Occupational Employment Statistics

DETAILED OCCUPATION DATA

53-7051 Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

Occupational Description:
Operate industrial trucks or tractors equipped to move materials around a warehouse, storage yard, factory, construction site, or similar location. Excludes “Logging Equipment Operators" (45-4022).

Occupational Employment Statistics(OES) Wage Data
First Quarter 2026

Geography	Employment	Emp SE*	Percentiles
Geography	Employment	Emp SE*	Mean	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
Minnesota	7,110	498	$26.08/hr	$19.62/hr	$21.89/hr	$24.43/hr	$29.33/hr	$36.29/hr

Leading Industries for Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

Industry	OES Employment (Statewide)	OES Median Wage (Statewide)
Natural Resources and Mining	N/A	N/A
Construction	20	$30.70/hr
Manufacturing	1,950	$25.00/hr
Trade, Transportation and Utilities	4,570	$24.43/hr
Financial Activities	N/A	N/A
Professional and Business Services	370	$22.40/hr
Leisure and Hospitality	N/A	N/A
Public Administration	90	$19.14/hr

Other Regional Data for Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

Geography	Employment	Median Wage	Projections % Change 2022-2032
Mankato-North Mankato MN MSA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Northeast Balance of State	80	$28.67/hr	N/A
Rochester MN MSA	140	$23.90/hr	N/A
Grand Forks ND-MN MSA	160	$24.21/hr	N/A
Duluth MN-WI MSA	170	$23.63/hr	N/A
Northeast Minnesota	180	$25.26/hr	-1.2%
Southwest Balance of State	260	$26.63/hr	N/A
Northwest Balance of State	340	$22.98/hr	N/A
St Cloud MN MSA	390	$23.33/hr	N/A
Fargo ND-MN MSA	400	$22.52/hr	N/A
Northwest Minnesota	420	$23.12/hr	8.9%
La Crosse WI-MN MSA	490	$21.92/hr	N/A
Southwest Minnesota	520	$27.09/hr	6.6%
Southeast Balance of State	540	$23.46/hr	N/A
Southeast Minnesota	550	$23.61/hr	8.3%
Central Minnesota	760	$23.54/hr	13.6%
Seven County Mpls-St Paul, MN	4,550	$24.43/hr	3.8%
Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington MN-WI MSA	4,880	$24.43/hr	N/A
Minnesota	7,110	$24.43/hr	5.0%

Related Occupations

Occupations	Employment	Median Wage	Projections % Change 2022-2032
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand	54,480	$22.74/hr	6.7%
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators	8,590	$39.07/hr	9.9%
Tree Trimmers and Pruners	N/A	$38.18/hr	N/A
Helpers--Production Workers	2,570	$21.99/hr	-6.3%
Crane and Tower Operators	370	$39.76/hr	3.7%
Light Truck Drivers	17,360	$24.01/hr	9.1%
Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders	N/A	$37.65/hr	N/A
Hoist and Winch Operators	60	$38.52/hr	-12.5%
Rail Yard Engineers, Donkey Operators, and Hostlers	N/A	N/A	N/A
Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers	N/A	N/A	N/A

Task for Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

Perform routine maintenance on vehicles or auxiliary equipment, such as cleaning, lubricating, recharging batteries, fueling, or replacing liquefied-gas tank.
Move levers or controls that operate lifting devices, such as forklifts, lift beams with swivel-hooks, hoists, or elevating platforms, to load, unload, transport, or stack material.
Move controls to drive gasoline- or electric-powered trucks, cars, or tractors and transport materials between loading, processing, and storage areas.
Inspect product load for accuracy and safely move it around the warehouse or facility to ensure timely and complete delivery.
Manually or mechanically load or unload materials from pallets, skids, platforms, cars, lifting devices, or other transport vehicles.
Turn valves and open chutes to dump, spray, or release materials from dump cars or storage bins into hoppers.
Position lifting devices under, over, or around loaded pallets, skids, or boxes and secure material or products for transport to designated areas.
Operate or tend automatic stacking, loading, packaging, or cutting machines.
Inspect product load for accuracy and safely move it around the warehouse or facility to ensure timely and complete delivery.
Manually or mechanically load or unload materials from pallets, skids, platforms, cars, lifting devices, or other transport vehicles.