California · BLS May 2025
Also called operating engineer. SOC 47-2073.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 36,020 operating engineers and other construction equipment operators working in California. Here is what they are paid, what the median leaves after federal, state and FICA tax, and what that is worth against local prices.
Median pay · California
$87,160A year, or $41.90 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentileEntry and lowest-paid | $52,760 | $25.37 |
| 25th percentile | $65,230 | $31.36 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $87,160 | $41.90 |
| 75th percentile | $125,560 | $60.37 |
| 90th percentileMost experienced and senior | $132,210 | $63.56 |
| MeanThe average, pulled up by the top | $94,000 | $45.19 |
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
A $87,160 salary in California, for one single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026.
Prices in California sit at 110.7 against a national average of 100, so $87,160 earned here buys what $78,721 buys at national average prices.
Common questions
The median wage for heavy equipment operators in California is $87,160 a year, or $41.90 an hour.
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.
On the median wage of $87,160, one filer taking the standard deduction keeps about $66,286 a year, or roughly $5,524 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 24%.
California takes $3,861 of it in state income tax.
Yes. The median in California is 45.6% above the national median of $59,850.
Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in California sit at 110.7 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.
It is 0.88 times the median household income of $99,122. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.
Prices in California run at 110.7 against a national average of 100, with rents at 154.3, so $87,160 here buys about what $78,721 buys at national average prices.
The top tenth earn $132,210 a year or more, against $52,760 at the bottom tenth.
Experience, specialism, employer and the part of California someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.
The survey counted 36,020 of these jobs in California for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 36% less concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.
Sources