Personal or work email, both work. No account needed. Unsubscribe anytime.
The national median salary for Logging Equipment Operators is $49,733 per year ($23.91/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $43,971 and $61,048 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $74,298 per year. There are approximately 21,060 logging equipment operators employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Drive logging tractor or wheeled vehicle equipped with one or more accessories, such as bulldozer blade, frontal shear, grapple, logging arch, cable winches, hoisting rack, or crane boom, to fell tree; to skid, load, unload, or stack logs; or to pull stumps or clear brush. Includes operating stand-alone logging machines, such as log chippers. Logging truck drivers are included in “Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers” (53-3032).
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
-1.4%
Slower than average
Annual openings
4K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
31K
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
0% from new growth100% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
High school diploma or equivalent
Experience
None
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Logging
NAICS 113300
17K
$50,840
Sawmills and Wood Preservation
NAICS 321100
3K
$42,070
Veneer, Plywood, and Engineered Wood Product Manufacturing
NAICS 321200
230
$45,100
Truck Transportation
NAICS 484000
150
$50,450
Other Wood Product Manufacturing
NAICS 321900
110
$34,730
Wage range across top 5 industries: $34,730 to $50,840 (46% spread)
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$16.91
$35,173
P25
$21.14
$43,971
P50MEDIAN
$23.91
$49,733
P75
$29.35
$61,048
P90
$35.72
$74,298
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · other sector
Active
Openings Rate
3.4%
Quits Rate
2.0%
The labor market rebounded in March: hires jumped to 5.6M (+655K) and separations rose to 5.4M (+356K), both more than offsetting February's drop. Job openings held at 6.9M. Quits ticked to 2.0%.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average logging equipment operators salary?
The national median salary for Logging Equipment Operators is $49,733 per year ($23.91/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 data. The middle 50% earn between $43,971 and $61,048 annually.
How much do top-earning logging equipment operators make?
The 90th percentile salary for Logging Equipment Operators is $74,298 per year ($35.72/hr). The 75th percentile is $61,048 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for logging equipment operators?
Entry-level Logging Equipment Operators (10th percentile) earn approximately $35,173 per year ($16.91/hr). The 25th percentile is $43,971 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
Built and maintained by Falcon Incentives, a compensation strategy and incentive design consultancy.