Career
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators
Run bulldozers, excavators and other heavy equipment.
$59,850
Median pay
+4.6%
Job growth, 2025–35
39,200
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Learn and follow safety regulations.
- Take actions to avoid potential hazards or obstructions, such as utility lines, other equipment, other workers, or falling objects.
- Start engines, move throttles, switches, or levers, or depress pedals to operate machines, such as bulldozers, trench excavators, road graders, or backhoes.
- Coordinate machine actions with other activities, positioning or moving loads in response to hand or audio signals from crew members.
- Align machines, cutterheads, or depth gauge makers with reference stakes and guidelines or ground or position equipment, following hand signals of other workers.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Learn and follow safety regulations.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Operation and Control, Operations Monitoring, Equipment Maintenance, Monitoring.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though moderate-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $59,850 a year and 39,200 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Construction/Heavy Equipment/Earthmoving Equipment OperationCIP 49.0202
- Mobil Crane Operator/OperationCIP 49.0206
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining$57,430 · +1.0%
- Hoist and Winch Operators$56,450 · +0.2%
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines$65,510 · +6.7%
- Continuous Mining Machine Operators$61,810 · +3.2%
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators$46,420 · +1.5%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.