New York water operator salaries by employer, 2025
787 people worked as water operators for New York City in fiscal year 2025 (July 2024 to June 2025). Those who worked the full year earned an average of $140,316, overtime included. So far this page covers only New York City; more New York employers follow as we collect their pay data.
What is the average water operator salary in New York?
- Water operators
- 787
- 673 of them worked the full year
- Employers
- 1
- with 5 or more operators
- Median total pay
- $140,373
- the middle water operator: half earned more, half less
- Overtime
- $20,518
- average per full-year water operator
What stands out in New York water operator pay
Sewage Treatment Workers average $138,831 a year.
That's full-year Sewage Treatment Workers at the Department of Environmental Protection, overtime included. Senior Sewage Treatment Workers averaged $151,367.1
Overtime adds $20,518 a year on average.
The middle full-year operator was paid $18,712 in overtime; a few with a lot more pull the average up.1
Which New York water jobs count as operators here, and which don't?
So far these figures cover New York City's Department of Environmental Protection. Other New York employers of water and wastewater operators follow as we collect their pay data.
Counted
- Sewage Treatment Workers and Senior Sewage Treatment Workers. They operate the city's wastewater treatment plants. The city hires them without a state operator certificate: its 2024 exam notice asks for a commercial driver's license and fire department certificates of fitness instead.3
- Water Treatment Plant Operators. The department's drinking water treatment plant operators.1
Left out
- Other Department of Environmental Protection titles with "water" in the name, such as Watershed Maintainers and Water Use Inspectors: we count only the plant operator titles.
- Managers and superintendents.
Questions about water operator pay in New York
How much do water operators make in New York City?
Full-year Sewage Treatment Workers and Water Treatment Plant Operators at the Department of Environmental Protection earned an average of $140,316 in fiscal year 2025 (July 2024 to June 2025), overtime included. The middle operator earned $140,373.
Do you need a certificate to be a Sewage Treatment Worker in New York City?
Not to be hired: the city's 2024 exam notice asks for a commercial driver's license and fire department certificates of fitness, not a state operator certificate.
Sources for the New York water operator figures
Every person who held a water operator position at any point in fiscal year 2025 (July 2024 to June 2025) counts toward the headcount. Pay figures use only people still employed at the end of June 2025 who worked at least 90% of a full year's regular hours at their title's standard week; for school staff, whose hours aren't recorded, regular pay of at least 90% of their own annual salary. Total pay is gross wages before tax, including overtime, lump sums and other pay. Every figure covers at least 5 people.
- City of New York, Citywide Payroll Data (Fiscal Year): titles, base salaries, regular pay, overtime and other pay of every city employee, fiscal year 2025 (July 2024 to June 2025).
- City of New York, Department of Citywide Administrative Services, Civil Service Titles: official minimum and maximum pay per title, current list (2026).
- City of New York, Department of Citywide Administrative Services, Notice of Examination: Sewage Treatment Worker, Exam No. 5131 (2024): requirements for the job: a commercial driver's license and fire department certificates of fitness.