TradeSalary

Heavy equipment operator salary in Crestview, FL

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Heavy equipment operators in the Crestview–Fort Walton Beach–Destin, FL area earn a median of $48,640 a year, or $23.39 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $71,430. Across all of Florida, the median is $49,400, so Crestview pays 2% less than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$48,640
Bottom 10% under$39,660Top 10% over$71,430
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$19.07/hr
Jobs in this area
390
After cost of living
$50,130
Median hourly pay
$23.39/hr
vs U.S. median
−19%
vs Florida median
−2%
Mean (average) pay
$53,670 a year · $25.80 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 18880, Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL). 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 Crestview, FL 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$19.07$39,660
25th percentile$22.35$46,480
Median (50th)$23.39$48,640
75th percentile$29.37$61,090
90th percentile$34.34$71,430

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

How Crestview, FL compares

  • Crestview ranks 11th of 22 Florida metro areas for heavy equipment operator pay.
  • Heavy equipment operators hold about the same share of jobs in the Crestview area as nationally: 3.1 of every 1,000 jobs.

Other Florida metro areas

Other trades in Crestview, FL

Questions

Do heavy equipment operators make more in Crestview or Miami?
Miami pays more: the median is $48,640 in Crestview and $51,800 in Miami, a 6% 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 18880 (Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL). 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 (97.0, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures