TradeSalary

Heavy equipment operator salary in Prescott Valley, AZ

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Heavy equipment operators in the Prescott Valley–Prescott, AZ area earn a median of $60,830 a year, or $29.24 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $72,560. Across all of Arizona, the median is $60,620, so Prescott Valley pays about the same as the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$60,830
Bottom 10% under$48,680Top 10% over$72,560
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$23.41/hr
Jobs in this area
770
After cost of living
$61,910
Median hourly pay
$29.24/hr
vs U.S. median
+2%
vs Arizona median
0%
Mean (average) pay
$60,080 a year · $28.88 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 39150, Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ). Excludes self-employed heavy equipment operators. Cost of living: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024. *Starting pay is estimated from the 10th percentile; BLS does not report pay by license level.

Pay by percentile

What heavy equipment operators in Prescott Valley, 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.

PercentileHourlyYearly
10th percentile$23.41$48,680
25th percentile$25.00$52,000
Median (50th)$29.24$60,830
75th percentile$30.16$62,730
90th percentile$34.89$72,560

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.

How Prescott Valley, AZ compares

  • Prescott Valley ranks 2nd of 7 Arizona metro areas for heavy equipment operator pay.
  • Heavy equipment operators are more concentrated in the Prescott Valley area than nationally: 10.6 of every 1,000 jobs, 3.5 times the U.S. share.

Other Arizona metro areas

Other trades in Prescott Valley, AZ

Questions

Do heavy equipment operators make more in Prescott Valley or Phoenix?
Phoenix pays more: the median is $60,830 in Prescott Valley and $62,540 in Phoenix, a 3% 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 39150 (Prescott Valley-Prescott, 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 (98.3, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures