Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
SOC 51-8031 · 2024-2034
Operate or control an entire process or system of machines, often through the use of control boards, to transfer or treat water or wastewater.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
Shrinking -2.6%
California projects this job will shrink over the next ten years. Fewer openings may mean a harder search.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $83,636per year
- Projected openings
- 10,010
- Projected change
- -2.6%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Operation and Control
- Operations Monitoring
- Monitoring
- Quality Control Analysis
- Equipment Maintenance
- Active Listening
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $128,922 | 510 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $125,044 | 340 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $109,205 | 320 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $104,311 | 160 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $102,207 | 70 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $102,033 | 70 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $92,964 | 110 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $88,247 | 370 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $88,018 | 80 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $87,167 | 770 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $85,802 | 180 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $85,423 | 210 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $84,643 | 1,290 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $82,909 | 80 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $82,570 | 150 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $82,237 | 1,190 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $81,904 | 220 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $81,452 | 720 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $80,354 | 80 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $80,354 | 180 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $78,220 | 230 |
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $77,759 | 90 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $77,235 | 90 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $77,061 | 100 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $73,614 | 370 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $73,511 | 130 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $66,524 | 150 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $66,391 | 140 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $65,201 | 340 |
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | $62,954 | 60 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $61,097 | 180 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $57,308
- A quarter earn under
- $66,739
- Half earn under
- $83,636
- Three quarters earn under
- $105,913
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $126,195
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power Plant Operators | $107,611 | 1,900 | -15.4% |
| Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | $54,117 | 14,400 | -4.8% |
| Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders | $59,630 | 6,350 | +1.7% |
| Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers | $105,606 | 2,680 | -11.4% |
Programs that train for this job — 5
Water Technology Distribution and Treatment
Bassett Adult School · La Puente · $2,050
California Rural Water Association Apprenticeship Program
California Rural Water Association Apprenticeship Program · Sacramento · $0
Environmental Technology-Water/Wastewater Technology Certificate
Woodland Community College · Woodland · $2,857
Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Program
Castro Valley Adult & Career Education · Castro Valley · $1,485
Water Supply Technology
San Bernardino Valley College · San Bernardino · $2,969