The 10 States With The Highest Ride Operator Salaries For 2023

Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do ride operators get paid where I live?

And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for ride operators by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.

The state with the best salary for ride operators after this adjustment? That would be Amusement And Recreation Attendants.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for ride operator salaries:

To better understand how ride operator salaries change across America, we decided to take a look the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on average pay for ride operators by state.

Additionally, we wanted to adjust the salary based on the cost of living in a state — because your salary goes further in North Carolina than it does in California.

Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.

How we determined ride operator pay by state

As we mentioned earlier, we took the average annual salary data for ride operators from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — specifically their ‘Occupational Employment Statistics.’

To make the comparison of salaries apples to apples across states, we also took into account the cost of living in each state.

We then created an index by dividing the average wage for a state by the cost of living relative to average. As an example, the cost of living index in California is 135.9 and the average pay is $32030, so our index value would be:

$32,030 * (100 / 135.9) = $23,568

We then ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary index ranking as highest average salary for ride operators.

Here’s a look at the full ranking for all states.

Detailed List Of Ride Operator Salaries By State

Rank	State	Adjusted Salary	Average Wage	Cost Of Living
1	Washington	$31,302	$32,930	105.2
2	Arizona	$30,438	$29,830	98.0
3	Colorado	$29,547	$30,670	103.8
4	Illinois	$29,228	$27,650	94.6
5	Arkansas	$28,438	$24,770	87.1
6	Michigan	$28,325	$25,210	89.0
7	Maine	$27,175	$30,110	110.8
8	Missouri	$27,068	$24,470	90.4
9	Oregon	$26,548	$30,690	115.6
10	Tennessee	$26,431	$23,630	89.4
11	Minnesota	$26,428	$26,640	100.8
12	Rhode Island	$26,329	$31,780	120.7
13	Kansas	$26,240	$23,590	89.9
14	New Mexico	$26,217	$25,300	96.5
15	Utah	$26,129	$24,300	93.0
16	Wyoming	$26,002	$23,870	91.8
17	Montana	$25,892	$26,100	100.8
18	Indiana	$25,865	$23,150	89.5
19	Virginia	$25,853	$26,060	100.8
20	Wisconsin	$25,805	$24,980	96.8
21	Alaska	$25,713	$33,710	131.1
22	Nebraska	$25,436	$23,300	91.6
23	Florida	$25,381	$24,950	98.3
24	Louisiana	$25,337	$24,020	94.8
25	Iowa	$25,164	$22,900	91.0
26	Texas	$25,060	$22,730	90.7
27	North Dakota	$24,869	$24,720	99.4
28	West Virginia	$24,785	$23,150	93.4
29	Idaho	$24,755	$22,800	92.1
30	Kentucky	$24,674	$22,330	90.5
31	Ohio	$24,488	$22,970	93.8
32	Delaware	$24,309	$24,650	101.4
33	Mississippi	$24,307	$20,880	85.9
34	Connecticut	$24,197	$30,900	127.7
35	New York	$24,175	$31,670	131.0
36	Nevada	$23,920	$24,710	103.3
37	Maryland	$23,880	$29,970	125.5
38	Vermont	$23,715	$28,720	121.1
39	Alabama	$23,695	$21,610	91.2
40	California	$23,568	$32,030	135.9
41	North Carolina	$23,546	$22,110	93.9
42	Oklahoma	$23,508	$20,970	89.2
43	New Jersey	$23,494	$28,640	121.9
44	Massachusetts	$23,440	$31,270	133.4
45	Georgia	$23,063	$21,080	91.4
46	South Dakota	$22,777	$23,620	103.7
47	South Carolina	$22,479	$22,300	99.2
48	Pennsylvania	$22,435	$22,750	101.4
49	New Hampshire	$20,059	$23,470	117.0
50	Hawaii	$19,684	$33,050	167.9

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Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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