Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,649
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$18,101
23.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,492
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
$78,750
Kept after tax
$60,649
Worth in national money
$58,492
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Connecticut's middle earner gets $78,750, putting the state 9 of 51 — about 31.58% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Connecticut, this sits in the middle: 168 of 482 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $78,750 the take-home is $60,649. But Connecticut costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $58,492 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $83,380, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For operating engineers and other construction equipment operators, Connecticut sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $78,750, ranking 9 of 51 and running about 31.58% 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.
- Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators ranks 168 of 482 occupations in Connecticut by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Connecticut income tax is $60,649 for operating engineers and other construction equipment operators, from $78,750. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $58,492. ⚠️ 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 $83,380 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $106,920 |
| This salary | $78,750 |
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 | $60,649 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,231 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,606 |
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 | $73,659 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,507 |
| 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 operating engineers and other construction equipment operators in Connecticut earn under $78,750 and half over. The published range runs $60,000 at the tenth percentile to $106,920 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 Connecticut's $60,649, worked from $78,750. 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 168 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Connecticut, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $58,492, the adjusted value of that $78,750 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 168 of 482 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for operating engineers and other construction equipment operators in Connecticut, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $60,000 to $106,920; 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 Connecticut take-home of $60,649, on $78,750 for work ranking 168 of 482 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 168 of 482 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Connecticut, so $58,492 — the adjusted value of that $78,750 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 168 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 $83,380, 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 $60,000 and the top tenth $106,920, so most people doing this work in Connecticut sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $58,492 of national purchasing power.
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 $60,649 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $83,380. 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 ($60,000 to $106,920) 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 $58,492 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 $60,649 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.