Pay · 47-4061
Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators earn $70,070 a year at the midpoint
The middle of the pay scale for rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators is $70,070. A typical start is nearer $51,280; the top tenth earn about $87,420.
National figures for rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators, 47-4061, from the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
- What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
- Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
- Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”
Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operator earnings, from starting pay up to the top 10%
Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.
The survey has no complete figures for that job — pick the closest title from the list.
An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →
Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operator pay rate, hourly to yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
Examples
Resumes written for this line of work.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
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Writing a resume for rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Repaired or adjusted track switches, using wrenches and replacement parts.
- Patrolled assigned track sections so that damaged or broken track can be located and reported.
- Engaged mechanisms that lay tracks or rails to specified gauges.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
No. 291 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 63% of the occupations in the survey.
- 289 Media and Communication Equipment Workers, All Other $70,720
- 290 Underground Mining Machine Operators, All Other $70,130
- 291 Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators $70,070
- 292 Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers $69,990
- 293 Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel $69,990
Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operator wages, state by state
The 34 states where the most people do this work, of 39 with a published figure: their medians range by 2.07 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | $94,330 | $61,570 | $61,570 — $101,350 | 570 |
| Maryland | $92,030 | $62,090 | $62,090 — $100,490 | 320 |
| New York | $87,150 | $58,580 | $58,580 — $87,420 | 3,590 |
| Virginia | $84,750 | $59,820 | $59,820 — $92,270 | 360 |
| Delaware | $80,610 | $43,620 | $43,620 — $92,150 | 130 |
| Montana | $79,170 | $51,400 | $51,400 — $80,440 | 200 |
| Idaho | $79,020 | $48,570 | $48,570 — $81,820 | 90 |
| Illinois | $78,910 | $51,500 | $51,500 — $92,500 | 1,190 |
| Indiana | $78,020 | $58,170 | $58,170 — $82,100 | 320 |
| Arizona | $76,620 | $45,590 | $45,590 — $89,530 | 170 |
| Michigan | $75,450 | $46,590 | $46,590 — $91,480 | 290 |
| Kentucky | $73,120 | $46,650 | $46,650 — $73,200 | 270 |
| Wyoming | $71,580 | $48,830 | $48,830 — $79,810 | 220 |
| California | $71,170 | $45,820 | $45,820 — $86,240 | 770 |
| New Jersey | $66,540 | $53,590 | $53,590 — $107,830 | 230 |
| Tennessee | $66,390 | $47,700 | $47,700 — $78,430 | 260 |
| South Dakota | $64,500 | $47,890 | $47,890 — $73,150 | 110 |
| Missouri | $64,390 | $47,160 | $47,160 — $71,500 | 410 |
| Colorado | $64,300 | $39,790 | $39,790 — $84,850 | 300 |
| Georgia | $63,010 | $40,150 | $40,150 — $78,290 | 710 |
| Oklahoma | $61,860 | $47,450 | $47,450 — $79,650 | 310 |
| Florida | $61,220 | $45,100 | $45,100 — $62,850 | 490 |
| Arkansas | $60,230 | $48,420 | $48,420 — $70,830 | 150 |
| Pennsylvania | $59,800 | $47,500 | $47,500 — $81,820 | 830 |
| Washington | $58,740 | $51,280 | $51,280 — $73,620 | 500 |
| Kansas | $58,590 | $49,300 | $49,300 — $71,890 | 310 |
| West Virginia | $56,660 | $46,940 | $46,940 — $71,010 | 270 |
| Texas | $56,470 | $43,460 | $43,460 — $70,910 | 940 |
| Oregon | $50,930 | $41,430 | $41,430 — $85,080 | 190 |
| Minnesota | $49,640 | $45,090 | $45,090 — $85,120 | 760 |
| Ohio | $47,980 | $45,180 | $45,180 — $68,970 | 1,130 |
| Wisconsin | $47,920 | $47,850 | $47,850 — $72,820 | 180 |
| North Carolina | $47,700 | $39,560 | $39,560 — $75,980 | 270 |
| Iowa | $45,640 | $32,010 | $32,010 — $81,440 | 200 |
No estimate is published for 1 states: the survey withholds a figure when too few employers report it. Nothing has been filled in for them.
What people often ask
What is a rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operator’s yearly income?
A rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operator makes a median of $70,070 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $51,280 and $81,670.
What is a rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operator’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $33.69 an hour; the average is $68,740 a year.
What is the starting pay for a rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operator?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $51,280 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $45,640.
Which state pays rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators the most?
Massachusetts, with a median of $94,330 a year.
How many people work as rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators?
About 19,580 in the United States — number 291 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Jobs that pay about the same
Median pay within $80 of what rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators earn — $70,070 a year — but not always the same spread.
- $60 more Underground Mining Machine Operators, All Other $70,130median a year 10th percentile: $49,020 90th percentile: $85,010
- $80 less Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers $69,990median a year 10th percentile: $41,010 90th percentile: $139,680
- $80 less Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel $69,990median a year 10th percentile: $37,980 90th percentile: $148,840