Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
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Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2019
47-2073 Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
Operate one or several types of power construction equipment, such as motor graders, bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks, shovels, tractors, or front-end loaders to excavate, move, and grade earth, erect structures, or pour concrete or other hard surface pavement. May repair and maintain equipment in addition to other duties. Excludes “Extraction Workers” (47-5000) and “Crane and Tower Operators” (53-7021).
National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
Geographic profile for this occupation
National estimates for this occupation:
Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:
| Employment (1) |
Employment
RSE (3) |
Mean hourly
wage |
Mean annual
wage (2) |
Wage RSE (3) |
| 405,750 |
0.8 % |
$26.06 |
$54,210 |
0.4 % |
Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:
| Percentile |
10% |
25% |
50%
(Median) |
75% |
90% |
| Hourly Wage |
$15.53 |
$18.44 |
$23.55 |
$30.95 |
$41.17 |
| Annual Wage (2) |
$32,300 |
$38,350 |
$48,980 |
$64,370 |
$85,640 |
Industry profile for this occupation:
Industries with the highest published employment and wages for this occupation are provided.
For a list of all industries with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.
Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:
| Industry |
Employment (1) |
Percent of industry employment |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Other Specialty Trade Contractors |
98,720 |
13.92 |
$25.85 |
$53,780 |
| Utility System Construction |
59,540 |
10.43 |
$28.17 |
$58,600 |
| Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation) |
53,990 |
0.97 |
$22.29 |
$46,370 |
| Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction |
49,990 |
14.21 |
$29.39 |
$61,130 |
| Nonresidential Building Construction |
17,280 |
2.07 |
$29.67 |
$61,710 |
Industries with the highest concentration of employment in this occupation:
| Industry |
Employment (1) |
Percent of industry employment |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction |
49,990 |
14.21 |
$29.39 |
$61,130 |
| Other Specialty Trade Contractors |
98,720 |
13.92 |
$25.85 |
$53,780 |
| Nonmetallic Mineral Mining and Quarrying |
13,890 |
13.74 |
$22.36 |
$46,520 |
| Coal Mining |
6,640 |
13.08 |
$25.21 |
$52,430 |
| Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction |
13,810 |
11.24 |
$28.89 |
$60,100 |
Top paying industries for this occupation:
| Industry |
Employment (1) |
Percent of industry employment |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Scientific Research and Development Services |
40 |
0.01 |
$41.04 |
$85,370 |
| Natural Gas Distribution |
1,460 |
1.34 |
$33.02 |
$68,680 |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4242 and 4246 only) |
(8) |
(8) |
$32.95 |
$68,530 |
| Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 only) |
480 |
0.13 |
$32.01 |
$66,570 |
| Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution |
1,900 |
0.49 |
$30.43 |
$63,300 |
Geographic profile for this occupation:
States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for this occupation are provided.
For a list of all areas with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.
States with the highest employment level in this occupation:
| State |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Texas |
46,290 |
3.72 |
1.35 |
$21.07 |
$43,820 |
| California |
28,450 |
1.64 |
0.59 |
$36.27 |
$75,440 |
| Florida |
21,050 |
2.39 |
0.87 |
$20.28 |
$42,190 |
| Pennsylvania |
20,860 |
3.53 |
1.28 |
$26.77 |
$55,680 |
| Ohio |
15,440 |
2.83 |
1.03 |
$26.99 |
$56,140 |
States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in this occupation:
| State |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Wyoming |
4,060 |
14.85 |
5.37 |
$28.16 |
$58,570 |
| West Virginia |
8,820 |
12.56 |
4.55 |
$23.66 |
$49,210 |
| Alaska |
3,000 |
9.45 |
3.42 |
$33.50 |
$69,670 |
| North Dakota |
3,650 |
8.64 |
3.13 |
$26.53 |
$55,190 |
| Montana |
3,190 |
6.81 |
2.47 |
$25.75 |
$53,550 |
Top paying States for this occupation:
| State |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| New York |
13,960 |
1.47 |
0.53 |
$40.31 |
$83,840 |
| Illinois |
10,780 |
1.79 |
0.65 |
$38.14 |
$79,330 |
| Hawaii |
1,650 |
2.60 |
0.94 |
$37.74 |
$78,500 |
| New Jersey |
5,130 |
1.25 |
0.45 |
$37.56 |
$78,120 |
| California |
28,450 |
1.64 |
0.59 |
$36.27 |
$75,440 |
Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in this occupation:
| Metropolitan area |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX |
13,640 |
4.47 |
1.62 |
$22.89 |
$47,610 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA |
11,270 |
1.17 |
0.42 |
$44.54 |
$92,640 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX |
8,410 |
2.30 |
0.83 |
$20.32 |
$42,270 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI |
8,040 |
1.72 |
0.62 |
$41.44 |
$86,190 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA |
6,610 |
2.41 |
0.87 |
$19.43 |
$40,420 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI |
5,760 |
2.92 |
1.06 |
$34.70 |
$72,170 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA |
5,730 |
0.92 |
0.33 |
$39.30 |
$81,740 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ |
5,570 |
2.62 |
0.95 |
$22.77 |
$47,360 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH |
5,400 |
1.93 |
0.70 |
$34.42 |
$71,580 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV |
5,230 |
1.64 |
0.60 |
$24.56 |
$51,080 |
United States Department of Labor
