Best Operating Engineer programs in Minnesota, ranked by enrollment
Operate one or several types of power construction equipment, such as motor graders, bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks, shovels, tractors, or front-end loaders to excavate, move, and grade earth, erect structures, or pour.
1 schools in Minnesota run programs that feed this job, graduating 55 people a year. The job pays a median of $79,130 in Minnesota across about 8,590 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Minnesota that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in Minnesota that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Minnesota (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Minnesota page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 49.0202In Minnesota → | 55 | 100.0% | 1 | $42,812 | $7,572 |
Top 1 schools in Minnesota
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 1 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Lakes College - Brainerd Brainerd, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 55 | Construction/Heavy Equipment/Earthmoving Equipment Operation | $64,164 | 53% | — | — |
All 1 schools in Minnesota
Every school in Minnesota with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Lakes College - Brainerd | Brainerd | Public | 55 | 1 |
What operating engineers and other construction equipment operators earn in Minnesota
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $59,850. Minnesota pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Minnesota
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators page.
How to become a Operating Engineer
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Minnesota
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 49.0202Construction/Heavy Equipment/Earthmoving Equipment Operation
- 49.0206Mobil Crane Operator/Operation(no graduates reported)
Common questions
Answers for people weighing operating engineers and other construction equipment operators programs in Minnesota.
What degree do you need to become an Operating Engineer?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Construction/Heavy Equipment/Earthmoving Equipment Operation, which awarded 55 degrees in Minnesota in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Operating Engineer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Ground Transportation. Together they graduate about 55 people a year in Minnesota.
How much do operating engineers and other construction equipment operators earn in Minnesota?+
The median is $79,130 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 32.2% above the U.S. median of $59,850. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for operating engineers and other construction equipment operators growing?+
BLS projects a +3.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 41,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Minnesota?+
1 institutions in Minnesota reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do operating engineers and other construction equipment operators work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Machine Operator, Operating Engineer, Equipment Operator (EO), Heavy Equipment Operator (HEO) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 47-2073.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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