Cost of Owning Skid Steers: Where Does Your State Rank? - EquipmentWatch

Cost of Owning Skid Steers: Where Does Your State Rank?

Alaskan regions claim the top 3 spots as the most expensive states to own crawler mounted hydraulic excavators, while Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico round out the least expensive.

Key Takeaways for Decision Makers

EQUIPMENT MANAGER/ESTIMATOR: Given the array of differing equipment rates per state, be sure to use EquipmentWatch’s regional adjustments in order to ensure you’re using the most accurate rates possible.

It’s no surprise that different areas of the country have different factors that cause equipment ownership costs to fluctuate. One of those factors is per capita income which reflects the economics of a particular state, which can have a direct impact on factors like local mechanics wage, sales tax, and freight which can all affect ownership costs as well as operating costs. However, the most important factor in state variations tends to be the climate. Maximum and minimum temperatures and precipitation are taken into consideration due to its effect on the average annual use hours. Extreme temperatures and precipitation shorten a working season which means ownership rates will be higher in order to recover fixed costs. States with volatile climates tend to have more downtime for both equipment and workers.

State level adjustments also vary by the type of equipment due to differing equipment functions and purposes. Paving and drilling equipment, for example, have a shorter working season than many other equipment types due to difficulty or inability to preform correctly during colder months. Below is a ranking of all 50 states based on how expensive it is to own a crawler mounted hydraulic excavator:

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Rank State Adjustment Multiplier Rank State Adjustment Multiplier
1 Alaska – North 142.70% 28 Florida 95.10%
2 Alaska – South 133.70% 29 Iowa 95.10%
3 Alaska – Central 124.70% 30 Virginia 94.90%
4 Minnesota 111.20% 31 Maine 94.50%
5 Wisconsin 108.00% 32 Louisiana 94.20%
6 New York 107.90% 33 Nevada 94.10%
7 Pennsylvania 104.00% 34 Oregon 93.80%
8 Connecticut 103.70% 35 Kansas 93.70%
9 Massachusetts 103.10% 36 Vermont 93.70%
10 Wyoming 102.70% 37 Georgia 93.20%
11 Rhode Island 102.10% 38 Tennessee 93.00%
12 Hawaii 101.60% 39 Maryland 92.90%
13 California – North 101.40% 40 New Hampshire 92.90%
14 Illinois 101.40% 41 Alabama 92.60%
15 Michigan 101.20% 42 Colorado 91.90%
16 Montana 101.20% 43 Mississippi 91.90%
17 South Dakota 100.20% 44 North Carolina 91.90%
18 Ohio 99.60% 45 Arkansas 91.80%
19 West Virginia 99.30% 46 Oklahoma 91.80%
20 North Dakota 99.00% 47 Nebraska 91.20%
21 Indiana 98.50% 48 Idaho 91.00%
22 Missouri 97.80% 49 South Carolina 90.90%
23 Washington 97.80% 50 Texas 88.90%
24 Kentucky 97.00% 51 Arizona 87.50%
25 California – South 96.30% 52 Utah 86.50%
26 New Jersey 96.20% 53 New Mexico 82.20%
27 Delaware 95.20%

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On average, and across all sizes, skid steer loaders cost $2,385.37 to own per month, $667.84 to own per week, $167.56 to own per day, and $25.26 to own per hour. An Alaska regional adjustment can increase these ownership rates by as much as 142.70%, raising the monthly ownership rate to $3,403.92. On the flip side, New Mexico, the least expensive state, lowers these rates by 82.2% to $1,960.77.

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[su_note note_color=”#EEE” text_color=”#555″]Want to learn more about our Cost Recovery product?  Visit EquipmentWatch.com. [/su_note]