Heavy equipment operator salary in Miami, FL
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Heavy equipment operators in the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach, FL area earn a median of $51,800 a year, or $24.91 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $71,200. That's 5% more than the Florida median of $49,400.
- Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
- $19.33/hr
- Jobs in this area
- 5,850
- After cost of living
- $45,380
- Median hourly pay
- $24.91/hr
- vs U.S. median
- −13%
- vs Florida median
- +5%
- Mean (average) pay
- $54,900 a year · $26.39 an hour
Pay by percentile
What heavy equipment operators in Miami, 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.
| Percentile | Hourly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $19.33 | $40,200 |
| 25th percentile | $22.93 | $47,700 |
| Median (50th) | $24.91 | $51,800 |
| 75th percentile | $28.92 | $60,160 |
| 90th percentile | $34.23 | $71,200 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
How Miami, FL compares
- Miami has the highest heavy equipment operator median of the 22 Florida metro areas with published pay.
- Heavy equipment operators are less concentrated in the Miami area than nationally: 2.1 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.68 times the U.S. share.
Other Florida metro areas
Other trades in Miami, FL
Questions
- Do heavy equipment operators make more in Miami or Orlando?
- Miami pays more: the median is $51,800 in Miami and $51,020 in Orlando, a 2% 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 33100 (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, 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 (114.2, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures