Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,152
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$9,528
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,776
North Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Carolina — 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
$51,680
Kept after tax
$42,152
Worth in national money
$44,776
State rank
38
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Carolina is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $51,680, ranking 38 of 50 states — about 13.9% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 263 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $51,680 you keep $42,152, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,776 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $54,620, because the best-paid pull it up.
- North Carolina ranks 38 of 50 for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators, with a median of $51,680 — about 13.9% 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 263 of 489 in North Carolina places water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators 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.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators on $51,680 is $42,152. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,776 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $54,620 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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 | $37,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,600 |
| This salary | $51,680 |
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 North Carolina | $42,152 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,705 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$200 |
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 | $49,747 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$241 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $51,680 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,860 and the ninetieth is $75,600 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In North Carolina the take-home figure of $42,152, from $51,680, 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 263 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,776, the adjusted value of that $51,680 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 263 of 489 in the state.
- The North Carolina median of $51,680 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,860 to $75,600. 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 North Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $42,152 from $51,680. 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 263 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Carolina, so $44,776 — the adjusted value of that $51,680 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 263 of 489 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 $54,620, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $37,860 and the top tenth $75,600 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Carolina is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $44,776 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and North Carolina's own levy, $42,152 remains.
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.
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 North Carolina is $54,620. 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 ($37,860) and the ninetieth ($75,600) 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?
North Carolina'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 $44,776 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 $42,152 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Carolina 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.