TradeSalary

Heavy equipment operator salary in Manchester, NH

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Heavy equipment operators in the Manchester–Nashua, NH area earn a median of $60,370 a year, or $29.02 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $88,690. Statewide, heavy equipment operators earn a median of $62,200; Manchester is 3% below it.

Median yearly pay$60,370
Bottom 10% under$49,230Top 10% over$88,690
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$23.67/hr
Jobs in this area
210
After cost of living
$57,140
Median hourly pay
$29.02/hr
vs U.S. median
+1%
vs New Hampshire median
−3%
Mean (average) pay
$65,560 a year · $31.52 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 31700, Manchester-Nashua, NH). 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 Manchester, NH 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$23.67$49,230
25th percentile$25.00$52,000
Median (50th)$29.02$60,370
75th percentile$33.38$69,420
90th percentile$42.64$88,690

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

How Manchester, NH compares

  • Heavy equipment operators are less concentrated in the Manchester area than nationally: 1.0 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.34 times the U.S. share.

Other New Hampshire metro areas

Other trades in Manchester, NH

Questions

Do heavy equipment operators make more in Manchester or Boston?
Boston pays more: the median is $60,370 in Manchester and $76,940 in Boston, a 22% 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 31700 (Manchester-Nashua, NH). 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 (105.7, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures