Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $78K, rent takes 24.8% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,310/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface minings typically earn — is $58K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $4,040/month.

Local pay is 36% above the national median — $78K here vs. $57K nationally.

Eastern Wyoming nonmetropolitan area pays $78K median vs. the U.S. average of $57K — that’s +36%.

The median is $78,230 a year, that works out to about $38 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $57,800, and experienced excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface minings can clear $88,000. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $5,285/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,310/month, which eats 24.8% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Eastern Wyoming nonmetropolitan area has a Regional Price Parity of 100 (100 is the national average). That's right at the national average. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining salary is worth about $78,230 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.