Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$53,340

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$45,610 – $64,720

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

41,820

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

-0.9%

Shrinking (below 0%)

Openings a year (projected)

3,100

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

High school diploma or equivalent

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Operate equipment used for applying concrete, asphalt, or other materials to road beds, parking lots, or airport runways and taxiways or for tamping gravel, dirt, or other materials. Includes concrete and asphalt paving machine operators, form tampers, tamping machine operators, and stone spreader operators.

Main tasks

• Start machine, engage clutch, and push and move levers to guide machine along forms or guidelines and to control the operation of machine attachments.
• Fill tanks, hoppers, or machines with paving materials.
• Control paving machines to push dump trucks and to maintain a constant flow of asphalt or other material into hoppers or screeds.
• Observe distribution of paving material to adjust machine settings or material flow, and indicate low spots for workers to add material.
• Coordinate truck dumping.
• Drive machines onto truck trailers, and drive trucks to transport machines and material to and from job sites.
• Inspect, clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using mechanics' hand tools, or report malfunctions to supervisors.
• Set up and tear down equipment.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

High school diploma or equivalent

Training once hired: moderate-term on-the-job training

O*NET Job Zone 1–2

Little to some preparation

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

• Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

  $59,850 median · +4.6% projected

• Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers

  $57,020 median · +1.6% projected

• Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

  $57,430 median · +1% projected

• Pile Driver Operators

  $73,300 median · -5.7% projected

• Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators

  $70,070 median · +1.5% projected

• Hoist and Winch Operators

  $56,450 median · +0.2% projected