TradeSalary

Heavy equipment operator salary in Pueblo, CO

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Heavy equipment operators in the Pueblo, CO area earn a median of $61,130 a year, or $29.39 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $74,820. Across all of Colorado, the median is $62,620, so Pueblo pays 2% less than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$61,130
Bottom 10% under$47,380Top 10% over$74,820
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$22.78/hr
Jobs in this area
310
After cost of living
$66,620
Median hourly pay
$29.39/hr
vs U.S. median
+2%
vs Colorado median
−2%
Mean (average) pay
$62,310 a year · $29.96 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 39380, Pueblo, CO). 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 Pueblo, CO 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$22.78$47,380
25th percentile$26.04$54,170
Median (50th)$29.39$61,130
75th percentile$35.97$74,820
90th percentile$35.97$74,820

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

How Pueblo, CO compares

  • Pueblo ranks 5th of 7 Colorado metro areas for heavy equipment operator pay.
  • Heavy equipment operators are more concentrated in the Pueblo area than nationally: 5.0 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.6 times the U.S. share.

Other Colorado metro areas

Other trades in Pueblo, CO

Questions

Do heavy equipment operators make more in Pueblo or Fort Collins?
Fort Collins pays more: the median is $61,130 in Pueblo and $64,650 in Fort Collins, a 5% 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 39380 (Pueblo, CO). 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 (91.8, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures