Forklift Operator

BLS OEWS, May 2025, national. The matching BLS detailed occupation is Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators (53-7051).

BLS occupation title

Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

SOC code

53-7051

National employment

774,420

Median hourly wage

$22.32

Mean hourly wage

$23.25

Median annual wage

$46,420

Mean annual wage

$48,370

10th percentile hourly wage

$17.71

90th percentile hourly wage

$30.06

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 national estimates, https://www.bls.gov/oes/. Record: 53-7051.

What these figures are

National estimates for one BLS occupation across all employers, not a rate for any one job and not a statement about any shift pattern. The median is the wage at which half the workers in the occupation are above and half below. Where BLS does not publish a value, the page says so and does not estimate it.

Shift hours

Pay for a particular shift is arithmetic on the hours actually worked and the rate actually paid. The calculators do only that arithmetic: shift hours, hour totals split at 40, long shifts, shifts that end next day.