TradeSalary

Heavy equipment operator salary in Wichita Falls, TX

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Heavy equipment operators in the Wichita Falls, TX area earn a median of $47,860 a year, or $23.01 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $60,790. Across all of Texas, the median is $50,460, so Wichita Falls pays 5% less than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$47,860
Bottom 10% under$36,720Top 10% over$60,790
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$17.66/hr
Jobs in this area
180
After cost of living
$53,470
Median hourly pay
$23.01/hr
vs U.S. median
−20%
vs Texas median
−5%
Mean (average) pay
$47,910 a year · $23.03 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 48660, Wichita Falls, 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 Wichita Falls, 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$17.66$36,720
25th percentile$19.79$41,170
Median (50th)$23.01$47,860
75th percentile$25.09$52,190
90th percentile$29.23$60,790

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

How Wichita Falls, TX compares

  • Wichita Falls ranks 15th of 26 Texas metro areas for heavy equipment operator pay.
  • Heavy equipment operators hold about the same share of jobs in the Wichita Falls area as nationally: 3.2 of every 1,000 jobs.

Other Texas metro areas

Other trades in Wichita Falls, TX

Questions

Do heavy equipment operators make more in Wichita Falls or Dallas?
Dallas pays more: the median is $47,860 in Wichita Falls 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 48660 (Wichita Falls, 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 (89.5, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures