Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
Operate or tend machinery at surface mining site, equipped with scoops, shovels, or buckets to excavate and load loose materials.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $41,600 | $20.00 |
| 25th | $47,890 | $23.03 |
| 50th · Median | $57,430 | $27.61 |
| 75th | $65,730 | $31.60 |
| 90th | $82,400 | $39.61 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
Where does your number sit?
Compare an entered wage with the published thresholds for United States. Your entry stays on this page.
This compares wage amounts to published percentile thresholds. It does not estimate your personal percentile, adjust for your experience, or compare total compensation. Match the wage definition and occupation group before using the result.
What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (48)
Typical tasks
- Move levers, depress foot pedals, and turn dials to operate power machinery, such as power shovels, stripping shovels, scraper loaders, or backhoes.
- Set up or inspect equipment prior to operation.
- Become familiar with digging plans, machine capabilities and limitations, and efficient and safe digging procedures in a given application.
- Observe hand signals, grade stakes, or other markings when operating machines so that work can be performed to specifications.
- Operate machinery to perform activities such as backfilling excavations, vibrating or breaking rock or concrete, or making winter roads.
- Receive written or oral instructions regarding material movement or excavation.
Expand more tasks (10)
- Move materials over short distances, such as around a construction site, factory, or warehouse.
- Create or maintain inclines or ramps.
- Lubricate, adjust, or repair machinery and replace parts, such as gears, bearings, or bucket teeth.
- Handle slides, mud, or pit cleanings or maintenance.
- Direct workers engaged in placing blocks or outriggers to prevent capsizing of machines when lifting heavy loads.
- Measure and verify levels of rock or gravel, bases, or other excavated material.
- Direct ground workers engaged in activities such as moving stakes or markers, or changing positions of towers.
- Adjust dig face angles for varying overburden depths and set lengths.
- Drive machines to work sites.
- Perform manual labor to prepare or finish sites, such as shoveling materials by hand.
Skills used in this work
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Expand more skills (29)
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Explore wages by location.
0 retained state and local wage references are available. Start with these selected locations, or search the full market directory for this career.
Local wage references are not retained for this occupation. The national view and employer evidence may still help.
Available links reflect retained source coverage for this career.
Find the next step that fits.
Look at current disclosed job ranges, explore supported employer salary evidence, or build a proposed hiring range with your own assumptions.