Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,873
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$10,217
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,703
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$63,090
Kept after tax
$52,873
Worth in national money
$48,703
State rank
4
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Washington's middle earner gets $63,090, putting the state 4 of 49 — about 26.48% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Washington reports figures for, this is number 282.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $63,090 the take-home is $52,873. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $48,703 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $65,880, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners, Washington sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $63,090, ranking 4 of 49 and running about 26.48% 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 Washington's occupational distribution, septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners sits at 282 of 493 — 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $52,873 for septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners, from $63,090. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $48,703. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $65,880 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 | $46,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,830 |
| This salary | $63,090 |
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 Washington | $52,873 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,873 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,707 |
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 | $63,090 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,902 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $63,090 as a midpoint for Washington, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,690 and the ninetieth is $83,830 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Washington the take-home figure of $52,873, from $63,090, 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 282 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 $48,703 uses one figure for the whole of Washington. 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 282.
- The Washington median of $63,090 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,690 to $83,830. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Washington is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $52,873 from $63,090. 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 282 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $48,703, worked from $63,090, 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 Washington address, on work sitting at 282 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $65,880, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $46,690 and the top tenth $83,830, so most people doing this work in Washington sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Washington costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $48,703 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $52,873 survives, because Washington levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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 Washington is $65,880. 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 ($46,690 to $83,830) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $48,703 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $52,873 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.