Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,091
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$10,149
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,379
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — 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
$58,240
Kept after tax
$48,091
Worth in national money
$52,379
State rank
29
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Ohio pays this job around $58,240 at the midpoint, 29 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 253 among 494 occupations Ohio publishes pay for.
- Here is where Ohio does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $58,240 you keep $48,091, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $52,379 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $63,300, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining the Ohio median is $58,240, ranking 29 of 49 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 253 of 494 in Ohio 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.
- After federal, FICA and Ohio income tax, retained pay for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining on $58,240 is $48,091. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $52,379 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $63,300 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $97,020 |
| This salary | $58,240 |
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 Ohio | $48,091 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,976 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,980 |
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 | $57,138 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,394 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
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 Ohio earn under $58,240 and half over. The published range runs $45,610 at the tenth percentile to $97,020 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Ohio's $48,091, worked from $58,240. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 253 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $52,379 uses one figure for the whole of Ohio. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 494 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 253.
- Figures are distribution medians for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in Ohio, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,610 to $97,020; 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.
- The Ohio take-home of $48,091, on $58,240 for work ranking 253 of 494 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 253 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $52,379, worked from $58,240, 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 Ohio address, on work sitting at 253 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $63,300, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $45,610 and the top tenth $97,020 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Ohio sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $52,379 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Ohio then takes its own share, leaving $48,091.
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 Ohio is $63,300. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($45,610) and the ninetieth ($97,020) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $52,379 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $48,091 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio 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.