Highest-paying Cities for Crane and Tower Operators

The top 100 highest paying cities for crane and tower operators (ranked by average annual salary) are listed in Table 1. The entry level salary (as measured by the salary of the lowest 10% paid earners) and the number of employment of crane and tower operators in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $128,980, New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York is the highest paying city for crane and tower operators. It is followed by Urban Honolulu, Hawaii (average annual salary $113,040). The salary and employment information is computed from data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in April 2023 [1]. For more salary information of crane and tower operators in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest-paying cities/areas for Crane and Tower Operators

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York	$128,980	$57,150	1,160
2	Urban Honolulu, Hawaii	$113,040	$85,110	200
3	Syracuse, New York	$109,370	$49,130	40
4	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Washington	$100,470	$44,230	430
5	Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada	$99,740	$76,600	270
6	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York	$99,580	$50,210	90
7	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut	$98,300	$58,710	80
8	Western Washington nonmetropolitan area, Washington	$95,200	$84,980	n/a
9	New Haven, Connecticut	$93,410	$50,550	70
10	Rochester, New York	$92,930	$46,550	60
11	Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Washington	$92,670	$74,240	40
12	Anchorage, Alaska	$91,580	$70,790	30
13	Albany, Oregon	$91,190	$46,870	n/a
14	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York	$89,070	$48,270	110
15	Dayton, Ohio	$87,530	$39,390	120
16	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington	$86,430	$60,750	710
17	Longview, Washington	$85,330	$68,480	50
18	Williamsport, Pennsylvania	$84,820	$43,320	30
19	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$84,660	$53,630	210
20	Toledo, Ohio	$83,720	$35,560	140
21	Southern Ohio nonmetropolitan area, Ohio	$83,240	$45,990	90
22	Southern Oregon and Linn County nonmetropolitan area, Oregon	$82,960	$52,220	n/a
23	Champaign-Urbana, Illinois	$82,890	$63,820	40
24	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, California	$82,610	$70,270	40
25	Norwich-New London, Rhode Island	$82,360	$62,960	40
26	Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio	$81,700	$37,000	430
27	Albuquerque, New Mexico	$81,010	$63,540	50
28	Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, South Carolina	$80,440	$43,680	280
29	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California	$80,360	$38,330	2,110
30	St Louis, Missouri	$79,780	$45,420	430
31	Nevada nonmetropolitan area, Nevada	$79,430	$60,110	80
32	Billings, Montana	$79,160	$48,120	50
33	Farmington, New Mexico	$79,060	$62,100	30
34	West North Dakota nonmetropolitan area, North Dakota	$78,400	$62,490	190
35	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia	$77,440	$42,340	270
36	Jefferson City, Missouri	$77,010	$49,010	70
37	Eugene-Springfield, Oregon	$77,000	$41,650	50
38	Boise City-Nampa, Idaho	$76,750	$64,980	40
39	New York-White Plains-Wayne, New York	$76,460	$43,530	460
40	Eastern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area, New Mexico	$76,440	$53,950	50
41	Bremerton-Silverdale, Washington	$75,900	$65,850	90
42	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California	$75,700	$54,200	80
43	Springfield, Missouri	$75,330	$33,340	60
44	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	$74,990	$60,370	80
45	Lima, Ohio	$74,850	$38,710	50
46	Midland, Texas	$74,400	$51,170	150
47	Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington	$74,200	$43,630	700
48	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	$74,110	$43,760	510
49	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida	$74,090	$36,400	70
50	Honolulu, Hawaii	$74,020	$61,110	100
51	East-Central Montana nonmetropolitan area, Montana	$73,740	$64,590	30
52	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	$73,650	$44,010	140
53	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona	$73,500	$40,370	550
54	Alaska nonmetropolitan area, Alaska	$73,490	$36,720	60
55	Spokane, Washington	$73,150	$55,650	100
56	Newark-Union, Pennsylvania	$73,000	$57,670	280
57	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, Washington	$72,890	$34,010	30
58	Western Wyoming nonmetropolitan area, Wyoming	$72,810	$61,880	50
59	Eastern Wyoming nonmetropolitan area, Wyoming	$72,800	$60,860	50
60	Naples-Marco Island, Florida	$72,350	$54,070	70
61	Eastern Montana nonmetropolitan area, Montana	$72,240	$57,860	30
62	Augusta-Richmond County, South Carolina	$72,060	$36,910	40
63	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida	$72,020	$42,020	100
64	Western Central Nevada nonmetropolitan area, Nevada	$71,990	$42,560	50
65	North Arizona nonmetropolitan area, Arizona	$71,850	$38,380	40
66	Baltimore-Towson, Maryland	$71,610	$38,910	220
67	Richmond, Virginia	$71,450	$43,590	110
68	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas	$71,330	$35,910	2,850
69	Columbus, Ohio	$70,990	$37,220	240
70	Lincoln, Nebraska	$70,860	$53,310	50
71	Jacksonville, Florida	$70,790	$38,530	230
72	West Northwestern Ohio nonmetropolitan area, Ohio	$70,720	$35,390	60
73	Victoria, Texas	$70,660	$53,350	110
74	Eastern Washington nonmetropolitan area, Washington	$70,630	$62,710	40
75	Eastern Utah nonmetropolitan area, Utah	$70,470	$70,460	40
76	Northwestern Wyoming nonmetropolitan area, Wyoming	$70,270	$33,490	n/a
77	Bismarck, North Dakota	$69,760	$61,470	40
78	Grand Junction, Colorado	$69,680	$56,860	70
79	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, West Virginia	$69,430	$40,860	530
80	Bellingham, Washington	$69,110	$58,710	n/a
81	Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Michigan	$69,020	$23,510	170
82	Tampa-St Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida	$69,010	$38,710	280
83	Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, Wisconsin	$68,770	$46,740	90
84	Reno-Sparks, Nevada	$68,550	$45,780	60
85	Wilmington, North Carolina	$68,350	$45,170	60
86	Corpus Christi, Texas	$68,200	$33,630	310
87	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida	$67,920	$38,720	260
88	Omaha-Council Bluffs, Nebraska	$67,880	$46,580	150
89	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida	$67,870	$36,820	550
90	Eastern Ohio nonmetropolitan area, Ohio	$67,760	$39,770	130
91	Southwestern Wyoming nonmetropolitan area, Wyoming	$67,670	$53,640	n/a
92	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida	$67,570	$35,290	90
93	Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina	$67,390	$42,840	140
94	Bloomington-Normal, Illinois	$67,360	$49,660	40
95	Vallejo-Fairfield, California	$67,240	$48,130	60
96	Rocky Mount, North Carolina	$67,230	$40,840	30
97	Tacoma, Washington	$67,200	$41,930	150
98	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California	$67,150	$37,530	260
99	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California	$67,120	$36,460	60
100	Jackson, Michigan	$67,040	$42,380	n/a

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for crane and tower operators.