Crane and Tower Operators · SOC 53-7021

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Crane and Tower Operatorss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for crane and tower operators. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 167 metro areas

Crane and Tower Operators: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$131,690	Not published	Not published
2	Worcester, MA	$122,260	110	0.3
3	Urban Honolulu, HI	$120,560	170	0.4
4	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$120,310	40	0.3
5	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$116,840	70	1.3
6	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$114,330	570	0.3
7	Reno, NV	$101,160	Not published	Not published
8	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$100,640	1,500	0.2
9	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$99,540	180	0.1
10	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$99,320	110	1.1
11	New Haven, CT	$99,130	30	0.1
12	Reading, PA	$98,860	60	0.3
13	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$98,410	240	0.1
14	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$98,140	500	0.2
15	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$97,740	50	0.1
16	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$96,510	40	0.2
17	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$92,120	410	0.1
18	Springfield, MA	$90,320	40	0.2
19	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$89,880	130	0.2
20	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$87,950	410	0.3
21	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$83,040	90	0.2
22	Fargo, ND-MN	$81,980	40	0.3
23	Las Cruces, NM	$81,830	50	0.6
24	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$81,490	590	0.1
25	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$81,280	50	0.3

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Crane and Tower Operators overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.