City of Baltimore / Dpw-Water & Waste Water (550) / Heavy Equipment Operator I
Job-title file
Operate, maintain, and repair equipment or facilities, performing skilled hands-on work.
2 employees hold this title in Dpw-Water & Waste Water (550). Median total compensation for the role is $50,584, above the department median of $42,796.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area, the median wage for Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators — about 3,350 people — is $60,740. Dpw-Water & Waste Water (550) pays a median base salary of $43,934 for this role, 28% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators across every employer in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Dpw-Water & Waste Water (550)’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators — about 478,090 people — is $59,850. Dpw-Water & Waste Water (550)’s median base salary is 27% below that national figure, about the 14th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Dpw-Water & Waste Water (550) is $43,934, 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 departments
Heavy Equipment Operator I is held in 13 City of Baltimore departments. In Dpw-Water & Waste Water (550), the median of $50,584 ranks #4 of 13.
Median total compensation for the Heavy Equipment Operator I role in other City of Baltimoredepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 12 jurisdictions. In City of Baltimore, the median of $51,783 ranks #6 of 12. See Heavy Equipment Operator across all of City of Baltimore →
Median total compensation for comparable Heavy Equipment Operatorroles 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.
Record list
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Heavy Equipment Operator I/Dpw-Water & Waste Water (550)
Source-specific fields
Kerney Lindsey is a Heavy Equipment Operator I at Dpw-Water & Waste Water (550). Their tenure dates to 1992, about 24 years. 2016 total compensation came to $65,515.
Heavy Equipment Operator I/Dpw-Water & Waste Water (550)
Source-specific fields
Lamont Jackson is a Heavy Equipment Operator I at Dpw-Water & Waste Water (550). Their tenure dates to 2006, about 7 years. 2013 total compensation came to $35,652.