Heavy equipment operator salary in Owensboro, KY
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Heavy equipment operators in the Owensboro, KY area earn a median of $49,550 a year, or $23.82 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $81,070 a year. Statewide, heavy equipment operators earn a median of $57,780; Owensboro is 14% below it.
- Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
- $17.30/hr
- Jobs in this area
- 140
- After cost of living
- $55,920
- Median hourly pay
- $23.82/hr
- vs U.S. median
- −17%
- vs Kentucky median
- −14%
Entry-level to top heavy equipment operator pay
| Stage | Yearly pay | Hourly pay |
|---|---|---|
| Apprentice / entry level | $35,980–$46,650$17.30–$22.43/hr | |
| Experienced operator | $49,550$23.82/hr | |
| Top earners | $61,300–$81,070$29.47–$38.98/hr |
Estimated from BLS percentiles (10th–25th, median, 75th–90th); BLS does not report pay by license level.
How Owensboro, KY compares
- Owensboro has the lowest heavy equipment operator median of the 9 Kentucky metro areas with published pay.
- Heavy equipment operators hold about the same share of jobs in the Owensboro area as nationally: 2.8 of every 1,000 jobs.
- The 90th-percentile wage, $81,070, is 2.3 times the 10th-percentile wage, $35,980: a measure of how much pay rises with experience and specialty.
Other Kentucky metro areas
Other trades in Owensboro, KY
Questions
- How much do heavy equipment operators make in Owensboro, KY?
- Heavy equipment operators in the Owensboro, KY area earn a median of $49,550 a year, or $23.82 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $81,070 a year.
- How much do heavy equipment operators make an hour in Owensboro, KY?
- The median hourly wage is $23.82. The middle half earn between $22.43 and $29.47 an hour. (BLS, May 2025.)
- What do apprentice heavy equipment operators make in Owensboro, KY?
- BLS doesn't report pay by license level. The 10th-percentile wage, $17.30 an hour ($35,980 a year), is a reasonable estimate of starting pay; the 25th percentile is $22.43.
- Do heavy equipment operators make more in Owensboro or Cincinnati?
- Cincinnati pays more: the median is $49,550 in Owensboro and $66,950 in Cincinnati, a 26% difference.
- How does Owensboro pay compare with the rest of Kentucky?
- The Owensboro median of $49,550 is 14% less than the Kentucky median of $57,780.
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 36980 (Owensboro, KY). 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 (88.6, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures