TradeSalary

Heavy equipment operator salary in College Station, TX

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Heavy equipment operators in the College Station–Bryan, TX area earn a median of $47,980 a year, or $23.07 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $75,390 a year. Statewide, heavy equipment operators earn a median of $50,460; College Station is 5% below it.

Median yearly pay$47,980
Bottom 10% under$38,630Top 10% over$75,390
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$18.57/hr
Jobs in this area
590
After cost of living
$52,750
Median hourly pay
$23.07/hr
vs U.S. median
−20%
vs Texas median
−5%
Mean (average) pay
$53,710 a year · $25.82 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 17780, College Station-Bryan, TX). 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 College Station, TX 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$18.57$38,630
25th percentile$21.42$44,550
Median (50th)$23.07$47,980
75th percentile$27.69$57,600
90th percentile$36.25$75,390

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

How College Station, TX compares

  • College Station ranks 14th of 26 Texas metro areas for heavy equipment operator pay.
  • Heavy equipment operators are more concentrated in the College Station area than nationally: 4.4 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.4 times the U.S. share.

Other Texas metro areas

Other trades in College Station, TX

Questions

Do heavy equipment operators make more in College Station or Dallas?
Dallas pays more: the median is $47,980 in College Station and $51,370 in Dallas, a 7% 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 17780 (College Station-Bryan, TX). 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 (91.0, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures