Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $90K, rent takes 23.9% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,400/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 $57K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,923/month.

Local pay is 57% above the national median — $90K here vs. $57K nationally.

West North Dakota nonmetropolitan area pays $90K median vs. the U.S. average of $57K — that’s +57%.

The median is $90,380 a year, that works out to about $43 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $57,450, and experienced excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface minings can clear $123,880. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $5,850/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,400/month, which eats 23.9% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

West North Dakota 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 $90,380 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.