Buffalo water operator salary, 2025
Buffalo's water operators work at the city's water filtration plant and pumping station. The Buffalo Sewer Authority, which runs the sewage treatment plant, has its own page.1 10 people worked as water operators for Buffalo in fiscal year 2025. Those who worked the full year earned an average of $122,868, overtime included.
What is the average water operator salary at Buffalo?
Based on the 5 of 10 water operators who worked the full year.
- Median total pay
- $146,581
- the middle water operator: half earned more, half less
- Overtime
- $68,056
- average per full-year water operator
- Highest-paid title
- Not reported
- fewer than 5 full-year people in any title
- Average pay rank
- 2nd
- of 11 New York employers
What does each water operator title at Buffalo pay?
Each row is one title, from trainee to supervisor. The dot marks the average total pay of full-year staff in that title, where at least 5 people stand behind it.1 This employer's pay file has no official pay ranges, so none are shown.
Water treatment operators
- Assistant Filtration Plant Operatorfewer than 5
- Filtration Plant Operatorfewer than 5
Water distribution operators
- Pumping Plant Operatorfewer than 5
average total pay, full year. "Fewer than 5" means too few full-year people in that title to show.
Does Buffalo pay water operators more than other employers in Erie County?
Average total pay of full-year water operators: Buffalo next to every employer in the county together, and the whole state.1
- Buffalo$122,868
- All employers in Erie County$81,147
- All employers in New York$128,464
Full-year water operators at Buffalo earned $41,721 more than the Erie County average and $5,596 less than the New York average.
Where does Buffalo rank among New York employers?
Every employer with at least 5 full-year water operators, by average total pay.1
All 11 New York employers
Buffalo ranks 2nd of 11, above the middle employer.
Middle employer: $80,235
Each bar counts the employers whose average total pay falls in a $5,000 band. The dashed line marks the middle employer.
Questions about water operator pay at Buffalo
What is the average water operator salary at Buffalo?
Water operators at Buffalo who worked the full year earned an average of $122,868 in fiscal year 2025, overtime included. The middle water operator earned $146,581: half earned more, half less.
How much overtime do water operators at Buffalo earn?
Full-year water operators were paid an average of $68,056 in overtime in fiscal year 2025. The middle one was paid $84,824: a few people with a lot of overtime pull the average up.
More salaries in Erie County
Sources for the Buffalo figures
Every person who held a water operator position at Buffalo at any point in fiscal year 2025 (July 2024 to June 2025) counts toward the headcount. Pay figures use only full-time staff who started before July 2024, were paid their salary on at least 90% of the year's paydays, and were still paid at the end of June 2025. Total pay is gross wages before tax, including overtime, lump sums and other pay. Averages lead; the median total pay is the middle person's, with half above and half below, and is less pulled by a few people with a lot of overtime. Every figure covers at least 5 people.
- City of Buffalo, Open Payroll: every pay line of every city employee, with title, start date and kind of pay, fiscal year 2025 (July 2024 to June 2025), added up per person.