Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,328
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$17,392
24.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,969
Oregon costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oregon — 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
$69,720
Kept after tax
$52,328
Worth in national money
$49,969
State rank
8
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Oregon pays this job a middle wage of $69,720, ranking 8 of 50 states and sitting about 16.16% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 216 among 489 occupations Oregon publishes pay for.
- Oregon is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $69,720 the take-home is $52,328; in national-average money that behaves like $49,969. The average comes to $70,620, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Oregon's median for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators is $69,720, about 16.16% above the national figure and 8 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 216 of 489 in Oregon 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.
- Take-home for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators in Oregon, on $69,720, is $52,328; deflated by the state's price level, $49,969. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $70,620 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 | $50,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $69,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,880 |
| This salary | $69,720 |
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 Oregon | $52,328 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $57,878 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,592 |
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 | $62,412 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,001 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Oregon earn less than $69,720. The published range is $50,270 up to $87,880, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $52,328 take-home in Oregon comes from $69,720. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 216 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $49,969 uses one figure for the whole of Oregon. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 216.
- Reported values are medians; for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators in Oregon the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,270 to $87,880. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $52,328, from $69,720, assumes a single Oregon filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 216 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $49,969, worked from $69,720, 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 Oregon address, on work sitting at 216 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $50,270 at the tenth percentile, $87,880 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Oregon run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $49,969 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Oregon adds its own income tax on top — which is why $52,328 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($50,270 to $87,880) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oregon rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Oregon's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $49,969 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $52,328 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oregon 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.