Career Training Path › Heavy equipment operator schools › Minnesota
Heavy equipment operator schools in Minnesota
Minnesota has 1 accredited campuses awarding heavy equipment credentials. If you finish and work as a construction equipment operator in Minnesota, expect to start around $55,960–$63,310 and reach a median of $79,130 with experience; the top quarter earn $95,740 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, Minnesota). Graduates of these Minnesota programs — every graduate, whatever job they took — earned a median of $51,968 in their first year, against $34,973 nationally; that is the figure used to rank campuses below.
What operating engineers and other construction equipment operators earn in Minnesota
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; 8,590 employed in Minnesota. National median: $59,850.
Campuses in Minnesota, ranked by what their graduates earned
Cities: Brainerd
| Campus | City | Type | Grads / yr | Earnings, yr 1 | Program debt | Completion | Cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Lakes College-Brainerd | Brainerd | Public | 49 | $51,968 | $10,952 | 53% | not reported |
Earnings are median wages and self-employment income reported to the IRS (W-2 and Schedule SE) for graduates who received federal aid and were working and not enrolled, measured in the calendar year after finishing. They are pay only: health insurance, retirement contributions and other benefits are not included.
Ranked by median earnings of this program's graduates one year after completion (College Scorecard field-of-study, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 2022-23 Completions survey; College Scorecard June 2026; Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), September 2026); campuses without a reported figure follow, by credentials awarded. "Program debt" is the median federal loan debt for graduates of this program at this campus. Completion is the campus-wide 150%-of-time rate. "Not reported" means the federal file suppresses the value for privacy.