# Forklift Operator Pay Benchmark

> The Forklift Operator Pay Benchmark carries 4 published figures read from 2 sources' own pages, from 23,000 to 39,000 GBP, read 12 October 2026.

Forklift Course Finder · https://forkliftcoursefinder.co.uk/datasets/forklift-operator-pay-benchmark/ · computed 2026-10-18

**Range of the published figures:** 23,000 to 39,000 GBP (range 23,000 to 39,000 GBP; 4 published figures; 2 of 6 sources read publish one).

2 of the 6 named sources read in full publish a figure; 4 publish none, read 12 October 2026.

## By experience

| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| experience starter | 23,500 GBP | 23,000 to 24,000 GBP | 2 |
| experience experienced | 35,500 GBP | 32,000 to 39,000 GBP | 2 |

## Every figure, with its source

One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read.

| Source | Figure | Breakdown | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Go Construct - forklift driver career profile](https://www.goconstruct.org/construction-careers/what-jobs-are-right-for-me/forklift-driver) | 39,000 GBP | experienced | 2026-10-12 |
| [National Careers Service - forklift driver](https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/forklift-driver) | 32,000 GBP | experienced | 2026-10-12 |
| [Go Construct - forklift driver career profile](https://www.goconstruct.org/construction-careers/what-jobs-are-right-for-me/forklift-driver) | 24,000 GBP | starter | 2026-10-12 |
| [National Careers Service - forklift driver](https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/forklift-driver) | 23,000 GBP | starter | 2026-10-12 |

## The sentence each figure was read from (4)

- [Go Construct - forklift driver career profile](https://www.goconstruct.org/construction-careers/what-jobs-are-right-for-me/forklift-driver), read 2026-10-12: "• Trained with experience forklift drivers can earn up to £39,000*"
- [National Careers Service - forklift driver](https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/forklift-driver), read 2026-10-12: "£32,000"
- [Go Construct - forklift driver career profile](https://www.goconstruct.org/construction-careers/what-jobs-are-right-for-me/forklift-driver), read 2026-10-12: "Average Salary £24,000 to £39,000"
- [National Careers Service - forklift driver](https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/forklift-driver), read 2026-10-12: "Average salary (a year) £23,000"

## Read in full, publishes no figure

- [ONS - ASHE Table 14, earnings and hours by four-digit SOC](https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/earningsandhoursworkedallemployeesashetable14), read 2026-09-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [ONS - ASHE Table 15, region by occupation by four-digit SOC](https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/regionbyoccupation4digitsoc2010ashetable15), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [GOV.UK - ASHE Table 15 statistics release](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/earnings-and-hours-worked-region-by-occupation-by-four-digit-soc-ashe-table-15), read 2026-10-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Find a job (DWP) - forklift vacancies](https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/search?q=forklift), read 2026-10-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page

## Methodology

Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2). 2 of the 6 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 4 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 1 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere. The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source for each breakdown it prices, in GBP (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences for one breakdown), so a page that gives figures for several breakdowns gives one for each and N counts 4 figures, never sentences; 4 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded. The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): the official median pay for the occupation from ASHE by region, beside the National Careers Service's published band and the National Minimum Wage floor, divided by the index's median course price - the PAYBACK in shifts, which is the question behind 'how much is a forklift course' and which nobody publishes because the two halves live in different places; re-derived on each ASHE release and each course-price read

## Sources

- [National Careers Service - forklift driver](https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/forklift-driver) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [ONS - ASHE Table 14, earnings and hours by four-digit SOC](https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/earningsandhoursworkedallemployeesashetable14) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [ONS - ASHE Table 15, region by occupation by four-digit SOC](https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/regionbyoccupation4digitsoc2010ashetable15) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [GOV.UK - ASHE Table 15 statistics release](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/earnings-and-hours-worked-region-by-occupation-by-four-digit-soc-ashe-table-15) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [GOV.UK - National Minimum Wage rates](https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Find a job (DWP) - forklift vacancies](https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/search?q=forklift) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Go Construct - forklift driver career profile](https://www.goconstruct.org/construction-careers/what-jobs-are-right-for-me/forklift-driver) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)

## Cite or embed

- The Forklift Operator Pay Benchmark carries 4 published figures read from 2 sources' own pages, from 23,000 to 39,000 GBP, read 12 October 2026.
- 2 of the 6 named sources read in full publish a figure; 4 publish none, read 12 October 2026.
- Forklift Operator Pay Benchmark, experience starter: median 23,500 GBP across 2 sources, read 12 October 2026.
- Forklift Operator Pay Benchmark, experience experienced: median 35,500 GBP across 2 sources, read 12 October 2026.

Cite as: "forkliftcoursefinder.co.uk Forklift Operator Pay Benchmark", updated 2026-10-18, https://forkliftcoursefinder.co.uk/datasets/forklift-operator-pay-benchmark/.

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