Heavy Equipment Trade Salaries (2024)
Compare wages across 3 heavy equipment trades. National median pay, Trade Pay Scores, and 5-year growth rates.
Heavy Equipment Trades by Salary
| Rank | Trade | Median | Grade | 5yr Growth | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pile Driver Operator | $87,644 | C | +4% | 1,070 |
| 2 | Crane Operator | $75,123 | C | +4% | 16,150 |
| 3 | Heavy Equipment Operator | $68,475 | C | +4% | 160,130 |
Frequently Asked Questions
The highest paying heavy equipment trade is Pile Driver Operator with a national median salary of $87,644. This is based on 2024 BLS occupational wage data across 30 metro areas.
There are approximately 177,350 heavy equipment trade positions across 3 occupations tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average median salary is $77,081.
Heavy Equipment trades have seen an average wage growth of 4% over the past 5 years. Growth varies by specific trade within this category.
Wage data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) 2024. Trades grouped by occupational category.
The this entity category groups every U.S. skilled-trade wage data entity sharing this attribute. The list above is the data; the paragraphs below explain what the grouping means against the broader the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey distribution and how to read the relative rankings within the category.
For readers using this category as a starting point, the per-entity detail pages linked from the table above carry the underlying the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey data in full. The category-level view is the filter; the per-entity pages are the actual answer.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES, 2026.