Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators · SOC 47-2071

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operatorss

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

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (1 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 156 metro areas

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$126,640	310	0.2
2	Urban Honolulu, HI	$111,360	Not published	Not published
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$104,530	260	0.1
4	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$96,590	270	0.1
5	Fort Wayne, IN	$95,510	50	0.2
6	Madison, WI	$93,610	80	0.2
7	Anchorage, AK	$84,190	60	0.4
8	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$83,370	140	0.2
9	Rochester, MN	$82,730	40	0.3
10	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$80,340	740	0.2
11	Appleton, WI	$78,260	40	0.3
12	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$77,480	70	0.1
13	St. Louis, MO-IL	$76,800	480	0.4
14	Youngstown-Warren, OH	$74,950	50	0.3
15	St. Joseph, MO-KS	$74,760	70	1.3
16	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$72,920	40	0.3
17	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$72,080	330	0.2
18	Springfield, IL	$71,670	50	0.5
19	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$70,530	220	0.2
20	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$68,520	380	0.1
21	Duluth, MN-WI	$68,180	50	0.4
22	Kansas City, MO-KS	$66,210	500	0.5
23	Baton Rouge, LA	$65,610	100	0.3
24	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$64,870	110	0.1
25	Albany, OR	$64,690	40	0.8

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment 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.