Paving Equipment Operators in the Huntington area earn a median of $50,390 a year, 1% above the typical U.S. metro. That ranks #70 of 151 metros for paving equipment operator pay nationwide.
Within driving distance, the same work pays more in Columbus and Cincinnati.
It's the only West Virginia metro with published pay for this trade; see paving equipment operator pay in West Virginia, including rural areas.
Paving Equipment Operator pay in Huntington at a glance
- Paving equipment operators in the Huntington, WV metro earn a median $50,390 a year ($24.22 an hour), #70 of 151 U.S. metros (BLS, May 2025).
- The middle 80% earn between $41,870 and $77,920.
- After local prices, that median buys what $56,988 would in a typical U.S. place (BEA, 2024).
- A typical 1-bedroom rents for $848 a month, 20% of the median pay (HUD, FY2027).
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Enter a rate to see where it falls among paving equipment operators in Huntington.
Comparing two real offers with overtime and commutes? Use the job offer checker.
What this means Our calculation
Pay for paving equipment operators here is about average compared with other U.S. metros, and above average once local prices are factored in. For the wider job market, unemployment is higher than in most metros (4.8%) and the population is shrinking (-2.6% since 2020).
Huntington scorecard for paving equipment operators Our calculation
Grades compare Huntington with every other U.S. metro for this trade (A = top 20%).
Pay Government data
Pay range
Shaded: the middle half of workers. Grey line: typical U.S. metro ($49,920).
Pay over time
The median pay for paving equipment operators in the Huntington area went from $46,110 in 2020 to $50,390 in 2025, up 9.3%. Prices rose 25% over the same period, so after inflation that's -12.8% — a real pay cut.
BLS OEWS, May 2020–May 2025; inflation: CPI-U (May to May). Year-to-year changes can include survey noise.
Compared with nearby metros
What the pay is really worth in Huntington Our calculation
Prices in the Huntington area run 12% below the U.S. average. Adjusted for that, a median paycheck here buys what $56,988 would in a typical place, ranking #54 of 150 on real pay.
Real pay or rent burden?
Real pay already accounts for housing, because the price index includes rent. Rent burden shows what share of pay a typical 1-bedroom takes. Use either one, not both together.
Want the full picture? Build a monthly budget for Huntington from this pay, local rent and prices.
What paving equipment operators do
Operate equipment used for applying concrete, asphalt, or other materials to road beds, parking lots, or airport runways and taxiways or for tamping gravel, dirt, or other materials. Includes concrete and asphalt paving machine operators, form tampers, tamping machine operators, and stone spreader operators.
Most important day-to-day tasks
- Start machine, engage clutch, and push and move levers to steer machine along forms or guidelines and to control the operation of machine attachments.
- Fill tanks, hoppers, or machines with paving materials.
- Control paving machines to push dump trucks and to maintain a constant flow of asphalt or other material into hoppers or screeds.
- Observe distribution of paving material to adjust machine settings or material flow, and indicate low spots for workers to add material.
- Coordinate truck dumping.
Outlook & getting started
Nationally, paving equipment operator jobs are projected to shrink 0.9% from 2025 to 2035 (all jobs: 3.5%), with about 3,100 openings a year. About 2% are self-employed.
What the work is like Government data
How often paving 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.
Licensing in West Virginia Official source
The main state licensing office in West Virginia is the West Virginia Division of Labor. It can point you to the right license for paving equipment operators.
Official West Virginia licensing site ↗
Requirements for paving equipment operators vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
On-the-job safety Government data
Nationally, paving equipment operators have 19 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 78% below the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is being struck by or caught in objects and equipment.
BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, 2023–2024 (national, cases with days away from work).
How much work is there? Government data
Local job market
The Huntington area's unemployment rate was 4.8% in 2025 (all workers, not just paving equipment operators), above the typical U.S. metro's 4.1%. It was 5.2% in 2021.
BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics, annual averages 2021–2025 (2025 preliminary).
Getting to work
The average commute in the Huntington area is 26 minutes each way, longer than the typical metro (24 min). 14% of commuters spend 45 minutes or more. 77% drive alone, 0% take transit and 8% work from home (all workers, not just trades).
Census American Community Survey, 2024 1-year estimates (table S0801).
Population
The Huntington area's population shrank 2.6% from 2020 to 2025 (375,713 → 365,965), ranking #374 of 387 metros for growth (typical metro +2.5%).
Census Bureau population estimates, July 1 of each year, 2020–2025.
Homes in Huntington
The Huntington area has about 172,984 homes. 56% were built before 1980 (typical metro 45%), so its housing is older than most; 7% were built in 2010 or later. Older homes often need more repair, replacement and upgrade work. 74% of households own their home, and the median home value is $159,600.
Census American Community Survey, 2024 1-year estimates (table DP04).
New construction
New-home permits in Huntington are roughly flat from 2021 to 2025 (305 → 309).
In 2025 the Huntington area approved permits for 309 new homes (236 single-family), or 0.8 per 1,000 residents, ranking #371 of 393 metros, a slower building market than most.
Working outdoors in Huntington Government data
In an average year, Huntington has 25 days at 90°F or hotter (about typical; typical metro 33), 90 nights below freezing (typical 90) and 86 days with a tenth of an inch of rain or more, and 20 inches of snow. Summer afternoons average 85°F and winter nights 29°F. That matters for paving equipment operators: heat and freezes shape the working season and the hours.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages, Huntington Tri State Airport, WV station. Compare cities on outdoor work weather.
Employee vs. working for yourself Your scenario
A model, not a market rate. It shows the break-even rate to match a $50,390 employee salary once you cover what an employer normally pays for (including the employer half of Social Security and Medicare, 7.65%), then adds your profit margin. Change any number.
Break-even rate
With your profit margin
How this calculator works. Weighing a contractor job against a W-2 one? Try the 1099 vs. W-2 comparison. Billable hours are hours you can charge a customer. Driving, quoting, paperwork and slow weeks aren't billable, which is why 1,400 is a common starting point versus 2,080 paid hours as an employee.
Get paving equipment operator pricing & estimate templates →Compare Huntington with another city →
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ToolHuntington budgetMonthly take-home, HUD rent and local prices on this pay.About this data
Local to the Huntington metro: pay (BLS, May 2025) and pay over time (2020–2025, CPI-adjusted), prices (BEA, 2024), rent (HUD, FY2027), new construction, housing, population and commuting (Census), unemployment (BLS) and business counts (Census, by industry). National: job outlook and training (BLS projections), injury rates (BLS) and duties (O*NET). Jobs are employment estimates, not open positions; grades rank Huntington against every other metro for paving equipment operators. Every source, year and formula is on our data page.
Report a data issue on this page
The Census doesn't publish one-person business or competition figures for paving equipment operators as a separate industry, so that section is left out.