Water/Wastewater Engineer Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Water/Wastewater Engineers earn a median of $100,840 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). That is 98% above the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $48.48/hr. The middle half earn between $79,930 and $129,680. The top 10% earn $163,220 or more.

The median hourly wage for water/wastewater engineers is $48.48 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $100,840 annual median works out to about $8,400 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of water/wastewater engineers earn less than $68,240 a year and the bottom quarter less than $79,930 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

Yes, more often than not. The median is $100,840, so more than half of water/wastewater engineers earn over $100,000 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). In 21 states the median itself is above $100,000: California ($122,500), Alaska ($114,730), Washington ($110,000), Massachusetts ($106,730), and 17 more.

The highest state medians for Water/Wastewater Engineers are California ($122,500), Alaska ($114,730), Washington ($110,000) (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Adjusted for local prices using BEA Regional Price Parities, Louisiana moves to the top at $119,469.

BLS does not split water/wastewater engineers' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $163,220, against a median of $100,840 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are California ($122,500), Alaska ($114,730), Washington ($110,000).

Yes. BLS reports a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for Water/Wastewater Engineers, and O*NET rates the preparation needed as considerable preparation. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 69.6% hold bachelor's degree.

BLS does not publish a fixed length; it depends on the route. What it does publish: the typical way in for water/wastewater engineers is a bachelor's degree. O*NET classes the work as needing considerable preparation.

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 6.4% over 2025–2035, faster than the 3.5% average for all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 22,700 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

Civil engineers plan, design, and supervise the construction and maintenance of building and infrastructure projects. A core O*NET task: provide technical direction or supervision to junior engineers, engineering or computer-aided design (CAD) technicians, or other technical personnel. Employers most often ask for Computer aided design CAD software, Data base user interface and query software, Electronic mail software.

Most work more than 40. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 65% of water/wastewater engineers usually work more than 40 hours a week, 35% work exactly 40 and 0% work fewer. 83% say their schedule is regular and 17% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Water/Wastewater Engineers highest on the Realistic, Investigative and Conventional interest areas, so the work mixes hands-on, practical work with tools, machines or the outdoors with investigating, analysing and solving problems with ideas and data. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping the closest types are ISTJ, ISTP. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

Women make up 21.8% of water/wastewater engineers, against 47.1% of all employed people: more men than in the workforce as a whole. 21.0% are 55 or older, close to the 23.2% across all jobs. The median worker is 41.3 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages.