Heavy equipment operator salary in Kalamazoo, MI
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Heavy equipment operators in the Kalamazoo–Portage, MI area earn a median of $61,730 a year, or $29.68 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $90,990. Across all of Michigan, the median is $62,690, so Kalamazoo pays 2% less than the state as a whole.
- Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
- $21.14/hr
- Jobs in this area
- 190
- After cost of living
- $65,090
- Median hourly pay
- $29.68/hr
- vs U.S. median
- +3%
- vs Michigan median
- −2%
- Mean (average) pay
- $67,130 a year · $32.27 an hour
Pay by percentile
What heavy equipment operators in Kalamazoo, MI 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 | $21.14 | $43,980 |
| 25th percentile | $25.35 | $52,720 |
| Median (50th) | $29.68 | $61,730 |
| 75th percentile | $38.16 | $79,380 |
| 90th percentile | $43.75 | $90,990 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
How Kalamazoo, MI compares
- Kalamazoo ranks 9th of 16 Michigan metro areas for heavy equipment operator pay.
- Heavy equipment operators are less concentrated in the Kalamazoo area than nationally: 1.5 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.50 times the U.S. share.
Other Michigan metro areas
Other trades in Kalamazoo, MI
Questions
- Do heavy equipment operators make more in Kalamazoo or South Bend?
- South Bend pays more: the median is $61,730 in Kalamazoo and $80,460 in South Bend, a 23% 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 28020 (Kalamazoo-Portage, MI). 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 (94.8, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures