Crane and Tower Operators in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,961
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$21,149
20.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,655
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$101,110
Kept after tax
$79,961
Worth in national money
$73,655
State rank
4
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Washington pays crane and tower operators a middle wage of $101,110, ranking 4 of 50 states and sitting about 48.52% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 493 occupations Washington reports, crane and tower operators comes in at 118 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $101,110 the take-home is $79,961. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $73,655 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $101,600, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Washington's median for crane and tower operators is $101,110, about 48.52% above the national figure and 4 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Crane and tower operators ranks 118 of 493 occupations by median in Washington, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $79,961 for crane and tower operators, from $101,110. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $73,655. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $101,600 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Crane and Tower Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $133,550 |
| This salary | $101,110 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Washington | $79,961 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,961 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,631 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $101,110 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,922 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Washington earn less than $101,110. The published range is $63,180 up to $133,550, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Washington the take-home figure of $79,961, from $101,110, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 118 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Washington, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $73,655, the adjusted value of that $101,110 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 118 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for crane and tower operators in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $63,180 to $133,550. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Washington is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $79,961 from $101,110. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 118 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Washington, so $73,655 — the adjusted value of that $101,110 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 118 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $63,180 and the top tenth $133,550, so most people doing this work in Washington sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Washington run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $73,655 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $79,961 survives, because Washington levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($63,180 to $133,550) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $73,655 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $79,961 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.