Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,114
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$13,596
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,260
Connecticut costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Connecticut — 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
$65,710
Kept after tax
$52,114
Worth in national money
$50,260
State rank
10
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Connecticut's middle earner gets $65,710, putting the state 10 of 49 — about 14.42% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 237 among 482 occupations Connecticut publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $65,710 the take-home is $52,114. But Connecticut costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $50,260 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $68,460, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining, Connecticut sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $65,710, ranking 10 of 49 and running about 14.42% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 237 of 482 in Connecticut places excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Connecticut income tax is $52,114 for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining, from $65,710. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $50,260. ⚠️ 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 $68,460 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: Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $85,040 |
| This salary | $65,710 |
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 Connecticut | $52,114 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,978 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,316 |
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 | $62,146 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,639 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in Connecticut earn under $65,710 and half over. The published range runs $46,930 at the tenth percentile to $85,040 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Connecticut the take-home figure of $52,114, from $65,710, 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 237 of 482 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $50,260 uses one figure for the whole of Connecticut. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 482 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 237.
- Figures are distribution medians for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in Connecticut, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,930 to $85,040; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Connecticut is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $52,114 from $65,710. 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 237 of 482 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,260, worked from $65,710, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Connecticut address, on work sitting at 237 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $68,460, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $46,930 and the top tenth $85,040, so most people doing this work in Connecticut sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Connecticut run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $50,260 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Connecticut adds its own income tax on top — which is why $52,114 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Connecticut is $68,460. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,930 to $85,040) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Connecticut rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Connecticut's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $50,260 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $52,114 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Connecticut income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.