Locomotive engineers & operators

Detailed Occupation

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2020 Workforce

45.1k

Average Age

45.8

Average Salary

$85,559

Average Male Salary

$86,091

Average Female Salary

$67,720

About

Locomotive engineers & operators are most often employed by the Rail transportation industry. The average yearly wage for Locomotive engineers & operators was $85,559 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Locomotive engineers & operators by wage are Budget analysts, Credit counselors & loan officers, and Sales representatives, wholesale & manufacturing.

Locomotive engineers & operators are part of the Transportation Occupations, along with Supervisors of transportation & material moving workers, Aircraft pilots & flight engineers, Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists, Flight attendants, Ambulance drivers & attendants, except emergency medical technicians, and 17 more.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Locomotive engineers & operators are Pocatello, Chubbuck Cities & Fort Hall Reservation PUMA, ID, Southwest Nebraska PUMA, NE, and East Montana (Outside Billings City) PUMA, MT. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Locomotive engineers & operators are Pocatello, Chubbuck Cities & Fort Hall Reservation PUMA, ID, Southwest Nebraska PUMA, NE, and Logan, Mingo, Wyoming & McDowell Counties PUMA, WV.

Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations Transportation & Material Moving Occupations Transportation Occupations

Employment

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Locomotive engineers & operators and on wages and locations for those in the field. Rail transportation is the industry that employs the most Locomotive engineers & operators, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Locomotive engineers & operators, by average wage, is Administration of economic programs & space research. Locomotive engineers & operators are paid most in Dodge, Cass, Saunders & Washington Counties PUMA, NE but are relatively concentrated in Pocatello, Chubbuck Cities & Fort Hall Reservation PUMA, ID.

Wages

Yearly Wage

$85,559

AVERAGE SALARY

± $4,157

In 2020, Locomotive engineers & operators earned an average of $85,559, $29,605 more than than the average national salary of $55,954.

Budget analysts make somewhat more than Locomotive engineers & operators while Credit counselors & loan officers make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Locomotive engineers & operators as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.214

WAGE GINI

In 2015, Locomotive engineers & operators had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.214, which is lower than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Locomotive engineers & operators (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States shaded by average annual wage for Locomotive engineers & operators.

Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Locomotive engineers & operators

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Locomotive engineers & operators.

Industries

Most Common

The most common industries employing Locomotive engineers & operators, by number of employees, are Rail transportation, Bus service & urban transit, Services incidental to transportation, Iron & steel mills & steel product manufacturing, Industrial & miscellaneous chemicals, Administration of economic programs & space research, and Nonmetallic mineral mining & quarrying.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Locomotive engineers & operators, by average wage, are Administration of economic programs & space research, Rail transportation, and Bus service & urban transit.

Industries by Share

45.1k

2020 Workforce

± 5,212

0.918%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 16.2%

The number of people employed as Locomotive engineers & operators has been growing at a rate of 0.918%, from 44,669 people in 2019 to 45,079 people in 2020.

This graphic shows the share of Locomotive engineers & operators employed by various industries. Rail transportation employs the largest share of Locomotive engineers & operators at 91.2%, followed by Bus service & urban transit with 2.66% and Services incidental to transportation with 1.05%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Locomotive engineers & operators in the US. The average age of male Locomotive engineers & operators in the workforce is 45.7 and of female Locomotive engineers & operators is 48.3, and the most common race/ethnicity for Locomotive engineers & operators is White (Non-Hispanic).

Composition by Sex

43.8k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 5,136

1.31k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 887

97.1% of Locomotive engineers & operators are Male, making them the more common sex in the occupation. This chart shows the sex breakdown of Locomotive engineers & operators.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Locomotive engineers & operators

White (Non-Hispanic)
Black (Non-Hispanic)
White (Hispanic)

73.9% of Locomotive engineers & operators are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 15% of Locomotive engineers & operators, Black (Non-Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Locomotive engineers & operators.

Age by Sex

45.7

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 1.25

48.3

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 8.61

The median age of Locomotive engineers & operators is 45.8, and Male employees are generally 2.58 years younger than than their Female counterparts.

Education

Data on higher education choices for Locomotive engineers & operators from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Locomotive engineers & operators is Business but a relatively high number of Locomotive engineers & operators hold a major in Theology.