Heavy equipment operator salary in Coeur d'Alene, ID
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Heavy equipment operators in the Coeur d'Alene, ID area earn a median of $64,540 a year, or $31.03 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $80,600 a year. Across all of Idaho, the median is $61,680, so Coeur d'Alene pays 5% more than the state as a whole.
- Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
- $23.87/hr
- Jobs in this area
- 450
- After cost of living
- $65,660
- Median hourly pay
- $31.03/hr
- vs U.S. median
- +8%
- vs Idaho median
- +5%
Entry-level to top heavy equipment operator pay
| Stage | Yearly pay | Hourly pay |
|---|---|---|
| Apprentice / entry level | $49,640–$58,220$23.87–$27.99/hr | |
| Experienced operator | $64,540$31.03/hr | |
| Top earners | $78,170–$80,600$37.58–$38.75/hr |
Estimated from BLS percentiles (10th–25th, median, 75th–90th); BLS does not report pay by license level.
How Coeur d'Alene, ID compares
- Coeur d'Alene has the highest heavy equipment operator median of the 7 Idaho metro areas with published pay.
- Heavy equipment operators are more concentrated in the Coeur d'Alene area than nationally: 6.2 of every 1,000 jobs, 2.0 times the U.S. share.
- The 90th-percentile wage, $80,600, is 1.6 times the 10th-percentile wage, $49,640: a measure of how much pay rises with experience and specialty.
Other Idaho metro areas
Other trades in Coeur d'Alene, ID
Questions
- How much do heavy equipment operators make in Coeur d'Alene, ID?
- Heavy equipment operators in the Coeur d'Alene, ID area earn a median of $64,540 a year, or $31.03 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $80,600 a year.
- How much do heavy equipment operators make an hour in Coeur d'Alene, ID?
- The median hourly wage is $31.03. The middle half earn between $27.99 and $37.58 an hour. (BLS, May 2025.)
- What do apprentice heavy equipment operators make in Coeur d'Alene, ID?
- BLS doesn't report pay by license level. The 10th-percentile wage, $23.87 an hour ($49,640 a year), is a reasonable estimate of starting pay; the 25th percentile is $27.99.
- Do heavy equipment operators make more in Coeur d'Alene or Idaho Falls?
- Coeur d'Alene pays more: the median is $64,540 in Coeur d'Alene and $63,910 in Idaho Falls, a 1% difference.
- How does Coeur d'Alene pay compare with the rest of Idaho?
- The Coeur d'Alene median of $64,540 is 5% more than the Idaho median of $61,680.
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 17660 (Coeur d'Alene, ID). 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