Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators Salary - BLS OEWS Wage Benchmarks
SOC 51-8031 · National · May 2025 OEWS Data
Median Annual Salary
$60,029
$28.86/hr
Verified BLS OEWS data · Updated May 18, 2026
Source: BLS OEWS · Published May 15, 2026
Next refresh: May 2027
Get notified when this number updates
Personal or work email, both work. No account needed. Unsubscribe anytime.
The national median salary for Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators is $60,029 per year ($28.86/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $48,048 and $74,776 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $91,062 per year. There are approximately 128,490 water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Operate or control an entire process or system of machines, often through the use of control boards, to transfer or treat water or wastewater.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
-6.5%
Much slower than average
Annual openings
11K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
132K
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
0% from new growth100% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
High school diploma or equivalent
Experience
None
On-the-job training
Long-term on-the-job training
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)
NAICS 999300
95K
$60,300
Water, Sewage and Other Systems
NAICS 221300
17K
$58,370
Waste Treatment and Disposal
NAICS 562200
2K
$62,280
Animal Slaughtering and Processing
NAICS 311600
1K
$49,730
Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution
NAICS 221100
1K
$59,480
Wage range across top 5 industries: $49,730 to $62,280 (25% spread)
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$18.80
$39,104
P25
$23.10
$48,048
P50MEDIAN
$28.86
$60,029
P75
$35.95
$74,776
P90
$43.78
$91,062
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · manufacturing sector
Stable
Openings Rate
3.5%
Quits Rate
1.4%
Manufacturing openings ticked up to 462K (+19K) in March, with the rate at 3.5%. Hires rose to 310K. The sector has stabilized after late-2025 softening.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators salary?
The national median salary for Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators is $60,029 per year ($28.86/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 data. The middle 50% earn between $48,048 and $74,776 annually.
How much do top-earning water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators make?
The 90th percentile salary for Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators is $91,062 per year ($43.78/hr). The 75th percentile is $74,776 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators?
Entry-level Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators (10th percentile) earn approximately $39,104 per year ($18.80/hr). The 25th percentile is $48,048 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
Built and maintained by Falcon Incentives, a compensation strategy and incentive design consultancy.