How Much Do Crane and Tower Operators Make in 2021 (including Starting Salary)

Stan T.Career, SalaryLeave a Comment

Annual Salary, Salary Range, and Highest Paying States and Industries

Crane and Tower Operators

Crane and Tower Operators operate mechanical boom and cable or tower and cable equipment to lift and move materials, machines, or products in many directions.

Salary
$64010
Becoming One
Medium
Education
Post-secondary certificate
Job Satisfaction
Low
Job Growth

Personality
Interest Match



Table of contents
  1. Average salary
  2. Starting salary
  3. Salary rank
  4. Salary range
  5. Highest paying states
  6. Highest paying industries

Average salary

Annual salary
$64010 per year
Hourly wage
$31 per hour

Starting salary

Entry-level annual salary
$34,170 to $44,270 per year
Entry-level hourly wage
$16 to $21 per hour

Entry-level Crane and Tower Operators with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $34,170 to $44,270 per year or $16 to $21 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience.

Salary rank

Salary rank
B

We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of Crane and Tower Operators to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank. We compared the salary of all careers then we gave them a rank of A, B, C, or D depending on where their average salary sit in comparison to other careers.

Salary range

Level Hourly Annual
Highest (Top 10%) $46 $95,820
Senior (Top 25%) $37 $76,190
Middle (Mid 50%) $29 $59,710
Junior (Bottom 25%) $21 $44,270
No experience (Bottom 10%) $16 $34,170

Highest paying states

State Hourly Annual
RI $42 $86,630
CA $41 $85,860
DC $39 $80,250
NV $37 $76,630
WA $37 $76,580
MA $36 $73,850
AK $34 $71,490
OR $34 $70,770
NM $34 $70,700
AZ $34 $69,930

Another simple way to increase your salary as a Crane and Tower Operator is to move to a higher paying state. However moving to a higher paying state like RI doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the expenses at RI might be much higher than where you are currently living at right now.

According to BLS, the highest paid Crane and Tower Operators are in the states of RI, CA, DC, NV and WA.

Highest paying industries

Salary by industry Annual Hourly
Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution $83880 $40.33
Other Specialty Trade Contractors $77710 $37.36
Residential Building Construction $76740 $36.89
Nonresidential Building Construction $74750 $35.94
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing $74650 $35.89
Support Activities for Rail Transportation $74230 $35.69
Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction $73990 $35.57
Building Equipment Contractors $73040 $35.12
Support Activities for Mining $71960 $34.60
Metal Ore Mining $70260 $33.78
Rental and Leasing Services $70210 $33.75
Waste Treatment and Disposal $70150 $33.73
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services $69430 $33.38
Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction $68780 $33.07
Foundation, Structure, and Building Exterior Contractors $68390 $32.88
Remediation and Other Waste Management Services $68010 $32.70
Local Government $66580 $32.01
Federal Executive Branch $66510 $31.98
Machinery, Equipment, and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers $66450 $31.95
Support Activities for Water Transportation $66290 $31.87
Truck Transportation $66100 $31.78
Utility System Construction $64030 $30.78
Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills $62940 $30.26
Machine Shops; Turned Product; and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing $62370 $29.99
Coal Mining $62090 $29.85
Rail Transportation $60770 $29.22
Ship and Boat Building $59880 $28.79
Chemical Manufacturing $59300 $28.51
State Government $59210 $28.47
Warehousing and Storage $55290 $26.58

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