Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,290
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$11,650
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,042
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
$64,940
Kept after tax
$53,290
Worth in national money
$58,042
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Ohio's middle earner gets $64,940, putting the state 16 of 51 — about 8.5% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 494 occupations Ohio reports figures for, this is number 181.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $64,940 you keep $53,290 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $58,042 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $71,830, since top earners drag the number up.
- For operating engineers and other construction equipment operators, Ohio sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $64,940, ranking 16 of 51 and running about 8.5% 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.
- In Ohio's occupational distribution, operating engineers and other construction equipment operators sits at 181 of 494 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Ohio is $53,290 after the full tax stack, from $64,940. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $58,042 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $71,830 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,850 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,100 |
| This salary | $64,940 |
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 | $53,290 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,359 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,103 |
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 | $63,609 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,683 |
| 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 operating engineers and other construction equipment operators in Ohio earn under $64,940 and half over. The published range runs $46,850 at the tenth percentile to $98,100 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $53,290 take-home in Ohio comes from $64,940. 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 181 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $58,042 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 181.
- Figures are distribution medians for operating engineers and other construction equipment operators in Ohio, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,850 to $98,100; 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 $53,290, from $64,940, assumes a single Ohio 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 181 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $58,042, worked from $64,940, 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 181 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 $71,830, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $46,850 at the bottom tenth to $98,100 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Ohio is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $58,042 in national terms.
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 $53,290.
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 Ohio is $71,830. 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 ($46,850) and the ninetieth ($98,100) 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 $58,042 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 $53,290 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.
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.