Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining Salary — Chicago, Illinois

The average Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in Chicago, Illinois earns $80,260 a year.

$80,260 / year, mean
↑ 30.5% above national average 100th percentile in Illinois

Chicago sits at the very top of the range for this role in Illinois — among the highest-paying cities in the state for this occupation. That's a substantial premium — this metro pays far more for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining than the U.S. average. Cost of living here is close to the national average — not a major factor either way. This is a high-confidence estimate, based on a large sample of reported wages.

Percentile within Illinois

0th 50th 100th
Employment (this metro)
570
Estimate confidence
RSE 3.2%
Cost of living 104 #31 most expensive of 188 cities in this dataset 100 = U.S. average · Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
Crime index 1770 #92 safest of 188 cities in this dataset Per 100k residents · Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer
Median home value $353,998 #78 priciest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: zillow_real
Median household income $88,850 #28 highest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: Census Bureau ACS 5-year

Combining these four figures gives a fuller picture than salary alone: Chicago ranks #31 for cost of living and #78 for home prices among the 188 cities in this pilot dataset, which matters as much as the headline salary number when comparing where to live.

San Francisco $110,990 Sacramento $106,120 Fresno $94,980 San Jose $92,240 New York $89,320 Chicago $80,260 Seattle $76,920 Bakersfield $74,430 Indianapolis $70,500 Vineland $69,350 Riverside $69,200 Los Angeles $67,530 Portland $67,030 Atlantic City $66,740 Philadelphia $66,430 Grand Rapids $64,830 College Station $64,620 Lafayette $64,530 Spokane $62,960 Salem $62,110 Beckley $61,580 Buffalo $61,480 Louisville $60,570 Glens Falls $60,060 Wheeling $59,970 Eugene $59,670 Albany $57,730 Detroit $56,970 Baltimore $56,720 Lexington $56,720 Richmond $55,700 Allentown $55,520 Austin $54,640 Odessa $54,590 Syracuse $54,520 Virginia Beach $54,170 Lancaster $53,760 Dallas $53,590 Pittsburgh $53,080 Scranton $53,000 Houston $52,790 Miami $51,920 Jacksonville $51,630 Rochester $51,470 San Antonio $51,310 Huntington $51,210 Midland $50,070 Orlando $50,070 Utica $48,270 Roanoke $48,180 Binghamton $47,860 El Paso $47,020 McAllen $44,010 Lubbock $43,440
CityMean salaryvs. Chicago
Albany, New York$57,730-28.1%
Allentown, Pennsylvania$55,520-30.8%
Atlantic City, New Jersey$66,740-16.8%
Austin, Texas$54,640-31.9%
Bakersfield, California$74,430-7.3%
Baltimore, Maryland$56,720-29.3%
Beckley, West Virginia$61,580-23.3%
Binghamton, New York$47,860-40.4%
Buffalo, New York$61,480-23.4%
College Station, Texas$64,620-19.5%
Dallas, Texas$53,590-33.2%
Detroit, Michigan$56,970-29.0%
El Paso, Texas$47,020-41.4%
Eugene, Oregon$59,670-25.7%
Fresno, California$94,980+18.3%
Glens Falls, New York$60,060-25.2%
Grand Rapids, Michigan$64,830-19.2%
Houston, Texas$52,790-34.2%
Huntington, West Virginia$51,210-36.2%
Indianapolis, Indiana$70,500-12.2%
Jacksonville, Florida$51,630-35.7%
Lafayette, Indiana$64,530-19.6%
Lancaster, Pennsylvania$53,760-33.0%
Lexington, Kentucky$56,720-29.3%
Los Angeles, California$67,530-15.9%
Louisville, Kentucky$60,570-24.5%
Lubbock, Texas$43,440-45.9%
McAllen, Texas$44,010-45.2%
Miami, Florida$51,920-35.3%
Midland, Texas$50,070-37.6%
New York, New York$89,320+11.3%
Odessa, Texas$54,590-32.0%
Orlando, Florida$50,070-37.6%
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania$66,430-17.2%
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania$53,080-33.9%
Portland, Oregon$67,030-16.5%
Richmond, Virginia$55,700-30.6%
Riverside, California$69,200-13.8%
Roanoke, Virginia$48,180-40.0%
Rochester, New York$51,470-35.9%
Sacramento, California$106,120+32.2%
Salem, Oregon$62,110-22.6%
San Antonio, Texas$51,310-36.1%
San Francisco, California$110,990+38.3%
San Jose, California$92,240+14.9%
Scranton, Pennsylvania$53,000-34.0%
Seattle, Washington$76,920-4.2%
Spokane, Washington$62,960-21.6%
Syracuse, New York$54,520-32.1%
Utica, New York$48,270-39.9%
Vineland, New Jersey$69,350-13.6%
Virginia Beach, Virginia$54,170-32.5%
Wheeling, West Virginia$59,970-25.3%

This metro area spans more than one state — where you actually pay income tax depends on where you work, not just where BLS assigns the area. Choose your work state:

Gross salary
80,260/yr
Estimated take-home
61,461/yr
Est. total withheld
23.4%

Single filer, federal + state tax (where the selected state levies one) + FICA, 2025 rates, for whichever state you select above. Does not include state-specific payroll withholdings beyond income tax (see Data transparency). Not tax advice — verify with a professional.

View cost of living in this state All Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining salaries in Illinois → All Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining salaries →
Data transparency

Sources used for this page

Official occupation and area metadata behind the visible salary, cost, housing and safety signals.

Occupation 47-5022 SOC code
Official area Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN BLS metro/geographic area
Area code 16980 Stable geographic key
Reference year 2025 BLS OEWS
Cost: bea_realHousing: zillow_realCrime: latest availableNet-pay source: il_idor_verificado 2025
Metro also includes
NapervilleElgin
Multi-state area: IL;IN
Methodology

How this page is built

The salary figure is the mean annual wage reported by the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program for this occupation and metro area. Percentile and national-average comparisons are calculated directly from the 188 cities currently in this dataset, not from a fixed external benchmark. Cost of living, crime and housing figures come from BEA, FBI and Zillow respectively — see "Data transparency" above for the exact sources and reference years used on this specific page.

Confidence: the RSE (relative standard error) shown under Overview indicates how reliable the salary estimate is for this metro — a lower RSE means a larger underlying sample.

On this page

Where this is

AK HI

Highlighted: Illinois

Population (metro area)
9,359,555