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Current BLS California employee wages for Riggers, SOC 49-9096; May 2025 cross-industry estimates exclude premium pay and benefits, and are not contractor rates.
Last updated October 21, 2026. Rates are market estimates, not guarantees.
Career guide · California
Prepare for construction lifts through supervised rigging, crane-crew apprenticeship and practical instruction in gear selection and load control.
Riggers attach loads, select slings and protect lifting gear from sharp edges. On California construction sites, that work requires qualified riggers or directly supervised trainees. This guide connects training routes with those duties, from handling known loads to recognizing an unfamiliar lift. It also separates employee responsibilities from the business rules for taking construction contracts.
A good share of those postings are open to people at entry level with no licence yet. Live counts move week to week — the training routes below do not.
The trade is not one job, it is three, and they are separated by what you are legally allowed to do rather than by how good you are. Knowing which level you are aiming at tells you which hours, which exam and which certificates actually matter.
Paid from day one, working under a licensed hand while you bank the hours that lead to your own card.
Qualified to work on your own. This is the level nearly every job ad is really asking for, and the biggest pay step you will ever get.
You run work rather than just do it: crews across sites, permits where the trade allows, and the option of qualifying a business of your own.
Riggers in California start around $25.57 an hour and reach $61.45 at the top of the trade. Once you are working unsupervised the middle of the market sits near $41.22.
See the full rigger salary guide →Employees need rigging qualification or direct supervision. Construction contracting triggers licensing at $1,000, or with permits or employees. Employers provide hazard instruction, safe equipment and workers' compensation coverage.
Crane-crew apprenticeships combine field experience with classroom work. College safety courses explain construction hazards, while specialist instruction develops sling inspection, hitch selection and hands-on preparation for rigging examinations.
Certificates get you past the first filter. These are the things foremen and recruiters decide on, and they change depending on which level you are applying at.
No signed record of your supervised hours
Long gaps with no explanation at all
Leaving three or four shops inside a year
No OSHA card when the site requires one
Certifications that lapsed and were never renewed
Listing a licence as 'in progress' as though it is held
No supervisor anyone can call
The realistic route, start to finish. Most of it is paid — you are earning from the point you are taken on, not from the point you are licensed.
Sorted by payback speed.
| Certification | Rate bump | Extra / year | Cost | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IUOE Local 12 Operating Engineer Apprenticeship (journeyperson) | +$6.62 | $13,770 | $0 | 0 weeks |
| SoCal Laborers Apprenticeship (journeyperson) | +$4.83 | $10,046 | $0 | 0 weeks |
| OSHA 30-Hour Construction | +$2.18 | $4,534 | $159 | 2 weeks |
| OSHA 10-Hour Construction | +$0.73 | $1,518 | $59 | 3 weeks |
| NCCCO Rigger Level I | +$1.16 | $2,413 | $200 | 5 weeks |
| NCCCO Signalperson | +$0.58 | $1,206 | $200 | 9 weeks |
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