Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $62K, rent takes 29% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,187/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 $52K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,136/month.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $62K locally vs. $57K nationally, a 7% difference.

Northwestern Idaho nonmetropolitan area pays $62K median vs. the U.S. average of $57K — that’s +7%.

The median is $61,730 a year, that works out to about $30 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $52,270, and experienced excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface minings can clear $71,750. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,094/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,187/month, which eats 29% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Northwestern Idaho 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 $61,730 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.