Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,118
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$10,032
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,842
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$62,150
Kept after tax
$52,118
Worth in national money
$58,842
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $62,150, ranking 22 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in North Dakota, this sits in the middle: 206 of 460 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $62,150 the take-home is $52,118; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $58,842 would nationally. The average comes to $68,640, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Dakota occupies the middle band for operating engineers and other construction equipment operators: a median of $62,150, ranking 22 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators ranks 206 of 460 occupations in North Dakota 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.
- Post-tax income for operating engineers and other construction equipment operators in North Dakota, on $62,150, is $52,118 — equivalent to $58,842 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $68,640 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,570 |
| This salary | $62,150 |
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 North Dakota | $52,118 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,118 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,209 |
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 | $62,150 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,577 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 North Dakota earn under $62,150 and half over. The published range runs $49,840 at the tenth percentile to $100,570 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $52,118 take-home in North Dakota comes from $62,150. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 206 of 460.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $58,842 uses one figure for the whole of North Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 460 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 206.
- Figures are distribution medians for operating engineers and other construction equipment operators in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,840 to $100,570; 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.
- Retained pay of $52,118, from $62,150, assumes a single North Dakota filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 206 of 460 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $58,842, worked from $62,150, 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 North Dakota address, on work sitting at 206 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $68,640 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $49,840, the highest tenth $100,570, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $58,842 in national terms.
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 North Dakota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $52,118 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 North Dakota is $68,640. 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 ($49,840) and the ninetieth ($100,570) 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?
North Dakota'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 $58,842 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 $52,118 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.