Mobile machine drivers and operatives n.e.c.: salary in the UK
About £31,931 a year after tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27)
median salary a year, full-time, +4.9% on last year
£3,288 a month About £2,661 a month after tax 33 thousand full-time jobs
Gross pay before tax, including bonuses, commission and overtime. Not included: benefits in kind such as a company car. About the data
Pay range
The dark part is the middle half of full-time employees (25% to 75%); the light bar runs from 10% to 90%. ONS doesn't publish the highest or lowest salary, and x means a figure wasn't published.
Pay by year
The median went from £30,473 in 2021 to £39,461 in 2026 (+29%); for all full-time employees in the UK it changed by +31% over the same years.
Figures by year
| P10 | P25 | Median | P75 | P90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | £20,022 | £24,368 | £30,473 | £36,299 | x |
| 2022 | £19,416 | £26,245 | £31,819 | £38,789 | x |
| 2023 | x | £25,115 | £30,917 | £38,606 | x |
| 2024 | £23,414 | £26,683 | £33,010 | £41,533 | x |
| 2025 | £25,979 | £30,052 | £37,601 | £45,226 | x |
| 2026 | £26,300 | £31,557 | £39,461 | £47,714 | x |
ONS figures for each year, not adjusted for inflation. Years before 2021 used a different occupation classification, so they can't be compared. Earlier years are ONS's revised figures; the latest is provisional.
Half of full-time employees in this occupation earn less than £39,461 a year and half earn more. That is 4% less than the median for all full-time employees in the UK (£40,911).
The middle half earn between £31,557 and £47,714; one in ten earns less than £26,300.
Ranked by median, it is number 154 of the 362 occupations with a published figure.
At the median salary, take-home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance is about £2,661 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and £2,656 in Scotland.
Percentiles
| Percentile | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th (P10) | £26,300 | £2,192 |
| 20th | £30,059 | £2,505 |
| 25th (P25) | £31,557 | £2,630 |
| 30th | £32,867 | £2,739 |
| 40th | £35,424 | £2,952 |
| Median (50th) | £39,461 | £3,288 |
| 60th | £42,550 | £3,546 |
| 70th | £45,310 | £3,776 |
| 75th (P75) | £47,714 | £3,976 |
| 80th | £49,639 | £4,137 |
| 90th (P90) | x | x |
Men and women
| Median | Mean | Jobs (thousands) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | £39,815 | £40,976 | 31 |
| Women | x | £34,950 | x |
Take-home pay at the median
| Where you live | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| England, Wales, NI | £31,931 | £2,661 |
| Scotland | £31,872 | £2,656 |
After Income Tax and National Insurance for 2026 to 2027, with the standard tax code and no pension or student loan. Work out your own take-home pay · Take-home pay on £39,000
Job titles in this occupation
ONS codes these 123 job titles to SOC 8229 Mobile machine drivers and operatives n.e.c.. Pay figures are for the whole occupation, not for each title.
- 360 operator
- Agricultural machinist
- Agricultural sprayer
- Agricultural worker
- Angle dozer driver
- Attendant
- Bobcat driver
- Bogie driver
- Bogie truck driver
- Builder's plant operator
- Bulldozer driver
- Bulldozer operator
- Carman
- Caterpillar operator
- Charge driver
- Chargeman
- Charger
- Charger car driver
- Charger driver
- Charger operator
- Chargerman
- Chipping machinist
- Coal charger
- Coke car driver
- Concrete paving machinist
- Concrete pump operator
- Construction plant operative
- Constructional plant operator
- Crawler driver
- Crop spraying contractor
- Deck officer
- Digger driver
- Digger man
- Drag line operator
- Dredgeman
- Dredger
- Dredger driver
- Dredger master
- Dredger operator
- Dredgerman
- Dredgermaster
- Dredging foreman
- Dredging master
- Driver
- Driver-mechanic
- Drott driver
- Drott operator
- Drum feeder
- Dumper
- Dumper driver
- Dumper truck driver
- Dumpy motor driver
- Engine driver
- Euclid driver
- Excavator
- Excavator driver
- Excavator driver's mate
- Excavator operator
- Filler
- Foreman
Show all 123 titles
- Gearhead driver
- Grader driver
- Gully machinist
- Hammerman
- Hay baler
- Heavy plant driver
- Heavy plant operator
- Jcb driver
- Jcb operator
- Leveller
- Loader driver
- Machine driver
- Machinist
- Mechanical road sweeper
- Mechanical road sweeper driver
- Mechanical tool driver
- Mobile plant operator
- Navvy driver
- Navvy man
- Operator
- Operator telehandler
- Ore charger
- Oven charger
- Owner-driver
- Pile driver
- Piling foreman
- Piling operative
- Plant driver
- Plant foreman
- Plant hire operator
- Plant machine operator
- Plant operator
- Plate man
- Plough man
- Pneumatic drill operator
- Rail levelling machinist
- Ransom truck driver
- Retort charger
- Rig operator
- Roller driver
- Scoop driver
- Scraper driver
- Screwman
- Sentinel driver
- Shovel driver
- Sprayer
- Spreading machine driver
- Steamroller driver
- Stoking machine driver
- Straw binder
- Sweeper driver
- Tamping machinist
- Tar sprayer
- Telehandler
- Telehandler driver
- Telescopic handler
- Topman
- Tracklaying machinist
- Tractor driver
- Tractorman
- Trolley driver
- Trucker
- Water bowser driver
Similar occupations
All jobs in Process, plant and machine operatives
Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026 provisional, Table 14.7a (full-time employees, gross annual pay, UK, tax year ending 5 April 2026). Provisional figures may be revised.