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 2025

Geography	Employment	Emp SE*	Percentiles
Geography	Employment	Emp SE*	Mean	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
Central Minnesota	730	61	$24.45/hr	$20.32/hr	$22.42/hr	$22.73/hr	$27.40/hr	$28.43/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	50	$32.69/hr
Manufacturing	1,930	$23.44/hr
Trade, Transportation and Utilities	4,730	$23.59/hr
Information	N/A	N/A
Financial Activities	N/A	N/A
Professional and Business Services	580	$21.62/hr
Public Administration	90	$18.47/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	60	$23.43/hr	N/A
Grand Forks ND-MN MSA	130	$23.58/hr	N/A
Rochester MN MSA	140	$23.26/hr	N/A
Northeast Minnesota	170	$23.00/hr	-1.2%
Duluth MN-WI MSA	180	$23.00/hr	N/A
Southwest Balance of State	270	$23.86/hr	N/A
St Cloud MN MSA	320	$22.71/hr	N/A
Northwest Balance of State	340	$22.83/hr	N/A
Northwest Minnesota	380	$22.78/hr	8.9%
La Crosse WI-MN MSA	430	$21.16/hr	N/A
Fargo ND-MN MSA	440	$21.48/hr	N/A
Southwest Minnesota	490	$25.85/hr	6.6%
Central Minnesota	730	$22.73/hr	13.6%
Southeast Balance of State	760	$21.47/hr	N/A
Southeast Minnesota	790	$22.03/hr	8.3%
Seven County Mpls-St Paul, MN	4,840	$23.59/hr	3.8%
Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington MN-WI MSA	5,210	$23.59/hr	N/A
Minnesota	7,470	$23.59/hr	5.0%

Related Occupations

Occupations	Employment	Median Wage	Projections % Change 2022-2032
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand	56,030	$22.13/hr	6.7%
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators	8,290	$38.50/hr	9.9%
Helpers--Extraction Workers	N/A	N/A	N/A
Tree Trimmers and Pruners	140	$33.26/hr	N/A
Helpers--Production Workers	3,040	$20.65/hr	-6.3%
Crane and Tower Operators	170	$32.79/hr	3.7%
Light Truck Drivers	18,650	$23.11/hr	9.1%
Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hoist and Winch Operators	70	$32.00/hr	-12.5%
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.