Salt Lake City water operator salary, 2026

Salt Lake City is a city in Salt Lake County. 166 people worked as water operators for Salt Lake City in fiscal year 2026. Those who worked the full year earned an average of $81,529, overtime included.

What is the average water operator salary at Salt Lake City?

Full-year water operators1

118 of 166

our best estimate from Utah's file: how reliable are the Utah figures?

Average total pay, full-year water operators1

$81,529

overtime and other pay included

Based on the 118 of 166 water operators who worked the full year.

Median total pay
$80,884
the middle water operator: half earned more, half less
Overtime
In total pay
Utah's file doesn't list it separately
Highest-paid title
$92,398
Water Plant Operator II, average total pay
Average pay rank
6th
of 26 Utah employers

What does each water operator title at Salt Lake City 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 Utah's pay file has no official pay ranges, so none are shown.

Water distribution operators

  1. Water Distribution Valve Operator11 people
    $60,012
  2. Water Distribution System Operator I7 people
    fewer than 5
  3. Water System Maintenance Operator I13 people
    $71,493
  4. Water Distribution System Operator II5 people
    fewer than 5
  5. Water System Maintenance Operator II16 people
    $75,358
  6. Senior Water Distribution System Operator6 people
    $90,801
  7. Senior Water System Maintenance Operator17 people
    $92,293

Wastewater treatment operators

  1. Water Reclamation Facility Operator I12 people
    fewer than 5
  2. Water Reclamation Facility Operator II12 people
    $75,999
  3. Water Reclamation Facility Operator IIIfewer than 5 people
    fewer than 5
  4. Water Reclamation Facility Operator IVfewer than 5 people
    fewer than 5
  5. Water Reclamation Facility Operations Supervisor5 people
    fewer than 5

Water treatment operators

  1. Water Plant Operator Ifewer than 5 people
    fewer than 5
  2. Water Plant Operator II24 people
    $92,398

Wastewater collection operators

  1. Wastewater Collection Maintenance Worker Trainee9 people
    fewer than 5
  2. Wastewater Lift Station Workerfewer than 5 people
    fewer than 5
  3. Wastewater Collection Maintenance Worker I5 people
    fewer than 5
  4. Wastewater Collection Maintenance Worker IIfewer than 5 people
    fewer than 5
  5. Wastewater Collection Maintenance Worker Lead6 people
    $87,179
  6. Wastewater Lift Station Lead Workerfewer than 5 people
    fewer than 5
  7. Wastewater Collection Supervisorfewer than 5 people
    fewer than 5

Water system operators

  1. Water System Operations Supervisorfewer than 5 people
    fewer than 5

average total pay, full year. "Fewer than 5" means too few full-year people in that title to show.

Does Salt Lake City pay water operators more than other employers in Salt Lake County?

Average total pay of full-year water operators: Salt Lake City next to every employer in the county together, and the whole state.1

Full-year water operators at Salt Lake City earned $3,011 more than the Salt Lake County average and $7,594 more than the Utah average.

Where does Salt Lake City rank among Utah employers?

Every employer with at least 5 full-year water operators, by average total pay.1

All 26 Utah employers

Salt Lake City ranks 6th of 26, above the middle employer.

Salt Lake City
$60k$80k$100k$120k

Middle employer: $66,958

The 10 employers in Salt Lake County

Salt Lake City ranks 5th of 10, above the middle employer.

Salt Lake City
$60k$80k

Middle employer: $78,450

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 Salt Lake City

What is the average water operator salary at Salt Lake City?

Water operators at Salt Lake City who worked the full year earned an average of $81,529 in fiscal year 2026, overtime included. The middle water operator earned $80,884: half earned more, half less.

More salaries in Salt Lake County

Sources for the Salt Lake City figures

Every person who held a water operator position at Salt Lake City at any point in fiscal year 2026 counts toward the headcount. Pay figures use only people who worked for the same employer the year before, were paid at least 90% as much as in that year, earned at least 90% of that pay in the job's titles, and were paid at least $15,080, a full year at Utah's minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.2 Utah's file has no hours or start dates, so this is the closest sign of a full year. Total pay is the wages the employer reported, before tax. Utah's file has one wage figure per person with overtime inside it, so pay here is total pay and overtime can't be shown on its own. 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 very high pay. Every figure covers at least 5 people.

  1. Transparent Utah, Office of the Utah State Auditor: title, wages and benefits of every employee of every Utah city, town, county and local district, as each reports them for its fiscal year.
  2. Utah Code, Section 34-40-103, Minimum wage: Utah's minimum wage, the federal rate of $7.25 an hour.

How we read the data