Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,812
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$10,358
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,165
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — 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
$59,170
Kept after tax
$48,812
Worth in national money
$53,165
State rank
30
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Ohio pays this job around $59,170 at the midpoint, 30 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 245 among 494 occupations Ohio publishes pay for.
- Ohio is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $59,170 the take-home is $48,812; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $53,165 would nationally. The average lands at $58,990, below the middle of the range.
- For water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators the Ohio median is $59,170, ranking 30 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 245 of 494 in Ohio 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.
- Post-tax income for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators in Ohio, on $59,170, is $48,812 — equivalent to $53,165 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 $58,990 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,200 |
| This salary | $59,170 |
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 Ohio | $48,812 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,723 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,997 |
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 | $58,036 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,415 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
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 Ohio earn under $59,170 and half over. The published range runs $45,350 at the tenth percentile to $75,200 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Ohio's $48,812, worked from $59,170. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 245 of 494.
- Two cautions on $53,165, the adjusted value of that $59,170 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Ohio. 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 245 of 494 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators in Ohio, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,350 to $75,200; 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.
- The Ohio take-home of $48,812, on $59,170 for work ranking 245 of 494 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 245 of 494 in the state.
- This $53,165 adjusted figure, worked from $59,170, 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 245 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 245 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $45,350 at the tenth percentile, $75,200 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $53,165.
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 Ohio adds its own income tax on top — which is why $48,812 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 ($45,350 to $75,200) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Ohio rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio'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 $53,165 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 $48,812 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio 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.