Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,053
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,507
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,503
West Virginia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in West Virginia — 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
$47,560
Kept after tax
$39,053
Worth in national money
$43,503
State rank
44
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $47,560, ranking 44 of 50 states — about 20.76% 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 473 occupations West Virginia publishes pay for.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $47,560 you keep $39,053, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,503 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,590, because the best-paid pull it up.
- West Virginia ranks 44 of 50 for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators, with a median of $47,560 — about 20.76% 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 473 in West Virginia 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 West Virginia income tax, retained pay for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators on $47,560 is $39,053. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,503 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 $50,590 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,240 |
| This salary | $47,560 |
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 West Virginia | $39,053 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,394 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,934 |
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 | $45,891 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,339 |
| 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 West Virginia earn under $47,560 and half over. The published range runs $35,360 at the tenth percentile to $75,240 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,053 take-home in West Virginia comes from $47,560. 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 263 of 473.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $43,503, the adjusted value of that $47,560 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 473 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,360 to $75,240; 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.
- Retained pay of $39,053, from $47,560, assumes a single West Virginia 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 263 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $43,503 — the adjusted value of that $47,560 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 473 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 $50,590, 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 $35,360 and the top tenth $75,240 — 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. West Virginia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $43,503 in national terms.
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 West Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $39,053 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.
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 West Virginia is $50,590. 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 ($35,360) and the ninetieth ($75,240) 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?
West Virginia'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 $43,503 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 $39,053 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and West Virginia 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.