Heavy Equipment Operator: Backhoe

Median Annual Income

$63,550

Projected Job Growth

+5 %

Career Cluster(s)

Construction

Most Common Education Level

High school diploma or equivalent

Operate pile drivers mounted on skids, barges, crawler treads, or locomotive cranes to drive pilings for retaining walls, bulkheads, and foundations of structures such as buildings, bridges, and piers.

Median Annual Income

$56,160

Projected Job Growth

+4 %

Career Cluster(s)

Construction

Most Common Education Level

High school diploma or equivalent

Operate one or several types of power construction equipment, such as motor graders, bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks, shovels, tractors, or front-end loaders to excavate, move, and grade earth, erect structures, or pour concrete or other hard surface pavement. May repair and maintain equipment in addition to other duties.

Median Annual Income

$50,050

Projected Job Growth

-1 %

Career Cluster(s)

Energy & Natural Resources

Most Common Education Level

High school diploma or equivalent

Operate or tend machinery at surface mining site, equipped with scoops, shovels, or buckets to excavate and load loose materials.

Median Annual Income

$46,340

Projected Job Growth

+6 %

Career Cluster(s)

Energy & Natural Resources

Most Common Education Level

No formal educational credential

Assemble or repair oil field equipment using hand and power tools. Perform other tasks as needed.

Median Annual Income

$61,900

Projected Job Growth

+9 %

Career Cluster(s)

Construction

Most Common Education Level

High school diploma or equivalent

Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul mobile mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic equipment, such as cranes, bulldozers, graders, and conveyors, used in construction, logging, and mining.

Median Annual Income

$57,350

Projected Job Growth

+8 %

Career Cluster(s)

Construction

Most Common Education Level

High school diploma or equivalent

Lubricate machinery, change parts, or perform other routine machinery maintenance.

Median Annual Income

$56,220

Projected Job Growth

+5 %

Career Cluster(s)

Energy & Natural Resources

Most Common Education Level

High school diploma or equivalent

Set up or repair rigging for construction projects, manufacturing plants, logging yards, ships and shipyards, or for the entertainment industry.

Median Annual Income

$64,690

Projected Job Growth

+4 %

Career Cluster(s)

Construction

Most Common Education Level

High school diploma or equivalent

Operate mechanical boom and cable or tower and cable equipment to lift and move materials, machines, or products in many directions.

Median Annual Income

$44,470

Projected Job Growth

+3 %

Career Cluster(s)

Supply Chain & Transportation

Most Common Education Level

No formal educational credential

Operate industrial trucks or tractors equipped to move materials around a warehouse, storage yard, factory, construction site, or similar location.

Median Annual Income

$37,660

Projected Job Growth

+4 %

Career Cluster(s)

Supply Chain & Transportation

Most Common Education Level

No formal educational credential

Manually move freight, stock, luggage, or other materials, or perform other general labor. Includes all manual laborers not elsewhere classified.