,000
12	Wisconsin	$49,958	$34,000	$71,000
13	Vermont	$49,342	$35,000	$68,000
14	Nevada	$48,561	$33,000	$70,000
15	Mississippi	$46,520	$32,000	$66,000
16	Pennsylvania	$46,137	$30,000	$69,000
17	Montana	$45,922	$33,000	$63,000
18	Idaho	$45,143	$31,000	$63,000
19	Connecticut	$44,984	$30,000	$65,000
20	Wyoming	$44,821	$32,000	$62,000
21	Colorado	$43,289	$30,000	$61,000
22	Indiana	$42,319	$29,000	$61,000
23	Ohio	$42,093	$28,000	$62,000
24	Delaware	$42,060	$28,000	$63,000
25	Utah	$41,165	$29,000	$58,000
26	Maryland	$40,748	$27,000	$61,000
27	Virginia	$40,694	$27,000	$60,000
28	South Dakota	$40,681	$29,000	$57,000
29	Hawaii	$40,650	$34,000	$47,000
30	Rhode Island	$39,917	$27,000	$57,000
31	Nebraska	$39,893	$28,000	$56,000
32	Michigan	$39,531	$27,000	$57,000
33	Arizona	$39,291	$27,000	$56,000
34	Missouri	$39,218	$27,000	$55,000
35	Iowa	$38,681	$27,000	$55,000
36	Kansas	$36,970	$25,000	$52,000
37	West Virginia	$36,871	$24,000	$54,000
38	New Mexico	$36,342	$25,000	$52,000
39	Kentucky	$35,209	$24,000	$50,000
40	Texas	$34,692	$23,000	$50,000
41	Oklahoma	$34,314	$23,000	$49,000
42	Tennessee	$34,130	$23,000	$48,000
43	North Carolina	$33,252	$23,000	$47,000
44	Louisiana	$32,707	$22,000	$47,000
45	Florida	$31,569	$22,000	$44,000
46	Maine	$31,345	$23,000	$42,000
47	South Carolina	$30,687	$21,000	$43,000
48	Georgia	$30,208	$21,000	$42,000
49	Alabama	$30,154	$21,000	$42,000
50	Arkansas	$25,958	$18,000	$37,000

Methodology: Heavy Equipment Operator Salary By State

To better understand heavy equipment operator pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for heavy equipment operators by state.

We took the average annual salary data for heavy equipment operators from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for heavy equipment operators.

Heavy Equipment Operator Salary By State FAQs

1. What is the highest-paid state for heavy equipment operators?

   The highest-paid state for heavy equipment operators is New Jersey with an average salary of $65,211 per year.

2. What city pays heavy equipment operators the most?

   Trenton, NJ pays heavy equipment operators the most with an average salary of $65,145 per year.

3. What is the worst state for heavy equipment operators?

   The worst state for heavy equipment operators is Arkansas with an average salary of $25,958 per year.

Heavy Equipment Operator Resources

• Table Of Contents
  • Salary By State
  • Overview
  • Jobs
  • Salary
  • Resume
  • Skills
  • What They Do
  • Education
  • Certifications
  • Demographics
  • Best States

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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