How to read this: BLS does not track excavation operators as their own occupation. These figures cover "Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators" (SOC 47-2073), which counts excavation work alongside related roles, so read them as the band rather than the exact number.
The average excavation operator in the United States earns $66,290 a year, and the median, which is the figure that describes a typical worker rather than one dragged around by the top end, is $59,850. That works out at about $31.87 an hour. Where you work moves that a long way: Hawaii averages $102,020 and Arkansas $45,890. Everything below is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 release, not from job ads or self-reported surveys.
What a excavation operator actually does for that money
Operating engineers cover everything from a mini excavator on a residential lot to a scraper on a highway job, which is a wide band of pay in one occupation. Most work for site contractors or heavy civil firms, and union representation is high on the commercial side.
What excavation operators earn, from bottom to top
An average hides the spread, and the spread is what matters when you are deciding whether to enter the trade or what to pay someone. Here is the full range BLS publishes.
| Percentile | Annual | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% | $42,190 | Starting out, or an apprentice rate |
| 25th | $48,680 | Still building speed and a customer base |
| Median | $59,850 | The middle of the trade |
| 75th | $77,170 | Experienced, licensed, in demand |
| Top 10% | $101,090 | Specialists, supervisors and owners |
Excavation salary by state
Hawaii pays the most at $102,020 a year, and Arkansas the least at $45,890. Cost of living explains part of that gap and licensing rules explain a good deal of the rest.
| # | State | Average annual | Median annual | Hourly | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $102,020 | $115,860 | $49.05 | 2,380 |
| 2 | California | $94,000 | $87,160 | $45.19 | 36,020 |
| 3 | New Jersey | $93,270 | $89,660 | $44.84 | 5,980 |
| 4 | New York | $90,690 | $80,980 | $43.60 | 14,490 |
| 5 | Illinois | $90,500 | $97,740 | $43.51 | 12,290 |
| 6 | Washington | $88,290 | $81,700 | $42.45 | 10,290 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | $84,730 | $76,820 | $40.74 | 9,680 |
| 8 | Connecticut | $83,380 | $78,750 | $40.09 | 2,860 |
| 9 | Alaska | $82,680 | $77,810 | $39.75 | 3,050 |
| 10 | Oregon | $79,270 | $73,430 | $38.11 | 5,630 |
| 11 | Minnesota | $79,070 | $79,130 | $38.01 | 8,590 |
| 12 | Wisconsin | $77,770 | $75,280 | $37.39 | 8,140 |
| 13 | District of Columbia | $76,470 | $74,610 | $36.77 | 620 |
| 14 | Nevada | $76,050 | $71,410 | $36.56 | 5,410 |
| 15 | Indiana | $75,300 | $79,580 | $36.20 | 11,520 |
| 16 | Rhode Island | $72,470 | $63,610 | $34.84 | 970 |
| 17 | Ohio | $71,830 | $64,940 | $34.54 | 16,920 |
| 18 | North Dakota | $68,640 | $62,150 | $33.00 | 4,890 |
| 19 | Missouri | $67,960 | $60,540 | $32.67 | 10,470 |
| 20 | New Hampshire | $67,270 | $62,200 | $32.34 | 1,330 |
| 21 | Wyoming | $67,010 | $62,960 | $32.22 | 3,800 |
| 22 | Michigan | $66,920 | $62,690 | $32.17 | 9,500 |
| 23 | Pennsylvania | $65,920 | $60,530 | $31.69 | 22,120 |
| 24 | Colorado | $64,550 | $62,620 | $31.04 | 11,700 |
| 25 | Idaho | $63,920 | $61,680 | $30.73 | 4,270 |
| 26 | Iowa | $63,770 | $60,330 | $30.66 | 5,530 |
| 27 | Montana | $63,350 | $61,580 | $30.46 | 3,750 |
| 28 | Maryland | $61,650 | $61,410 | $29.64 | 6,610 |
| 29 | Arizona | $61,520 | $60,620 | $29.58 | 13,200 |
| 30 | Utah | $60,840 | $60,740 | $29.25 | 7,880 |
| 31 | Delaware | $60,690 | $58,020 | $29.18 | 1,230 |
| 32 | Vermont | $60,310 | $58,870 | $29.00 | 1,280 |
| 33 | South Dakota | $59,330 | $59,500 | $28.53 | 2,050 |
| 34 | Kentucky | $59,320 | $57,780 | $28.52 | 7,050 |
| 35 | Virginia | $58,400 | $57,160 | $28.08 | 12,100 |
| 36 | Nebraska | $58,240 | $58,360 | $28.00 | 3,180 |
| 37 | Maine | $58,230 | $56,140 | $27.99 | 2,210 |
| 38 | Kansas | $57,540 | $51,620 | $27.67 | 7,070 |
| 39 | Louisiana | $55,380 | $51,700 | $26.63 | 7,860 |
| 40 | Tennessee | $55,050 | $52,000 | $26.47 | 10,660 |
| 41 | New Mexico | $54,810 | $52,000 | $26.35 | 5,520 |
| 42 | West Virginia | $54,480 | $51,300 | $26.19 | 7,830 |
| 43 | Texas | $53,740 | $50,460 | $25.84 | 55,540 |
| 44 | Florida | $52,590 | $49,400 | $25.28 | 27,510 |
| 45 | North Carolina | $52,310 | $49,310 | $25.15 | 16,580 |
| 46 | South Carolina | $51,640 | $48,940 | $24.83 | 8,160 |
| 47 | Alabama | $50,680 | $47,520 | $24.36 | 9,640 |
| 48 | Oklahoma | $50,110 | $47,970 | $24.09 | 7,050 |
| 49 | Mississippi | $50,010 | $47,410 | $24.04 | 4,170 |
| 50 | Georgia | $49,660 | $47,880 | $23.88 | 15,700 |
| 51 | Arkansas | $45,890 | $44,520 | $22.06 | 5,800 |
Where the money is: highest paying metros
State averages flatten out the difference between a city and the rural county next to it. These are the metro areas paying excavation operators the most.
| # | Metro area | Average annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $111,400 | $53.56 |
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $110,300 | $53.03 |
| 3 | Kahului-Wailuku, HI | $106,970 | $51.43 |
| 4 | Urban Honolulu, HI | $104,010 | $50.00 |
| 5 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $101,710 | $48.90 |
| 6 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $100,710 | $48.42 |
| 7 | Vallejo, CA | $97,740 | $46.99 |
| 8 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $96,510 | $46.40 |
| 9 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $96,370 | $46.33 |
| 10 | Modesto, CA | $95,910 | $46.11 |
What moves the number
- Operators need a CDL for most machine transport and often specific equipment certifications. Underground utility work adds competent-person trenching and shoring requirements.
- Ground conditions set the calendar. Frozen and saturated ground stops work, so northern operators compress a year of earnings into fewer months.
- Underground utility, shoring and site development pay above general dirt work, and an operator who can grade to survey tolerances is the hardest one to replace.
- The bottom ten percent of excavation operators earn under $42,190 and the top ten percent clear $101,090. That gap is the trade telling you where the money is.
- Working for somebody else and working for yourself are different questions. These figures cover employed excavation operators on a payroll, so they exclude the self-employed, and in this trade a large share of the best operators are exactly that.
What you can earn running the business instead
The number above is a wage. Running the business is a different calculation: you take the full ticket rather than an hourly rate, and what you keep depends on how many jobs you fit in a week, how quickly you get paid and how much of your day goes on scheduling, estimates and chasing invoices instead of on the work. That is the part software actually changes. Owners who put scheduling, estimating, invoicing and automated follow-up in one place tend to run more jobs with the same crew, which is where the gap between a excavation operator wage and an owner income opens up.
Excavation salary FAQs
- How much do excavation operators make a year?
- The median excavation operator in the United States earns $59,850 a year and the average is $66,290, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 release. Half the trade earns more than the median and half less.
- How much do excavation operators make an hour?
- The mean hourly wage is $31.87. Annual earnings are usually higher than that rate multiplied by a standard year, because overtime, call-outs and premium work are not in the base rate.
- Which state pays excavation operators the most?
- Hawaii pays the most at an average of $102,020 a year, followed by California at $94,000 and New Jersey at $93,270. Cost of living accounts for some of that and licensing rules for much of the rest.
- Which cities pay excavation operators the most?
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA tops the list at an average of $111,400 a year, with San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA at $110,300. Metro figures move a lot more than state averages, so the city matters more than the state.
- Can excavation operators earn six figures?
- Yes. The top ten percent of excavation operators earn $101,090 or more. Getting there usually means a combination of licensing, specialization and either supervising a crew or running the business.
- Do these figures include self-employed excavation operators?
- No. The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program covers wage and salary workers, so sole proprietors and business owners are excluded. In a trade with as many owner-operators as this one, that matters when you read the number.
- Where does this excavation salary data come from?
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, for "Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators" (SOC 47-2073). It is a survey of employers rather than of workers, which is why it is more reliable than self-reported salary sites.
All wage figures on this page are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. BLS suppresses figures in areas with too few employers to publish safely; those appear as n/a rather than an estimate.
