Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,044
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$10,176
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,010
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$55,220
Kept after tax
$45,044
Worth in national money
$40,010
State rank
14
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. California's middle earner gets $55,220, putting the state 14 of 49 — about 10.71% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations California reports figures for, this is number 337.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $55,220 the take-home is $45,044; in national-average money that behaves like $40,010. The average comes to $57,610, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $55,220, ranking 14 of 49 and running about 10.71% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In California's occupational distribution, septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners sits at 337 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Take-home for septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners in California, on $55,220, is $45,044; deflated by the state's price level, $40,010. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $57,610 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,260 |
| This salary | $55,220 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in California | $45,044 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,549 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,893 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $53,346 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,545 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $55,220 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,890 and the ninetieth is $79,260 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $45,044 take-home in California comes from $55,220. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 337 of 492.
- Two cautions on $40,010, the adjusted value of that $55,220 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of California. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 337 of 492 locally.
- The California median of $55,220 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,890 to $79,260. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $45,044, from $55,220, assumes a single California filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 337 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 14 of 49 for it.
- This $40,010 adjusted figure, worked from $55,220, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 337 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 337 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $57,610, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $39,890 at the tenth percentile, $79,260 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. California costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $40,010 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and California adds its own income tax on top — which is why $45,044 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in California is $57,610. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($39,890 to $79,260) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to California rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $40,010 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $45,044 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.