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The differences between crane operators and riggers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a crane operator has an average salary of $54,275, which is higher than the $41,723 average annual salary of a rigger.
The top three skills for a crane operator include cranes, NCCCO and CDL. The most important skills for a rigger are cranes, hand tools, and hoisting.
| Crane Operator | Rigger | |
| Yearly salary | $54,275 | $41,723 |
| Hourly rate | $26.09 | $20.06 |
| Growth rate | 7% | - |
| Number of jobs | 34,918 | 426 |
| Job satisfaction | 4.67 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 56% | High School Diploma, 50% |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
A crane operator's work involves the control of draglines or cranes to lift, move, position or place machinery, equipment, and other large objects at industrial or construction sites, ports, surface mines, railway yards, and other similar locations. Their tasks and duties include conducting crane maintenance such as lubricating and cleaning, inspecting cranes, and assembling tower cranes. Some of them work with all three cranes, namely the boom trucks, mobile cranes, and tower cranes, while others prefer to specialize.
A rigger is a worker whose task is to set up, maintain or repair rigging in construction projects in industrial or manufacturing plants. Riggers install machinery and make sure that it is in place. They use pulleys, ropes, or any other tool to be able to move heavy objects. Some of their duties include the attachment of loads of equipment to structures or cranes through cables, clamps, chains, and shackles. They also perform quick calculations, which are important for engineering principles and loads.
Crane operators and riggers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Crane Operator | Rigger | |
| Average salary | $54,275 | $41,723 |
| Salary range | Between $35,000 And $83,000 | Between $28,000 And $60,000 |
| Highest paying City | Vancouver, WA | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Katerra | Naughty Dog |
| Best paying industry | Energy | - |
There are a few differences between a crane operator and a rigger in terms of educational background:
| Crane Operator | Rigger | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 56% | High School Diploma, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between crane operators' and riggers' demographics:
| Crane Operator | Rigger | |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 95.5% Female, 4.5% | Male, 95.7% Female, 4.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 0.7% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% | Black or African American, 16.2% Unknown, 7.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.4% Asian, 2.4% White, 56.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 2% | 11% |