Pay · 51-8031
Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators earn $60,020 a year at the midpoint
Across roughly 128,490 people in this work, the midpoint is $60,020 a year, with most starting near $48,040.
National figures for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators, 51-8031, from the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
- What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
- Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
- Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”
Water and wastewater treatment plant operator earnings, from starting pay to the top 10%
Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.
The survey has no complete figures for that job — pick the closest title from the list.
An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →
Examples
Resumes made for this kind of work.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
- Water Treatment Plant Operator Resume Template Production
- Stationary Engineer Resume Template Production
- Power Plant Operator Resume Template Production
- Power Dispatcher Resume Template Production
- Nuclear Reactor Operator Resume Template Production
- Chemical Plant Operator Resume Template Production
- Gas Plant Operator Resume Template Production
- Refinery Operator Resume Template Production
- Plant Operator Resume Template Production
- Woodworker Resume Template Production
- Chemical Equipment Operator Resume Template Production
- Separating Machine Operator Resume Template Production
Ranked 402 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 49% of the occupations in the survey.
- 400 Interpreters and Translators $60,170
- 401 Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers $60,070
- 402 Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators $60,020
- 403 Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians $59,920
- 404 Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators $59,850
Water and wastewater treatment plant operator pay rate, hourly and yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
Water and wastewater treatment plant operator wages in each state
The 47 states where the most people do this work, of 50 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.84 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $81,770 | $56,030 | $56,030 — $123,380 | 11,630 |
| Washington | $80,800 | $57,720 | $57,720 — $106,270 | 2,030 |
| Connecticut | $78,820 | $60,900 | $60,900 — $98,850 | 980 |
| New Jersey | $78,760 | $51,050 | $51,050 — $99,240 | 2,500 |
| Minnesota | $74,670 | $52,130 | $52,130 — $87,250 | 2,290 |
| Colorado | $74,200 | $50,130 | $50,130 — $95,730 | 2,620 |
| Oregon | $69,720 | $50,270 | $50,270 — $87,880 | 1,240 |
| Massachusetts | $68,550 | $50,980 | $50,980 — $91,390 | 2,510 |
| Illinois | $67,810 | $42,240 | $42,240 — $103,690 | 3,500 |
| Hawaii | $65,560 | $46,900 | $46,900 — $82,680 | 610 |
| New York | $63,990 | $48,350 | $48,350 — $102,260 | 5,300 |
| Wisconsin | $63,550 | $50,340 | $50,340 — $78,790 | 2,230 |
| Pennsylvania | $63,310 | $45,670 | $45,670 — $80,480 | 4,660 |
| Wyoming | $63,260 | $46,960 | $46,960 — $107,370 | 500 |
| New Hampshire | $62,940 | $49,170 | $49,170 — $81,290 | 510 |
| Maine | $61,870 | $49,220 | $49,220 — $84,730 | 710 |
| Maryland | $61,870 | $44,990 | $44,990 — $88,970 | 1,770 |
| Rhode Island | $61,820 | $49,150 | $49,150 — $84,640 | 420 |
| Arizona | $61,340 | $46,690 | $46,690 — $80,040 | 3,950 |
| Utah | $61,290 | $45,710 | $45,710 — $79,860 | 1,900 |
| Nebraska | $61,220 | $44,620 | $44,620 — $76,250 | 740 |
| Iowa | $60,990 | $46,880 | $46,880 — $76,040 | 2,370 |
| North Dakota | $60,470 | $47,250 | $47,250 — $78,940 | 550 |
| Alaska | $60,160 | $35,200 | $35,200 — $99,840 | 750 |
| Virginia | $59,420 | $38,590 | $38,590 — $79,470 | 3,460 |
| Michigan | $59,270 | $46,710 | $46,710 — $75,910 | 3,400 |
| Ohio | $59,170 | $45,350 | $45,350 — $75,200 | 5,870 |
| Florida | $59,030 | $39,630 | $39,630 — $84,280 | 7,440 |
| Montana | $58,040 | $37,320 | $37,320 — $81,420 | 690 |
| Indiana | $53,540 | $40,590 | $40,590 — $75,290 | 3,140 |
| South Dakota | $53,370 | $43,890 | $43,890 — $73,170 | 1,060 |
| Idaho | $52,210 | $40,820 | $40,820 — $74,950 | 1,480 |
| South Carolina | $52,090 | $39,060 | $39,060 — $76,850 | 2,650 |
| Alabama | $51,870 | $35,100 | $35,100 — $79,950 | 2,770 |
| North Carolina | $51,680 | $37,860 | $37,860 — $75,600 | 3,620 |
| Tennessee | $50,670 | $35,430 | $35,430 — $75,540 | 3,140 |
| Missouri | $49,940 | $38,600 | $38,600 — $64,930 | 3,000 |
| Texas | $49,460 | $36,550 | $36,550 — $70,270 | 10,520 |
| Georgia | $48,930 | $36,970 | $36,970 — $67,520 | 3,310 |
| New Mexico | $48,190 | $36,110 | $36,110 — $80,090 | 2,110 |
| West Virginia | $47,560 | $35,360 | $35,360 — $75,240 | 1,100 |
| Kansas | $46,780 | $35,870 | $35,870 — $66,800 | 1,560 |
| Mississippi | $46,480 | $35,230 | $35,230 — $64,130 | 1,150 |
| Louisiana | $46,210 | $31,440 | $31,440 — $63,870 | 2,450 |
| Oklahoma | $45,890 | $35,250 | $35,250 — $63,040 | 2,280 |
| Kentucky | $45,430 | $33,210 | $33,210 — $63,740 | 2,540 |
| Arkansas | $44,320 | $31,480 | $31,480 — $61,780 | 2,010 |
Writing a resume for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Collected and tested water and sewage samples, using test equipment and color analysis standards.
- Operated and adjusted controls on equipment to purify and clarify water, process or dispose of sewage, and generate power.
- Recorded operational data, personnel attendance, or meter and gauge readings on specified forms.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Questions people ask
What is a water and wastewater treatment plant operator’s yearly income?
A water and wastewater treatment plant operator makes a median of $60,020 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $48,040 and $74,780.
What is a water and wastewater treatment plant operator’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $28.86 an hour; the average is $62,540 a year.
What is the starting pay for a water and wastewater treatment plant operator?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $48,040 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $39,110.
Which state pays water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators the most?
California, with a median of $81,770 a year.
How many people work as water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators?
About 128,490 in the United States — number 402 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Work that pays about the same
Median pay within $200 of what water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators earn — $60,020 a year — but not always the same spread.
- $100 less Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians $59,920median a year 10th percentile: $39,910 90th percentile: $96,660
- $170 less Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators $59,850median a year 10th percentile: $42,190 90th percentile: $101,090
- $200 more Farm and Home Management Educators $60,220median a year 10th percentile: $37,650 90th percentile: $85,060