Machinery operators and drivers salary in New Zealand
Machinery operators and drivers in New Zealand earn a median of $67,548 a year, about $31.00 an hour.
What that is worth in US dollars
The first number is what the salary converts to if you moved the money. The second is what it actually buys in New Zealand. When those two disagree, the second one is the one that tells you how well someone lives on this wage.
How it changes with age
| Age group | Median (annualised) |
|---|---|
| 15-19 | $49,920 |
| 20-24 | $59,280 |
| 25-29 | $66,508 |
| 30-34 | $68,120 |
| 35-39 | $75,920 |
| 40-44 | $76,960 |
| 45-49 | $72,800 |
| 50-54 | $69,940 |
| 55-59 | $70,200 |
| 60-64 | $64,480 |
| 65-* | $54,600 |
Stats NZ publishes this age breakdown even though it does not publish detailed occupations — so on this one dimension New Zealand's open data is richer than most countries'.
Men and women in this work
| Median pay | Share of the higher figure | |
|---|---|---|
| Men | $68,640 | 100% |
| Women | $59,904 | 87% |
This compares all men against all women working in this occupation group. It is not the same job at the same level and it does not measure unequal pay for equal work — it reflects which roles, seniorities and hours each group actually holds.
By ethnic group
| Ethnic group | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Other | $84,760 |
| Māori | $69,108 |
| European | $68,640 |
| Asian | $66,560 |
| Pacific Peoples | $65,988 |
| MELAA | $64,844 |
Stats NZ publishes earnings crossed with ethnicity, which most countries' headline tables do not. Groups overlap — people can report more than one ethnicity — so these do not sum to the total.
How New Zealand measured this
Household survey — published only at ANZSCO major-group level
Source: Stats NZ, Household Labour Force Survey (income), June 2025 year · CC BY 4.0
What this salary borrows
On the rough serviceability multiple lenders use, someone earning $67,548 could borrow around $371,514 on their own, or about $743,028 on two incomes like it. That is a starting point, not an approval — your deposit, debts and the rate at the time move it a long way.
Check that against median house prices by New Zealand suburb →
Borrowing capacity shown at 5.5× income, before deposit. Not lending advice.