Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners in Texas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,422
after federal, FICA and Texas tax
Tax takes
$6,438
14.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,509
Texas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Texas — 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
$43,860
Kept after tax
$37,422
Worth in national money
$38,509
State rank
42
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Texas is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $43,860, ranking 42 of 49 states — about 12.07% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 361 among 493 occupations Texas publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $43,860 the take-home is $37,422, which is worth about $38,509 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $47,090, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Texas ranks 42 of 49 for septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners, with a median of $43,860 — about 12.07% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 361 of 493 in Texas places septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Texas's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners on its $43,860 median: $37,422 retained after tax becomes $38,509 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $47,090 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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 | $34,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,380 |
| This salary | $43,860 |
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 Texas | $37,422 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Florida | $37,422 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,337 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $43,860 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,008 |
| Prices in Florida | 103 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Texas earn less than $43,860. The published range is $34,670 up to $64,380, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Texas the take-home figure of $37,422, from $43,860, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 361 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,509 uses one figure for the whole of Texas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 361.
- Reported values are medians; for septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners in Texas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,670 to $64,380. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Texas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,422 from $43,860. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 361 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,509, worked from $43,860, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Texas address, on work sitting at 361 of 493 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 $47,090, 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 — $34,670 at the tenth percentile, $64,380 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $38,509.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $37,422 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 Texas is $47,090. 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 ($34,670 to $64,380) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Texas rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Texas's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $38,509 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Texas levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $37,422 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.