SALARY RANGE: $37,790 to $177,800 per year

JOB OUTLOOK: Overall employment of construction equipment operators is projected to grow 12 percent from 2016 to 2026, faster than the average for all occupations. Employment growth is expected to vary across the construction equipment operator occupations. (See table below.) Spending on infrastructure is expected to increase, resulting in many new positions over the next 10 years. Across the country, many roads, bridges, and water and sewer systems are in need of repair. In addition, population growth will require new infrastructure projects, such as roads and sewer lines, which are also expected to generate jobs.

Pile-driver operators, the smallest of the three occupations in this profile, is projected to grow 15 percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations. However, because it is a small occupation, this growth will result in only about 500 new jobs over the 10-year period. In addition, a growing emphasis on retrofitting buildings to make them more energy efficient should create jobs for general contractors, who are more likely to manage the renovation and upgrading of buildings than oversee new large-scale construction projects.