Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining Salary - BLS OEWS Wage Benchmarks
SOC 47-5044 · National · May 2025 OEWS Data
Is this a competitive Loading and Moving Machine Operators salary in 2026?
Based on BLS OEWS wage percentiles, JOLTS June 2026 demand signals, and ECI Q2 2026 wage growth.
How Loading and Moving Machine Operators pay is moving in 2026
Trend, demand, and spread context from BLS OEWS, JOLTS, and ECI
Median pay for this role rose 8.2% between the May 2024 and May 2025 BLS surveys, outpacing the 3.3% wage growth of Manufacturing (BLS ECI).
Manufacturing is running a 3.7% job-openings rate with quits at 1.5% (BLS JOLTS). The openings rate has drifted up from 3.4% to 3.7% over the past quarter.
Top earners (P90) make about 1.7 times what entry-level (P10) workers make in this role. That spread is narrower than typical, so pay is fairly standardized; small differences move a candidate across the market.
- Aug 4, 2026JOLTS June 2026: sector openings eased to 3.7%, with nondurable goods driving the pullback. Quits steady at 1.5%.
- Jul 31, 2026ECI Q2 2026: sector wages growing 3.3% per year, holding steady.
Commentary is generated from published BLS figures (OEWS May 2025 vs May 2024, JOLTS June 2026, ECI Q2 2026) and refreshed each release. It is interpretation, not a BLS product.
The national median salary for Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining is $74,506 per year ($35.82/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $61,402 and $79,144 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $87,734 per year. There are approximately 5,930 loading and moving machine operators, underground mining employed in the United States.
About This Role
Operate underground loading or moving machine to load or move coal, ore, or rock using shuttle or mine car or conveyors. Equipment may include power shovels, hoisting engines equipped with cable-drawn scraper or scoop, or machines equipped with gathering arms and conveyor.
Career Outlook
About This Data
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.
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