Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,211
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$8,219
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,131
Kentucky costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kentucky — 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
$45,430
Kept after tax
$37,211
Worth in national money
$41,131
State rank
49
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $45,430. That is 49 of 50 states, and about 24.31% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 345.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $45,430 the take-home is $37,211; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,131 would nationally. The average comes to $47,770, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $45,430, ranking 49 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 24.31%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Kentucky's occupational distribution, water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators sits at 345 of 491 — 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.
- Post-tax income for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators in Kentucky, on $45,430, is $37,211 — equivalent to $41,131 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $47,770 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,740 |
| This salary | $45,430 |
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 Kentucky | $37,211 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,683 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,324 |
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 | $43,597 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,601 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators in Kentucky earn under $45,430 and half over. The published range runs $33,210 at the tenth percentile to $63,740 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $37,211, from $45,430, 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 345 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $41,131, the adjusted value of that $45,430 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Kentucky. 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 345 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,210 to $63,740; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,211 from $45,430. 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 345 of 491 locally.
- This $41,131 adjusted figure, worked from $45,430, 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 345 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 345 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $47,770, 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 $33,210 and the top tenth $63,740, so most people doing this work in Kentucky sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Kentucky sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $41,131 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 Kentucky adds its own income tax on top — which is why $37,211 of this wage survives to your account.
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 50 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 Kentucky is $47,770. 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 ($33,210 to $63,740) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Kentucky rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Kentucky'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 $41,131 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 $37,211 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kentucky 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.