Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators in Delaware
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,304
after federal, FICA and Delaware tax
Tax takes
$13,636
21.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,690
Delaware costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Delaware — 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
$64,940
Kept after tax
$51,304
Worth in national money
$51,690
State rank
12
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Delaware is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $64,940, which ranks 12 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 8.2% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 445 occupations Delaware reports figures for, this is number 186.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $64,940, tax leaves $51,304, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $51,690 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $66,310, since top earners drag the number up.
- Delaware ranks 12 of 50 states publishing a median for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators, at $64,940 — about 8.2% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In Delaware's occupational distribution, water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators sits at 186 of 445 — 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.
- Because Delaware sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators — median $64,940 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $51,304 retained, $51,690 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $66,310 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,360 |
| This salary | $64,940 |
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 Delaware | $51,304 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,359 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,249 |
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 | $61,138 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,139 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Delaware earn less than $64,940. The published range is $48,160 up to $84,360, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Delaware the take-home figure of $51,304, from $64,940, 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 186 of 445 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $51,690 uses one figure for the whole of Delaware. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 445 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 186.
- Reported values are medians; for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators in Delaware the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $48,160 to $84,360. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Delaware is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $51,304 from $64,940. 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 186 of 445 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $51,690, worked from $64,940, 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 Delaware address, on work sitting at 186 of 445 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $48,160 at the tenth percentile, $84,360 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Delaware sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $51,690 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Delaware adds its own income tax on top — which is why $51,304 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($48,160 to $84,360) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Delaware rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Delaware'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 $51,690 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $51,304 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Delaware 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.