TradeSalary

Heavy equipment operator salary in Fond du Lac, WI

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Heavy equipment operators in the Fond du Lac, WI area earn a median of $71,560 a year, or $34.40 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $94,750. Statewide, heavy equipment operators earn a median of $75,280; Fond du Lac is 5% below it.

Median yearly pay$71,560
Bottom 10% under$49,460Top 10% over$94,750
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$23.78/hr
Jobs in this area
160
After cost of living
$78,090
Median hourly pay
$34.40/hr
vs U.S. median
+20%
vs Wisconsin median
−5%
Mean (average) pay
$72,860 a year · $35.03 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 22540, Fond du Lac, WI). 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 Fond du Lac, WI 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$23.78$49,460
25th percentile$28.64$59,580
Median (50th)$34.40$71,560
75th percentile$43.18$89,810
90th percentile$45.56$94,750

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

How Fond du Lac, WI compares

  • Fond du Lac ranks 12th of 15 Wisconsin metro areas for heavy equipment operator pay.
  • Heavy equipment operators are more concentrated in the Fond du Lac area than nationally: 3.7 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.2 times the U.S. share.

Other Wisconsin metro areas

Other trades in Fond du Lac, WI

Questions

Do heavy equipment operators make more in Fond du Lac or Minneapolis?
Minneapolis pays more: the median is $71,560 in Fond du Lac and $83,340 in Minneapolis, a 14% 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 22540 (Fond du Lac, WI). 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 (91.6, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures