Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators Salary — Portland, Oregon

The average Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators in Portland, Oregon earns $77,260 a year.

$77,260 / year, mean
↑ 28.9% above national average 80th percentile in Oregon

Portland pays well above most of Oregon for this role, landing in the top third statewide. That's a substantial premium — this metro pays far more for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators than the U.S. average. Cost of living here is close to the national average — not a major factor either way. This is a high-confidence estimate, based on a large sample of reported wages.

Percentile within Oregon

0th 50th 100th
Employment (this metro)
220
Estimate confidence
RSE 3.3%
Cost of living 105 #21 most expensive of 188 cities in this dataset 100 = U.S. average · Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
Crime index 2419 #180 safest of 188 cities in this dataset Per 100k residents · Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer
Median home value $552,022 #24 priciest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: zillow_real
Median household income $94,573 #19 highest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: Census Bureau ACS 5-year

Combining these four figures gives a fuller picture than salary alone: Portland ranks #21 for cost of living and #24 for home prices among the 188 cities in this pilot dataset, which matters as much as the headline salary number when comparing where to live.

Riverside $105,890 San Francisco $105,680 Seattle $98,470 Chicago $80,770 Eugene $79,220 Portland $77,260 Springfield $77,050 Fort Wayne $76,350 San Diego $75,740 New York $74,700 Yakima $73,300 Bend $68,590 Salem $67,130 Albany $65,580 Albany $64,250 Syracuse $63,560 Kiryas Joel $62,670 Rochester $62,090 Baltimore $61,920 Louisville $61,240 Utica $61,100 Buffalo $60,990 Hagerstown $59,880 Indianapolis $58,720 Evansville $58,520 Lancaster $57,860 Battle Creek $55,940 South Bend $55,890 Detroit $55,560 Huntington $55,120 Allentown $55,050 Binghamton $55,010 Kalamazoo $54,950 Watertown $54,550 Grand Rapids $53,940 Beaumont $53,920 Pittsburgh $53,760 Philadelphia $53,720 Lansing $52,420 Austin $52,120 Elkhart $52,060 Dallas $51,770 Fort Myers $51,550 Richmond $50,500 Odessa $50,420 Winchester $50,030 Sarasota $49,960 Houston $49,560 Vineland $49,480 Deltona $49,310 Miami $48,900 Orlando $48,800 San Antonio $48,540 Jacksonville $48,530 Tampa $48,480 Atlantic City $47,980 Palm Bay $47,910 Waco $47,740 Wildwood $47,590 Naples $47,540 Virginia Beach $46,710 Lubbock $46,290 Lakeland $44,750 McAllen $44,680 Corpus Christi $44,040 Gainesville $43,990 College Station $43,960 Roanoke $43,940 Tyler $43,940 Tallahassee $43,390 El Paso $40,940
CityMean salaryvs. Portland
Albany, Oregon$65,580-15.1%
Albany, New York$64,250-16.8%
Allentown, Pennsylvania$55,050-28.7%
Atlantic City, New Jersey$47,980-37.9%
Austin, Texas$52,120-32.5%
Baltimore, Maryland$61,920-19.9%
Battle Creek, Michigan$55,940-27.6%
Beaumont, Texas$53,920-30.2%
Bend, Oregon$68,590-11.2%
Binghamton, New York$55,010-28.8%
Buffalo, New York$60,990-21.1%
Fort Myers, Florida$51,550-33.3%
Chicago, Illinois$80,770+4.5%
College Station, Texas$43,960-43.1%
Corpus Christi, Texas$44,040-43.0%
Dallas, Texas$51,770-33.0%
Deltona, Florida$49,310-36.2%
Detroit, Michigan$55,560-28.1%
Elkhart, Indiana$52,060-32.6%
El Paso, Texas$40,940-47.0%
Eugene, Oregon$79,220+2.5%
Evansville, Indiana$58,520-24.3%
Fort Wayne, Indiana$76,350-1.2%
Gainesville, Florida$43,990-43.1%
Grand Rapids, Michigan$53,940-30.2%
Hagerstown, Maryland$59,880-22.5%
Houston, Texas$49,560-35.9%
Huntington, West Virginia$55,120-28.7%
Indianapolis, Indiana$58,720-24.0%
Jacksonville, Florida$48,530-37.2%
Kalamazoo, Michigan$54,950-28.9%
Kiryas Joel, New York$62,670-18.9%
Lakeland, Florida$44,750-42.1%
Lancaster, Pennsylvania$57,860-25.1%
Lansing, Michigan$52,420-32.2%
Louisville, Kentucky$61,240-20.7%
Lubbock, Texas$46,290-40.1%
McAllen, Texas$44,680-42.2%
Miami, Florida$48,900-36.7%
Naples, Florida$47,540-38.5%
New York, New York$74,700-3.3%
Sarasota, Florida$49,960-35.3%
Odessa, Texas$50,420-34.7%
Orlando, Florida$48,800-36.8%
Palm Bay, Florida$47,910-38.0%
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania$53,720-30.5%
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania$53,760-30.4%
Richmond, Virginia$50,500-34.6%
Riverside, California$105,890+37.1%
Roanoke, Virginia$43,940-43.1%
Rochester, New York$62,090-19.6%
Salem, Oregon$67,130-13.1%
San Antonio, Texas$48,540-37.2%
San Diego, California$75,740-2.0%
San Francisco, California$105,680+36.8%
Seattle, Washington$98,470+27.5%
South Bend, Indiana$55,890-27.7%
Springfield, Illinois$77,050-0.3%
Syracuse, New York$63,560-17.7%
Tallahassee, Florida$43,390-43.8%
Tampa, Florida$48,480-37.3%
Tyler, Texas$43,940-43.1%
Utica, New York$61,100-20.9%
Vineland, New Jersey$49,480-36.0%
Virginia Beach, Virginia$46,710-39.5%
Waco, Texas$47,740-38.2%
Watertown, New York$54,550-29.4%
Wildwood, Florida$47,590-38.4%
Winchester, Virginia$50,030-35.2%
Yakima, Washington$73,300-5.1%

This metro area spans more than one state — where you actually pay income tax depends on where you work, not just where BLS assigns the area. Choose your work state:

Gross salary
77,260/yr
Estimated take-home
57,694/yr
Est. total withheld
25.3%

Single filer, federal + state tax (where the selected state levies one) + FICA, 2025 rates, for whichever state you select above. Does not include state-specific payroll withholdings beyond income tax (see Data transparency). Not tax advice — verify with a professional.

View cost of living in this state All Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators salaries in Oregon → All Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators salaries →
Community reality check

Community reality check for Portland

These notes add local color around Portland, Oregon: comfort ranges, budget constraints and location trade-offs reported in public discussions.

Relocation gap2.0× calculator gap
City comparison anecdotal

Discussion highlights that calculators may imply roughly 2x gross income for comparable standard of living, while some employers offer only about 10% location premiums. Tech total compensation can be an exception, so the page should distinguish salary from total compensation.

2.0×calculator multiplier10%HCOL premium cited$200KAtlanta TC example$450KBay Area TC example

Anecdotal public-discussion signals, not official salary data, rent data or financial advice. Read this alongside the official figures on the page.

Data transparency

Sources used for this page

Official occupation and area metadata behind the visible salary, cost, housing and safety signals.

Occupation 47-2071 SOC code
Official area Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA BLS metro/geographic area
Area code 38900 Stable geographic key
Reference year 2025 BLS OEWS
Cost: bea_realHousing: zillow_realCrime: latest availableNet-pay source: or_dor_verificado 2025
Metro also includes
VancouverHillsboro
Multi-state area: OR;WA
Methodology

How this page is built

The salary figure is the mean annual wage reported by the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program for this occupation and metro area. Percentile and national-average comparisons are calculated directly from the 188 cities currently in this dataset, not from a fixed external benchmark. Cost of living, crime and housing figures come from BEA, FBI and Zillow respectively — see "Data transparency" above for the exact sources and reference years used on this specific page.

Confidence: the RSE (relative standard error) shown under Overview indicates how reliable the salary estimate is for this metro — a lower RSE means a larger underlying sample.

On this page

Where this is

AK HI

Highlighted: Oregon

Population (metro area)
2,510,529