Compared with the local labor market
Equipment Operator pay vs. the United States
Across all employers in the United States, the median wage for Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators — about 478,090 people — is $59,850. Department of Agriculture pays a median base salary of $55,066 for this role, 8% below that figure — about the 39th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Department of Agriculture sits in the local pay range
$42,190
$48,680
$59,850
$77,170
$101,090
Department of Agriculture median · $55,066
The bar is the range of annual wages for Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators across every employer in the United States, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Agriculture’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Agriculture is $55,791, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
Equipment Operator beyond U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense)
This role is reported in 12 jurisdictions. In U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense), the median of $46,671 ranks #8 of 12. See Equipment Operator across all of U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense) →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Equipment Operator roles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.