Crane and Tower Operators salary

SOC 53-7021 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$68,080

per year, nationally

Middle half

$52,600–$83,200

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

42,890

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+3.0%

3,800 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$42,640$103,570

10th: $42,640
25th: $52,600
Median: $68,080
75th: $83,200
90th: $103,570

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: Less than 5 years
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where crane and tower operators earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Hawaii	$124,260	110.0	190	1.10×
2	Nevada	$115,840	100.0	380	0.89×
3	Rhode Island	$104,340	102.3	—	—
4	Washington	$101,110	107.0	1,030	1.05×
5	New Jersey	$100,640	108.8	1,000	0.84×
6	Massachusetts	$98,150	105.8	680	0.68×
7	Alaska	$92,490	102.4	50	0.58×
8	Maryland	$87,950	105.0	—	—
9	New York	$85,850	107.9	1,150	0.43×
10	Oregon	$83,260	103.4	340	0.63×
11	North Dakota	$82,890	89.0	180	1.49×
12	Montana	$82,800	94.6	30	0.25×
13	Connecticut	$81,360	103.6	220	0.46×
14	Minnesota	$80,930	98.6	370	0.45×
15	California	$79,570	110.7	2,130	0.42×
16	Wyoming	$77,970	92.7	230	3.01×
17	Colorado	$77,120	103.1	470	0.59×
18	Kansas	$77,100	90.1	780	1.96×
19	Texas	$73,280	97.1	6,010	1.55×
20	Vermont	$72,760	98.0	170	2.05×
21	Florida	$71,560	103.4	2,570	0.94×
22	South Dakota	$71,000	88.6	120	0.95×
23	Wisconsin	$67,720	94.1	440	0.54×
24	Iowa	$67,600	87.8	650	1.52×
25	Utah	$67,410	98.9	440	0.91×
26	Arizona	$67,350	100.7	930	1.04×
27	Virginia	$66,600	101.1	1,120	0.99×
28	Maine	$65,690	97.0	360	2.03×
29	Pennsylvania	$65,190	97.6	1,630	0.97×
30	North Carolina	$64,480	94.3	1,050	0.77×
31	South Carolina	$64,120	93.7	720	1.13×
32	Oklahoma	$63,590	87.8	620	1.31×
33	New Hampshire	$63,310	104.2	170	0.91×
34	New Mexico	$62,400	92.2	290	1.23×
35	Georgia	$62,050	96.3	1,370	1.02×
36	Kentucky	$62,000	90.2	640	1.17×
37	Illinois	$61,820	100.0	1,220	0.73×
38	Mississippi	$61,260	87.0	550	1.72×
39	Louisiana	$61,170	88.2	1,930	3.61×
40	Alabama	$60,790	88.8	1,280	2.19×
41	Nebraska	$60,720	90.1	410	1.44×
42	Delaware	$60,160	99.8	220	1.63×
43	Michigan	$59,740	96.2	1,310	1.08×
44	Tennessee	$59,410	91.9	660	0.73×
45	Missouri	$58,450	90.8	630	0.77×
46	Ohio	$57,620	92.8	1,780	1.16×
47	West Virginia	$54,830	89.5	170	0.90×
48	Indiana	$52,950	93.3	2,300	2.60×
49	Idaho	$52,770	95.5	—	—
50	Arkansas	$41,600	86.9	880	2.45×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where crane and tower operators wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for crane and tower operators

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$131,690	100.2	—	—
2	Worcester, MA	$122,260	102.5	110	1.16×
3	Urban Honolulu, HI	$120,560	111.0	170	1.38×
4	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$120,310	100.1	40	1.17×
5	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$116,840	102.4	70	4.69×
6	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$114,330	111.1	570	0.99×
7	Reno, NV	$101,160	101.0	—	—
8	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$100,640	112.6	1,500	0.57×
9	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$99,540	104.8	180	0.34×
10	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$99,320	105.6	110	4.14×
11	New Haven, CT	$99,130	104.6	30	0.40×
12	Reading, PA	$98,860	97.1	60	1.22×
13	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$98,410	115.6	240	0.36×
14	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$98,140	108.3	500	0.67×
15	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$97,740	102.7	50	0.30×
16	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$96,510	98.9	40	0.79×
17	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$92,120	108.9	410	0.48×
18	Springfield, MA	$90,320	96.1	40	0.72×
19	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$89,880	101.8	130	0.64×
20	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$87,950	104.5	410	1.09×
21	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$83,040	92.7	90	0.88×
22	Fargo, ND-MN	$81,980	90.9	40	1.00×
23	Las Cruces, NM	$81,830	90.2	50	2.30×
24	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$81,490	113.6	590	0.34×
25	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$81,280	103.2	50	0.96×
26	Kansas City, MO-KS	$81,150	92.5	330	1.08×
27	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$80,880	101.0	320	2.94×
28	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$80,850	93.1	170	0.91×
29	Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA	$80,700	92.7	40	1.34×
30	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$80,260	105.4	210	0.62×
31	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$79,970	100.9	250	1.08×
32	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$79,720	111.9	210	0.49×
33	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$79,500	100.3	70	0.97×
34	Midland, TX	$79,220	95.8	150	4.58×
35	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$78,310	110.5	50	0.53×
36	Wichita, KS	$78,180	88.9	340	4.00×
37	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$78,140	106.4	260	0.55×
38	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$78,100	114.2	530	0.68×
39	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$78,080	106.9	40	0.40×
40	Casper, WY	$77,830	93.8	40	3.32×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where crane and tower operators wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand$40,240
Stockers and Order Fillers$37,330
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators$46,420
Packers and Packagers, Hand$36,280
Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment$35,830
Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors$49,690
Machine Feeders and Offbearers$41,220
Material Moving Workers, All Other$41,800