How much do miners make in 2026?
Miners working underground production equipment are counted in the BLS continuous mining machine operators series: OEWS May 2025 gives SOC 47-5041 a national median of $61,810 a year ($29.72 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $46,770 and the top 10% at $86,210 across just 14,000 workers. It is a small and specific code covering the operators who cut and load material at the face using continuous miners and similar machines. The pay is well above what the education requirement would suggest — the entry route is a high school diploma plus MSHA training — and that premium exists for the reasons you would expect: the environment is hazardous, the shifts are long, the sites are remote and the work is physically hard. It is also worth being straight about the outlook. BLS projects 0.6% employment growth through 2034, essentially flat, on a base that has already shrunk substantially over two decades as coal demand fell and mechanisation increased output per worker. Miners with equipment breadth, electrical or mechanical maintenance capability and a willingness to work metal and industrial mineral operations rather than coal alone are in a considerably stronger position than those tied to a single commodity. Roughly 1,600 openings a year arise, almost entirely from retirement and turnover. → Full miner career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $61,810 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Miners earn a national median $61,810/yr ($29.72/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-5041); the P10 to P90 range is $46,770 to $86,210.
- Pay sits well above what the entry requirement implies, and the premium compensates for hazard, shift length, remoteness and physical demand rather than for credentials.
- BLS projects 0.6% growth — effectively flat — on a base that has already contracted substantially, and roughly 1,600 openings a year come from retirement and turnover.
- Equipment breadth, maintenance capability and willingness to work metal and industrial mineral operations rather than coal alone materially improve a miner's position.
US Miner Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do miners earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 47-5041; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-5041, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a miner earn at each career stage?
Mining pay follows equipment qualification and how much of the section you can keep running. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 47-5041.
By State
Which states pay miners the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the national continuous mining operator median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Mining pay depends far more on commodity and operation type than on state wage levels, and mining employment is concentrated in specific counties rather than distributed across a state.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($71,080), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay miners the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations. Mining work is rural by nature, so metro figures are a poor guide to where these jobs actually sit.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a miner’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does miner pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Miners sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify miner wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a miner actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Miner Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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