Heavy equipment operator salary in California
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Heavy equipment operators in California earn a median of $87,160 a year, or $41.90 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $132,210. Nationally the median is $59,850, so California pays 46% more than the U.S. overall and ranks 4th of 51.
- Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
- $25.37/hr
- Jobs in California
- 36,020
- After cost of living
- $78,720
- Median hourly pay
- $41.90/hr
- vs U.S. median
- +46%
- Rank among states
- 4th of 51
- Mean (average) pay
- $94,000 a year · $45.19 an hour
Pay by percentile
What heavy equipment operators in California 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 | $25.37 | $52,760 |
| 25th percentile | $31.36 | $65,230 |
| Median (50th) | $41.90 | $87,160 |
| 75th percentile | $60.37 | $125,560 |
| 90th percentile | $63.56 | $132,210 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
Pay over time
The median heavy equipment operator wage in California rose 14.1%, from $76,380 in May 2021 to $87,160 in May 2025. Prices rose 19.4% over the same period, so after inflation it fell 4.4%.
| Year | Median a year | Median an hour |
|---|---|---|
| May 2021 | $76,380 | $36.72/hr |
| May 2022 | $79,290 | $38.12/hr |
| May 2023 | $82,350 | $39.59/hr |
| May 2024 | $89,120 | $42.85/hr |
| May 2025 | $87,160 | $41.90/hr |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, each May release; inflation from the BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI-U, May of each year). BLS cautions against reading much into year-to-year changes, so we compare the first and last years. How we compare years
How California compares
- Heavy equipment operators are less concentrated in California than nationally: 2.0 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.64 times the U.S. share.
Pay by metro area
- San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont$124,750
- San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara$124,340
- Santa Rosa–Petaluma$105,080
- Vallejo$95,100
- Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim$92,890
- Sacramento–Roseville–Folsom$91,650
- Modesto$90,560
- Napa$90,060
See all California metro areas
- San Diego–Chula Vista–Carlsbad$83,670
- Oxnard–Thousand Oaks–Ventura$83,290
- Santa Maria–Santa Barbara$81,500
- Yuba City$80,620
- Salinas$80,320
- San Luis Obispo–Paso Robles$79,340
- Chico$79,040
- Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario$78,720
- Fresno$78,310
- Bakersfield–Delano$77,960
- Stockton–Lodi$77,420
- Redding$77,090
- Santa Cruz–Watsonville$75,640
- Merced$74,800
- El Centro$70,830
- Hanford–Corcoran$63,050
- Visalia$60,530
Rural California
- North Coast Region$72,700
- Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region$71,380
- North Valley-Northern Mountains Region$71,380
Other trades in California
Bidding federal work? Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates in California list what contractors must pay heavy equipment operators on federal and federally assisted jobs, county by county.
Questions
- Where in California do heavy equipment operators earn the most?
- Among California metro areas, San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont has the highest median at $124,750 a year, and Visalia the lowest at $60,530.
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 06. 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 (110.7, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures