Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2020

47-4061 Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators

Lay, repair, and maintain track for standard or narrow-gauge railroad equipment used in regular railroad service or in plant yards, quarries, sand and gravel pits, and mines. Includes ballast cleaning machine operators and railroad bed tamping machine operators.

National estimates for Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators
Industry profile for Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators
Geographic profile for Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators

National estimates for Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
17,590	7.3 %	$ 27.61	$ 57,430	3.9 %

Percentile wage estimates for Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 17.36	$ 21.42	$ 27.10	$ 32.90	$ 39.26
Annual Wage (2)	$ 36,110	$ 44,560	$ 56,370	$ 68,440	$ 81,670

Industry profile for Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Rail Transportation	11,130	5.21	$ 25.44	$ 52,900
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	3,320	0.06	$ 34.27	$ 71,270
Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction	1,400	1.16	$ 23.17	$ 48,190
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	800	0.04	$ 39.71	$ 82,600
Support Activities for Rail Transportation	280	0.82	$ 22.03	$ 45,810

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Rail Transportation	11,130	5.21	$ 25.44	$ 52,900
Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction	1,400	1.16	$ 23.17	$ 48,190
Support Activities for Rail Transportation	280	0.82	$ 22.03	$ 45,810
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	3,320	0.06	$ 34.27	$ 71,270
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	800	0.04	$ 39.71	$ 82,600

Top paying industries for Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	800	0.04	$ 39.71	$ 82,600
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	3,320	0.06	$ 34.27	$ 71,270
Rail Transportation	11,130	5.21	$ 25.44	$ 52,900
Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment (except Automotive and Electronic) Repair and Maintenance	60	0.03	$ 24.49	$ 50,930
Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction	1,400	1.16	$ 23.17	$ 48,190

Geographic profile for Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York	3,210	0.37	2.92	$ 32.96	$ 68,550
Texas	1,230	0.10	0.80	$ 26.89	$ 55,930
Illinois	1,120	0.20	1.58	$ 27.18	$ 56,530
Pennsylvania	790	0.14	1.13	$ 26.49	$ 55,100
Ohio	560	0.11	0.86	$ 24.45	$ 50,850

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Wyoming	100	0.38	3.02	$ 26.50	$ 55,110
New York	3,210	0.37	2.92	$ 32.96	$ 68,550
Arkansas	240	0.20	1.60	$ 23.32	$ 48,500
Illinois	1,120	0.20	1.58	$ 27.18	$ 56,530
Minnesota	500	0.19	1.47	$ 26.13	$ 54,340

Top paying states for Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
South Carolina	(8)	(8)	(8)	$ 33.60	$ 69,890
New York	3,210	0.37	2.92	$ 32.96	$ 68,550
Oregon	250	0.14	1.11	$ 30.85	$ 64,160
Virginia	360	0.10	0.77	$ 30.58	$ 63,620
Maryland	350	0.14	1.11	$ 30.28	$ 62,980

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	2,580	0.29	2.31	$ 35.08	$ 72,960
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	330	0.11	0.87	$ 33.00	$ 68,630
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	250	0.06	0.46	$ 27.76	$ 57,750
Baton Rouge, LA	110	0.31	2.43	$ 24.18	$ 50,290
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	40	0.01	0.10	$ 28.16	$ 58,580
Oklahoma City, OK	30	0.05	0.42	$ 15.57	$ 32,390

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Baton Rouge, LA	110	0.31	2.43	$ 24.18	$ 50,290
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	2,580	0.29	2.31	$ 35.08	$ 72,960
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	330	0.11	0.87	$ 33.00	$ 68,630
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	250	0.06	0.46	$ 27.76	$ 57,750
Oklahoma City, OK	30	0.05	0.42	$ 15.57	$ 32,390
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	40	0.01	0.10	$ 28.16	$ 58,580

Top paying metropolitan areas for Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	2,580	0.29	2.31	$ 35.08	$ 72,960
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	(8)	(8)	(8)	$ 33.97	$ 70,660
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	330	0.11	0.87	$ 33.00	$ 68,630
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	40	0.01	0.10	$ 28.16	$ 58,580
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	250	0.06	0.46	$ 27.76	$ 57,750
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	(8)	(8)	(8)	$ 26.86	$ 55,870
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	(8)	(8)	(8)	$ 26.69	$ 55,520
Baton Rouge, LA	110	0.31	2.43	$ 24.18	$ 50,290
Birmingham-Hoover, AL	(8)	(8)	(8)	$ 19.60	$ 40,780
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	(8)	(8)	(8)	$ 18.48	$ 38,440

About May 2020 National, State, Metropolitan, and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors, all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, and all states and the District of Columbia. The top employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable XLS files.

The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.

(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(8) Estimate not released.

(9) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.

Other OEWS estimates and related information:

May 2020 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2020 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2020 Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2020 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2020 Occupation Profiles

Technical Notes

Last Modified Date: March 31, 2021