Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,323
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$14,487
21.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,940
Illinois costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Illinois — 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
$67,810
Kept after tax
$53,323
Worth in national money
$53,940
State rank
10
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $67,810, which ranks 10 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 12.98% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Illinois, this sits in the middle: 201 of 494 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $67,810, take-home of $53,323 is worth roughly $53,940 in national money. The average comes to $71,820, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois ranks 10 of 50 states publishing a median for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators, at $67,810 — about 12.98% 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.
- Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators ranks 201 of 494 occupations in Illinois by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators, whose median is $67,810, the adjusted figure of $53,940 differs little from $53,323 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $71,820 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $67,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,690 |
| This salary | $67,810 |
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 Illinois | $53,323 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,534 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,238 |
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 | $63,650 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,288 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $67,810 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $42,240 and the ninetieth is $103,690 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $53,323, from $67,810, 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 201 of 494 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $53,940, the adjusted value of that $67,810 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Illinois. 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 201 of 494 locally.
- The Illinois median of $67,810 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $42,240 to $103,690. 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 Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $53,323 from $67,810. 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 201 of 494 locally.
- This $53,940 adjusted figure, worked from $67,810, 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 201 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 201 of 494 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 $71,820, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $42,240, the highest tenth $103,690, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Illinois sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $53,940 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Illinois then takes its own share, leaving $53,323.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Illinois is $71,820. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($42,240) and the ninetieth ($103,690) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Illinois'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 $53,940 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 $53,323 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Illinois 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.