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Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining · SOC 47-5022

Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining Salary in the Des Moines Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro area

Figures describe the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Des Moines city limits.

Median annual wage$61,830
Median hourly wage$29.73

Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro area earned a median of $61,830 per year ($29.73 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $51,300 at the 10th percentile to $77,630 at the 90th. BLS estimates 80 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in the Des Moines metro area earn more than $61,830 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $59,390 and $63,590.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$51,300$59,390$61,830$63,590$77,630
Hourly$24.66$28.55$29.73$30.57$37.32

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

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How this area compares

  • Des Moines metro areathis metro area
    $61,830
  • Iowastate (IA)
    $59,390
  • United Statesnational
    $57,430

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is +4% vs Iowa overall and +8% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$35,860$71,563$107,267$142,970San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR — $35,860Lubbock, TX — $41,110McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX — $43,980Columbus, GA-AL — $44,720El Paso, TX — $46,110Fort Smith, AR-OK — $46,490Roanoke, VA — $46,610Oklahoma City, OK — $47,100Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $47,160Topeka, KS — $47,570Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR — $47,800Binghamton, NY — $47,810Birmingham, AL — $47,970San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX — $47,970Utica-Rome, NY — $48,160Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH — $48,190Sioux Falls, SD-MN — $48,250Tulsa, OK — $48,330Macon-Bibb County, GA — $48,380Rochester, NY — $48,730Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $48,770Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT — $48,920Midland, TX — $49,070Savannah, GA — $49,400Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA — $49,430Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC — $49,520Syracuse, NY — $49,840Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $49,920Jackson, MS — $50,030Odessa, TX — $50,230Jacksonville, FL — $50,490Ogden, UT — $50,660Lancaster, PA — $50,850Pittsburgh, PA — $51,210Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX — $51,420Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $51,780Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ — $52,760Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $53,420Wheeling, WV-OH — $53,700Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $53,800Columbia, SC — $54,370Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $55,260Boise City, ID — $55,420Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $56,460Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $56,470Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA — $56,480Portland-South Portland, ME — $56,560Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC — $56,570Memphis, TN-MS-AR — $56,780Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY — $56,800Fond du Lac, WI — $56,800Cape Girardeau, MO-IL — $57,640Lexington-Fayette, KY — $57,640Columbus, OH — $57,870Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ — $58,110Asheville, NC — $58,710Richmond, VA — $58,710Raleigh-Cary, NC — $59,030Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $59,040Green Bay, WI — $59,280Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $59,280Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $59,560Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $59,860St. George, UT — $59,960Omaha, NE-IA — $59,980Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY — $60,050Greeley, CO — $60,070Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA — $60,180Madison, WI — $60,200St. Louis, MO-IL — $60,250Beckley, WV — $60,610Cedar Rapids, IA — $60,630Eugene-Springfield, OR — $60,840Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $60,850Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH — $60,950Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $61,040Toledo, OH — $61,070Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN — $61,140Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI — $61,140Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $61,330Colorado Springs, CO — $61,410Waterbury-Shelton, CT — $61,410Vineland, NJ — $61,760Canton-Massillon, OH — $61,770Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA — $61,830Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL — $61,990Salem, OR — $62,510Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV — $62,660Pueblo, CO — $63,600Burlington-South Burlington, VT — $63,700Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $64,400Manchester-Nashua, NH — $64,470Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $64,580Albuquerque, NM — $64,650Appleton, WI — $64,720Glens Falls, NY — $65,200Bakersfield-Delano, CA — $65,260Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN — $65,290Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO — $65,370Cleveland, OH — $65,900Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $66,160Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ — $67,260Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI — $68,600Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $69,240Pittsfield, MA — $71,300Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $73,300Worcester, MA — $73,780Fresno, CA — $74,390New Haven, CT — $75,110College Station-Bryan, TX — $75,440Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $76,110Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $81,180San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — $82,560Farmington, NM — $85,880Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $87,060New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $94,960San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $122,410Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $142,970

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The Des Moines metro area has the 34th-highest published median for this occupation among the 118 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Other metro areas in Iowa

Metro areas in the same state with published May 2025 medians for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining, highest first. Areas without published estimates are not listed.

  • Des Moines metro areathis page
    $61,830
  • Davenport metro area
    $61,990
  • Cedar Rapids metro area
    $60,630

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Construction Laborers$49,980Electricians$62,840First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers$82,090Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$75,040Carpenters$61,360Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators$62,610

Highest-paying metro areas for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface minings · Highest-paying occupations in Des Moines Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

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.