Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
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Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2021
47-2071 Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
Operate equipment used for applying concrete, asphalt, or other materials to road beds, parking lots, or airport runways and taxiways or for tamping gravel, dirt, or other materials. Includes concrete and asphalt paving machine operators, form tampers, tamping machine operators, and stone spreader operators.
National estimates for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
Industry profile for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
Geographic profile for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
National estimates for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
| Employment (1) |
Employment
RSE (3) |
Mean hourly
wage |
Mean annual
wage (2) |
Wage RSE (3) |
| 44,200 |
3.4 % |
$ 24.32 |
$ 50,590 |
1.3 % |
Percentile wage estimates for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
| Percentile |
10% |
25% |
50%
(Median) |
75% |
90% |
| Hourly Wage |
$ 14.53 |
$ 18.09 |
$ 22.58 |
$ 28.68 |
$ 37.41 |
| Annual Wage (2) |
$ 30,220 |
$ 37,630 |
$ 46,960 |
$ 59,650 |
$ 77,820 |
Industry profile for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators are provided.
For a list of all industries with employment in Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators, see the Create Customized Tables function.
Industries with the highest levels of employment in Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
| Industry |
Employment (1) |
Percent of industry employment |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction |
16,410 |
4.62 |
$ 25.05 |
$ 52,110 |
| Other Specialty Trade Contractors |
15,630 |
2.19 |
$ 23.40 |
$ 48,670 |
| Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation) |
4,900 |
0.09 |
$ 24.68 |
$ 51,330 |
| Foundation, Structure, and Building Exterior Contractors |
1,260 |
0.14 |
$ 25.99 |
$ 54,070 |
| Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing |
1,230 |
1.19 |
$ 26.64 |
$ 55,400 |
Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
| Industry |
Employment (1) |
Percent of industry employment |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction |
16,410 |
4.62 |
$ 25.05 |
$ 52,110 |
| Other Specialty Trade Contractors |
15,630 |
2.19 |
$ 23.40 |
$ 48,670 |
| Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing |
1,230 |
1.19 |
$ 26.64 |
$ 55,400 |
| Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction |
340 |
0.28 |
$ 23.02 |
$ 47,890 |
| Nonmetallic Mineral Mining and Quarrying |
150 |
0.16 |
$ 28.57 |
$ 59,430 |
Top paying industries for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
Geographic profile for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators are provided.
For a list of all areas with employment in Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators, see the Create Customized Tables function.
States with the highest employment level in Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
| State |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Texas |
5,010 |
0.41 |
1.31 |
$ 20.75 |
$ 43,150 |
| California |
3,790 |
0.23 |
0.73 |
$ 33.06 |
$ 68,760 |
| New York |
3,200 |
0.37 |
1.18 |
$ 27.13 |
$ 56,430 |
| Illinois |
2,590 |
0.46 |
1.47 |
$ 28.45 |
$ 59,180 |
| Florida |
2,330 |
0.27 |
0.86 |
$ 19.34 |
$ 40,230 |
States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
| State |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Alaska |
200 |
0.68 |
2.17 |
$ 29.52 |
$ 61,400 |
| Oklahoma |
1,050 |
0.67 |
2.15 |
$ 19.63 |
$ 40,830 |
| Maine |
370 |
0.62 |
1.97 |
$ 20.79 |
$ 43,240 |
| Tennessee |
1,630 |
0.54 |
1.73 |
$ 19.29 |
$ 40,130 |
| Virginia |
1,810 |
0.48 |
1.54 |
$ 24.18 |
$ 50,300 |
Top paying states for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
| State |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Hawaii |
250 |
0.46 |
1.46 |
$ 39.84 |
$ 82,870 |
| Massachusetts |
710 |
0.21 |
0.67 |
$ 36.07 |
$ 75,030 |
| Oregon |
280 |
0.15 |
0.49 |
$ 35.98 |
$ 74,840 |
| California |
3,790 |
0.23 |
0.73 |
$ 33.06 |
$ 68,760 |
| Connecticut |
140 |
0.09 |
0.28 |
$ 30.14 |
$ 62,680 |
Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
| Metropolitan area |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA |
2,860 |
0.33 |
1.05 |
$ 29.98 |
$ 62,350 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI |
2,060 |
0.49 |
1.55 |
$ 29.08 |
$ 60,490 |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX |
1,280 |
0.44 |
1.41 |
$ 21.66 |
$ 45,060 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA |
1,140 |
0.20 |
0.63 |
$ 34.86 |
$ 72,500 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX |
1,090 |
0.30 |
0.97 |
$ 21.88 |
$ 45,510 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV |
1,020 |
0.35 |
1.11 |
$ 25.67 |
$ 53,400 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI |
740 |
0.41 |
1.30 |
$ 23.70 |
$ 49,300 |
| St. Louis, MO-IL |
710 |
0.55 |
1.76 |
$ 26.53 |
$ 55,180 |
| Austin-Round Rock, TX |
640 |
0.59 |
1.89 |
$ 21.04 |
$ 43,760 |
| Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO |
590 |
0.40 |
1.29 |
$ 23.68 |
$ 49,250 |
Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
| Metropolitan area |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| San Angelo, TX |
70 |
1.55 |
4.93 |
$ 18.83 |
$ 39,160 |
| Greeley, CO |
130 |
1.32 |
4.22 |
$ 23.43 |
$ 48,740 |
| Jackson, TN |
80 |
1.26 |
4.03 |
$ 19.36 |
$ 40,260 |
| Mobile, AL |
200 |
1.22 |
3.88 |
$ 16.39 |
$ 34,100 |
| Billings, MT |
100 |
1.15 |
3.67 |
$ 26.29 |
$ 54,690 |
| Waco, TX |
120 |
1.06 |
3.39 |
$ 19.46 |
$ 40,480 |
| Macon, GA |
100 |
1.05 |
3.35 |
$ 15.91 |
$ 33,090 |
| Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI |
60 |
1.01 |
3.23 |
$ 42.07 |
$ 87,510 |
| Redding, CA |
60 |
0.96 |
3.07 |
$ 28.40 |
$ 59,070 |
| Hattiesburg, MS |
60 |
0.94 |
3.01 |
$ 15.64 |
$ 32,530 |
Top paying metropolitan areas for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
| Metropolitan area |
Employment (1) |
Employment per thousand jobs |
Location quotient (9) |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage (2) |
| Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI |
60 |
1.01 |
3.23 |
$ 42.07 |
$ 87,510 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA |
100 |
0.09 |
0.28 |
$ 37.59 |
$ 78,180 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA |
410 |
0.18 |
0.59 |
$ 36.24 |
$ 75,380 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH |
490 |
0.19 |
0.60 |
$ 35.84 |
$ 74,550 |
| Springfield, MA-CT |
110 |
0.35 |
1.11 |
$ 35.58 |
$ 74,000 |
| Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA |
280 |
0.29 |
0.92 |
$ 34.95 |
$ 72,700 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA |
1,140 |
0.20 |
0.63 |
$ 34.86 |
$ 72,500 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA |
70 |
0.23 |
0.73 |
$ 34.49 |
$ 71,740 |
| Champaign-Urbana, IL |
50 |
0.51 |
1.64 |
$ 33.50 |
$ 69,670 |
| San Diego-Carlsbad, CA |
370 |
0.27 |
0.86 |
$ 31.84 |
$ 66,220 |
Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest employment in Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
Top paying nonmetropolitan areas for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators:
About May 2021 National, State, Metropolitan, and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors, all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, and all states and the District of Columbia.
The top employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable XLS files.
The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.
The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median.
More about percentile wages.
(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.
(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours;
for those occupations where there is not an hourly wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.
(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.
(8) Estimate not released.
(9) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration.
A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.
Other OEWS estimates and related information:
May 2021 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
May 2021 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
May 2021 Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
May 2021 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
May 2021 Occupation Profiles
Technical Notes
Last Modified Date: March 31, 2022
United States Department of Labor
