Statewide pay Government data
Heavy equipment operators in Kentucky earn a statewide median of $57,780 a year, 3% below the typical U.S. metro, ranking #35 of 50 states and DC. About 7,050 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Kentucky
See all states on the heavy equipment operators nationwide.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes heavy equipment operator pay for 6 Kentucky metros: Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Lexington, Louisville/Jefferson County, Owensboro and Paducah.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville/Jefferson CountyKENTUCKY · KY | $61,890 | $66,495 | 1,920 |
| Bowling GreenKENTUCKY · KY | $60,180 | $66,734 | 300 |
| PaducahKENTUCKY · KY | $59,000 | $68,538 | 460 |
| LexingtonKENTUCKY · KY | $58,560 | $63,043 | 760 |
| ElizabethtownKENTUCKY · KY | $50,960 | $56,265 | 110 |
| OwensboroKENTUCKY · KY | $49,550 | $55,919 | 140 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
Pay outside the cities Government data
BLS also reports pay for Kentucky's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Operate one or several types of power construction equipment, such as motor graders, bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks, shovels, tractors, or front-end loaders to excavate, move, and grade earth, erect structures, or pour concrete or other hard surface pavement. May repair and maintain equipment in addition to other duties.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4.6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 39,200 openings a year. Typical training: moderate-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, heavy equipment operators have 78 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, about the same as all jobs (87). The most common cause is being struck by or caught in objects and equipment.
What the work is like Government data
How often heavy equipment operators deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes some preparation (high school plus months of training).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Registered apprenticeships Government data
Of heavy equipment operator apprentices in Kentucky who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 65% completed (U.S.: 65%), about 11 graduates a year. The typical program runs 6,000 hours, about 3 years of full-time work. Search open registered programs near you on the official Apprenticeship Finder.
U.S. Department of Labor, RAPIDS apprentice records (Completion Rate Analysis), FY2020–2024 exits.
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
Kentucky runs its own workplace-safety program (an OSHA State Plan), so its injury reports aren't in the federal dataset. Nationally, in states federal OSHA covers, site preparation contractors filed 763 severe injury reports from 2015 to 2024; the most common cause was contact with objects and equipment (51%). OSHA also opened 10 fatality investigations at site preparation contractors in Kentucky over the same years (federal and state programs).
OSHA Severe Injury Reports, January 2015–December 2024 (states under federal OSHA only).
Fatality investigations: OSHA Fatality Inspection Data, events 2015–2024, all states.
Licensing in Kentucky Official source
The main state licensing office in Kentucky is the Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction. The state licenses electrical, plumbing and HVAC; general contractors are licensed locally. It can point you to the right license for heavy equipment operators.
Official Kentucky licensing site ↗
Requirements for heavy equipment operators vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 8.9% of wage and salary workers in Kentucky were union members, below the U.S. rate of about 10% (#24 of 51 states and D.C.), and 10.5% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only heavy equipment operators.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Kentucky
All trades in Kentucky.