Logging Equipment Operators Salary and Pay
How much do Logging Equipment Operators make?
In May 2024 the middle Logging Equipment Operators worker earned $49,210 a year, the average was $52,020, and the survey counted 22,520 jobs. The 25th percentile is $43,750 and the 75th is $60,640.
What Logging Equipment Operators actually pay, from the federal wage survey: a $49,210 median, the full percentile ladder, every state's table, and the metros where the jobs and the money sit, on one page.
Updated November 5, 2026
Salary converter for this occupation
Every level in the picker is a published BLS figure for Logging Equipment Operators, not a national average. Annual-to-hourly conversions divide by 2,080 hours, the survey's full-time year; top-coded levels use $239,200, the floor BLS prints, so the true figure is higher.
The national wage ladder (BLS OEWS, May 2024)
| Pay level | Annual wage | Hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $35,050 | $16.85 |
| 25th percentile | $43,750 | $21.03 |
| Median (50th) | $49,210 | $23.66 |
| 75th percentile | $60,640 | $29.15 |
| 90th percentile | $72,280 | $34.75 |
Percentiles answer the question a single average cannot: where would a given Logging Equipment Operators offer sit among all 22,520 workers doing this job? The survey top-codes at $239,200+ and withholds unreliable cells, shown as n/p in the table.
Employment and concentration
The occupation employed 22,520 people in May 2024, 0.01% of every job BLS counted. Alabama is the largest employer at 1,950 jobs, and the leading three states between them hold 24.5% of the workforce. Concentration peaks in Maine, whose location quotient of 9.94 says this work is 9.94 times as dense there as it is nationwide.
One in ten workers in this field earns $35,050 or less, and one in ten earns $72,280 or more, so the top-to-bottom ratio is 2.1 to 1 and the annual gap is $37,230. The mean ($52,020) versus median ($49,210) comparison shows a right-skewed ladder where senior and specialist roles lift the average in this occupation.
Pay by state
Sorted by employment, the table below puts Alabama first at 1,950 jobs; sorted by median pay instead, Washington would lead at $74,400. Both orderings are printed in one table:
| State | Employment | Jobs per 1,000 | Location quotient | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 1,950 | 0.9 | 6.38 | $50,780 | $48,990 |
| Georgia | 1,810 | 0.4 | 2.55 | $50,360 | $46,970 |
| Oregon | 1,750 | 0.9 | 6.10 | $58,910 | $58,940 |
| North Carolina | 1,190 | 0.2 | 1.67 | $46,120 | $45,580 |
| Washington | 1,150 | 0.3 | 2.23 | $72,120 | $74,400 |
| Florida | 1,060 | 0.1 | 0.74 | $47,940 | $48,450 |
| Mississippi | 1,060 | 0.9 | 6.23 | $46,230 | $47,910 |
| South Carolina | 980 | 0.4 | 2.95 | $49,620 | $46,270 |
| Arkansas | 970 | 0.8 | 5.14 | $47,290 | $46,580 |
| California | 940 | 0.1 | 0.36 | $63,200 | $62,000 |
| Maine | 920 | 1.5 | 9.94 | $47,250 | $45,480 |
| Louisiana | 910 | 0.5 | 3.26 | $55,010 | $56,780 |
| Michigan | 790 | 0.2 | 1.23 | $49,360 | $46,970 |
| Virginia | 760 | 0.2 | 1.29 | $49,190 | $46,170 |
| Texas | 670 | 0.0 | 0.33 | $54,180 | $60,220 |
| Idaho | 660 | 0.8 | 5.35 | $62,050 | $58,200 |
| Tennessee | 450 | 0.1 | 0.95 | $46,040 | $46,800 |
| Pennsylvania | 440 | 0.1 | 0.50 | $42,880 | $43,820 |
| West Virginia | 420 | 0.6 | 4.13 | $39,890 | $35,210 |
| New York | 360 | 0.0 | 0.26 | $47,600 | $42,760 |
| Minnesota | 340 | 0.1 | 0.79 | $49,290 | $49,120 |
| Wisconsin | 300 | 0.1 | 0.71 | $50,020 | $48,260 |
| Ohio | 290 | 0.1 | 0.36 | $47,670 | $48,360 |
| Missouri | 210 | 0.1 | 0.48 | $47,950 | $41,630 |
| Montana | 210 | 0.4 | 2.84 | $53,200 | $52,270 |
| Indiana | 190 | 0.1 | 0.41 | $47,190 | $45,920 |
| New Hampshire | 180 | 0.3 | 1.82 | $55,440 | $51,170 |
| Kentucky | 150 | 0.1 | 0.51 | $46,750 | $48,880 |
| Oklahoma | 130 | 0.1 | 0.51 | $41,500 | $37,440 |
| Illinois | 90 | 0.0 | 0.11 | $56,830 | $52,580 |
| Vermont | 90 | 0.3 | 2.11 | $50,570 | $55,050 |
| Colorado | 80 | 0.0 | 0.19 | $58,660 | $50,600 |
| Maryland | 80 | 0.0 | 0.20 | $54,270 | $51,920 |
| South Dakota | 70 | 0.2 | 1.11 | $56,420 | $58,370 |
| Alaska | 40 | 0.1 | 0.90 | $62,800 | $58,730 |
| Arizona | 40 | 0.0 | 0.10 | $53,810 | $50,870 |
| Massachusetts | n/p | n/p | n/p | $51,100 | $49,000 |
The occupation in context
Ranked against all 826 published occupations, Logging Equipment Operators stands number 535 by employment and number 539 by median pay. Inside its own major group, Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations, the group median wage is $46,710 across 13 detailed occupations, so this occupation pays 5% more than its group median, and it supplies 5.1% of the group's 440,980 jobs. In 15 of the 37 states with a published median, the state median beats the national median of $49,210, which is the single best quick test of whether this occupation's pay is set nationally or locally: a high count means local markets regularly outbid the national figure.
Metropolitan areas: where the jobs and the pay sit
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA is the largest metro employer with 270 jobs, 1.2% of the national total. Below, the biggest employers come first; the pay table after it only counts metros with 500 or more jobs in the occupation, so its leader is a real market and not a statistical artifact.
Largest metro employers
| Metropolitan area | Employment | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 270 | $66,090 | $63,420 |
| Eugene-Springfield, OR | 250 | $57,840 | $58,420 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 210 | $52,940 | $46,920 |
| Tuscaloosa, AL | 180 | $50,960 | $49,350 |
| Bangor, ME | 160 | $46,720 | $44,690 |
| Jacksonville, FL | 160 | $50,090 | $50,600 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 150 | $75,170 | $75,060 |
| Albany, OR | 140 | $57,910 | $58,960 |
| Longview-Kelso, WA | 140 | $74,030 | $74,840 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 130 | $51,430 | $49,790 |
What the median pay looks like as a budget
Budget arithmetic on the median: $4,101 a month before tax, $1,893 biweekly, $946 weekly. Moving from the 25th percentile ($43,750) to the 75th ($60,640) is worth $16,890 a year, which is the realistic size of the experience and specialization premium inside this occupation. To turn any of these gross figures into spendable money, run them through the paycheck calculator; to weigh an offer against your current role, use the salary calculator; to test a raise against prices, the raise vs inflation calculator.
To place a real offer: a salary of $54,131 would sit between the median ($49,210) and the 75th percentile ($60,640), inside the top half but outside the top quarter of this occupation's ladder. An offer at the 25th percentile, $43,750, is $5,460 under the median, the typical size of the discount attached to entry-level or low-cost-market postings in this field.
Related occupations in Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations
The occupations BLS groups with this one, by size: Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals, Agricultural Equipment Operators, First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers, Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products, Agricultural Inspectors, Forest and Conservation Workers. Every one of the 826 published occupations is indexed on the Careers hub.
Frequently asked questions
What is the median salary for Logging Equipment Operators?
$49,210 a year ($23.66), the middle wage among 22,520 counted workers in the BLS May 2024 estimates. The 75th percentile is $60,640 and the 90th is $72,280.
Where are Logging Equipment Operators jobs concentrated?
By headcount, Alabama leads with 1,950 jobs; by concentration, Maine leads with a location quotient of 9.94, meaning the occupation is 9.94 times as dense there as nationally.
What do the top 10% of Logging Equipment Operators earn?
$72,280 a year or more. The gap between the 90th percentile and the median ($49,210) is the size of the senior and specialist premium in this occupation.
How does EveryCalc get Logging Equipment Operators pay data?
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS bulk files for May 2024 (national, state, and metropolitan), downloaded November 5, 2026. Nothing on this page is self-reported by workers or scraped from job postings.