Machine or forklift operators specialise in warehouse transportation and drive industrial vehicles to load and unload warehouse materials. They are responsible for shipping and receiving warehouse items and transporting materials to different locations within the facility.
This requires optimizing loads to ensure operational efficiency, securing loads to machines before transportation, inspecting vehicles for damage, scheduling vehicles for maintenance and repair, and operating and managing technical equipment.
Machine or forklift operators are also often responsible for managing inventory with RF scanning equipment, picking and dropping orders for shipment, identifying workplace safety hazards, and adhering to safety standards and production schedules.
Since machine or forklift operators often move sensitive cargo, their jobs require attention to detail, precision, and steady hands. They also need strong time management skills and to be able to work well with others.
A high school diploma or GED is sufficient for this role, but job seekers may need a forklift operation certificate as well.
Machine or forklift operators typically earn $13.68 an hour, which translates to $28,460 a year. The career is expected to grow by 4% between 2018 and 2028, creating 32,600 new jobs during this timespan.
What is a Machine Operator/Forklift Operator?
What Does a Machine Operator/Forklift Operator Do
There are certain skills that many machine operator/forklift operators have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed alertness, communication skills and coordination.
How To Become a Machine Operator/Forklift Operator
If you're interested in becoming a machine operator/forklift operator, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 5.1% of machine operator/forklift operators have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 0.5% of machine operator/forklift operators have master's degrees. Even though some machine operator/forklift operators have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Machine Operator/Forklift Operator Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a machine operator/forklift operator can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as forklift operator, progress to a title such as technician and then eventually end up with the title operations manager.
Average Salary for a Machine Operator/Forklift Operator
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Machine Operator/Forklift Operator Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active machine operator/forklift operator jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where machine operator/forklift operators earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Machine Operator/Forklift Operator Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 2,288 | $33,285 |
| 2 | Illinois | 1,507 | $32,042 |
| 3 | Ohio | 1,452 | $31,111 |
| 4 | Georgia | 1,407 | $26,463 |
| 5 | Massachusetts | 1,381 | $34,916 |
| 6 | Texas | 1,373 | $27,580 |
| 7 | Pennsylvania | 1,362 | $31,514 |
| 8 | Florida | 1,158 | $27,986 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 1,158 | $25,500 |
| 10 | Indiana | 1,132 | $29,827 |
| 11 | New Jersey | 1,061 | $32,117 |
| 12 | Wisconsin | 1,025 | $31,812 |
| 13 | Minnesota | 960 | $33,005 |
| 14 | Michigan | 874 | $30,627 |
| 15 | Tennessee | 772 | $26,769 |
| 16 | New York | 768 | $32,761 |
| 17 | Missouri | 637 | $29,734 |
| 18 | Kentucky | 506 | $28,504 |
| 19 | Virginia | 506 | $28,059 |
| 20 | Iowa | 502 | $32,601 |
| 21 | Washington | 456 | $36,111 |
| 22 | South Carolina | 409 | $26,534 |
| 23 | Arizona | 395 | $30,393 |
| 24 | Maryland | 362 | $33,419 |
| 25 | Colorado | 355 | $30,821 |
| 26 | Kansas | 340 | $31,379 |
| 27 | Oregon | 325 | $34,427 |
| 28 | Alabama | 319 | $25,253 |
| 29 | Utah | 317 | $31,601 |
| 30 | New Hampshire | 277 | $31,838 |
| 31 | Connecticut | 262 | $30,197 |
| 32 | Nebraska | 256 | $32,158 |
| 33 | Arkansas | 237 | $24,758 |
| 34 | Mississippi | 235 | $26,960 |
| 35 | Louisiana | 161 | $27,727 |
| 36 | Rhode Island | 156 | $32,486 |
| 37 | Nevada | 154 | $33,642 |
| 38 | Oklahoma | 142 | $27,623 |
| 39 | Maine | 132 | $34,257 |
| 40 | Idaho | 122 | $28,278 |
| 41 | West Virginia | 110 | $28,168 |
| 42 | Alaska | 108 | $41,117 |
| 43 | Hawaii | 100 | $37,097 |
| 44 | Delaware | 74 | $30,788 |
| 45 | South Dakota | 69 | $32,602 |
| 46 | Vermont | 66 | $30,205 |
| 47 | North Dakota | 65 | $38,277 |
| 48 | Montana | 56 | $33,963 |
| 49 | New Mexico | 49 | $30,985 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 15 | $34,176 |
Top Skills For a Machine Operator/Forklift Operator
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 17.2% of machine operator/forklift operators listed safety standards on their resume, but soft skills such as alertness and communication skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Machine Operator/Forklift Operator Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Machine Operator/Forklift Operator templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Machine Operator/Forklift Operator resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Machine Operator/Forklift Operator Demographics
Machine Operator/Forklift Operator Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among machine operator/forklift operators, 10.1% of them are women, while 89.9% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among machine operator/forklift operators is White, which makes up 62.9% of all machine operator/forklift operators.
- The most common foreign language among machine operator/forklift operators is Spanish at 81.8%.
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Best States For a Machine Operator/Forklift Operator
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a machine operator/forklift operator. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, North Dakota, Hawaii, and Washington. Machine operator/forklift operators make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $41,117. Whereas in North Dakota and Hawaii, they would average $38,277 and $37,097, respectively. While machine operator/forklift operators would only make an average of $36,111 in Washington, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Alaska
$41,117
Avg. Salary
2. Massachusetts
$34,916
Avg. Salary
3. Iowa
$32,601
Avg. Salary
How Do Machine Operator/Forklift Operator Rate Their Jobs?
Top Machine Operator/Forklift Operator Employers
Most Common Employers For Machine Operator/Forklift Operator
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PepsiCo | $38,262 | $18.40 | 32 |
| 2 | General Mills | $37,603 | $18.08 | 21 |
| 3 | International Paper | $37,178 | $17.87 | 66 |
| 4 | Kimberly-Clark | $36,619 | $17.61 | 32 |
| 5 | James Hardie | $36,442 | $17.52 | 26 |
| 6 | Georgia-Pacific | $36,254 | $17.43 | 85 |
| 7 | The Coca-Cola Company | $35,827 | $17.22 | 103 |
| 8 | Pactiv | $35,824 | $17.22 | 30 |
| 9 | Shaw Industries | $34,689 | $16.68 | 27 |
| 10 | Caterpillar | $34,650 | $16.66 | 25 |
Machine Operator/Forklift Operator Videos
