Heavy Equipment Operator

Across all employers in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY area, the median wage for Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators — about 950 people — is $73,650. Pub Wks, Pks & St - Equipt Op pays a median base salary of $40,887 for this role, 44% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Computed over the 10 of 16 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.

Median total compensation for this role at Pub Wks, Pks & St - Equipt Op is $61,093, 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.

Heavy Equipment Operator is held in 2 City of Buffalo departments. In Pub Wks, Pks & St - Equipt Op, the median of $61,093 ranks #1 of 2.

This role is reported in 12 jurisdictions. In City of Buffalo, the median of $58,280 ranks #4 of 12. See Heavy Equipment Operator across all of City of Buffalo →