City of Charlotte / Equipment Operator
Role across City of Charlotte
Equipment Operator
Operate, maintain, and repair equipment or facilities, performing skilled hands-on work.
43 people hold the Equipment Operator role across 5 departments in City of Charlotte, with a median total compensation of $54,064. Among 12 jurisdictions where this role is reported, City of Charlotte ranks #7 by median pay.
- Employees
- 43
- Median pay
- $54,064
- Departments
- 5
- Cross-jurisdiction
- #7 of 12
Compared with the local labor market
Equipment Operator pay vs. the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC area
Across all employers in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC area, the median wage for Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators — about 4,440 people — is $50,870. City of Charlotte pays a median base salary of $54,064 for this role, 6% above that figure — about the 60th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where City of Charlotte sits in the local pay range
The bar is the range of annual wages for Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators across every employer in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows City of Charlotte’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. City of Charlotte’s median base salary is 10% below that national figure, about the 37th 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 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at City of Charlotte is $54,064, 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 pay in other jurisdictions
Where Equipment Operators are paid most
Median total compensation for comparable Equipment Operator roles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.
Within City of Charlotte
Departments with this role
Largest City of Charlotte departments for this role
Departments in City of Charlotte employing the most people in this role. Each bar links to that department’s page for the role.