How much do riggers make in 2026?
Riggers have their own BLS wage series: OEWS May 2025 puts the SOC 49-9096 national median at $62,640 a year ($30.12 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $40,680 and the top 10% at $97,850. The spread reflects a real skill ladder rather than seniority. At the base, rigging means selecting slings and hardware for routine loads, estimating weight and centre of gravity, and signalling to a crane. Above that sit riggers who calculate sling angles and loading, plan multi-crane and tandem lifts, and rig awkward loads — vessels, turbines, transformers, precast — where the centre of gravity is not where it looks. At the top are riggers working from engineered lift plans on critical picks, and those in industries that pay for reliability rather than hours: petrochemical turnarounds, power generation outages, shipyards, entertainment rigging and heavy machinery moving. NCCCO Level I and Level II rigger certification is the industry's shorthand for that ladder, and on many industrial sites certification is a gate to entry. Employment is projected to grow 3.2% through 2034 with roughly 2,500 openings a year. → Full rigger career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $62,640 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Riggers earn a national median $62,640/yr ($30.12/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 49-9096); the P10 to P90 range is $40,680 to $97,850.
- Riggers have a dedicated BLS series with a $62,640 median and a $40,680 to $97,850 band, and the spread maps onto a genuine skill ladder from routine slinging to engineered critical lifts.
- NCCCO Level I and Level II rigger certification is the credential employers price against, and on industrial and refinery sites it functions as a gate to the work rather than a bonus.
- The best-paid rigging is outage and turnaround work in petrochemical, power and shipyard settings, where long shifts and travel push annual earnings toward and past the top of the band.
US Rigger Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do riggers 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 49-9096; 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 49-9096, 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 rigger earn at each career stage?
Rigging pay follows load complexity and whether you can plan a lift rather than just execute one. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 49-9096.
By State
Which states pay riggers the most in 2026?
State figures are modeled estimates — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers salary-calculator state wage index — not BLS state observations. Rigging geography follows heavy industry rather than population: Gulf Coast petrochemical, shipbuilding regions, power generation corridors and manufacturing belts hold the work that pays above the modeled figures, and turnaround seasons there matter more than local cost of living.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($72,040), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay riggers the most?
Metro figures are modeled: national median times state wage index times published metro index, not BLS MSA observations. Note that a large share of high-paid rigging happens at plants and yards outside metro cores, where the package is built from shift length, per diem and travel rather than a metro premium.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a rigger’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 rigger pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Riggers 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 rigger wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a rigger 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
Rigger Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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