Heavy equipment operator salary in Lake Havasu City, AZ
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Heavy equipment operators in the Lake Havasu City–Kingman, AZ area earn a median of $51,550 a year, or $24.78 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $83,200. Statewide, heavy equipment operators earn a median of $60,620; Lake Havasu City is 15% below it.
- Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
- $20.51/hr
- Jobs in this area
- 220
- After cost of living
- $54,780
- Median hourly pay
- $24.78/hr
- vs U.S. median
- −14%
- vs Arizona median
- −15%
- Mean (average) pay
- $56,130 a year · $26.99 an hour
Pay by percentile
What heavy equipment operators in Lake Havasu City, AZ earn at each point of the pay range, May 2025: 10% earn less than the 10th percentile, half earn less than the median, and 10% earn more than the 90th.
| Percentile | Hourly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $20.51 | $42,670 |
| 25th percentile | $22.21 | $46,200 |
| Median (50th) | $24.78 | $51,550 |
| 75th percentile | $28.77 | $59,840 |
| 90th percentile | $40.00 | $83,200 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
How Lake Havasu City, AZ compares
- Lake Havasu City ranks 6th of 7 Arizona metro areas for heavy equipment operator pay.
- Heavy equipment operators are more concentrated in the Lake Havasu City area than nationally: 3.9 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.3 times the U.S. share.
Other Arizona metro areas
Other trades in Lake Havasu City, AZ
Questions
- Do heavy equipment operators make more in Lake Havasu City or Phoenix?
- Phoenix pays more: the median is $51,550 in Lake Havasu City and $62,540 in Phoenix, a 18% difference.
About this data
Wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, occupation 47-2073 (Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators), area code 29420 (Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ). BLS counts wage and salary workers only, so self-employed heavy equipment operators and business owners aren't included. The cost-of-living figure divides the median by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for 2024 (94.1, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures