California State Controller's Office · 2025 pay · 16 people
How much does a lead plant operator make in California State Controller's Office?
$129,553typical pay for a lead plant operator in 2025
$103,140 – $166,452what most people earned
Includes everyone paid during 2025, including part-year workers. Typical pay fell 14.6% from 2024.
✓ Official data from California State Controller's Office · Matches the agency's latest release · sco.ca.gov ↗✓ Official data from California State Controller's Office · Matches the agency's latest release · sco.ca.gov ↗
Where lead plant operators work
Typical pay at each employer, 2025 (everyone paid).
- Orange County Sanitation District6 people$161,540
- City of South San Francisco3 people$165,989
- Palomar Health District2 people$105,401
- Fallbrook Public Utility District2 people$112,152
- Eastern Sierra Community Services District1 person$109,430
- Scotia Community Services District1 person$92,072
- Jamestown Sanitary District (Tuolumne)1 person$104,113
Related jobs and the next step up
Same line of work at a different rank, by typical pay (full-year employees where we can tell).
- Plant Operator Trainee$49,316 (everyone)
- Plant Operator Senior$87,843 (everyone)
- Plant Operator Principal$109,092 (everyone)
- Plant Operator$118,931 (everyone)
- Chief Plant Operator$128,052 (everyone)
- Lead Plant Operator (this page)$129,553 (everyone)
- Senior Plant Operator$136,672 (everyone)
- Supervising Plant Operator$163,597 (everyone)
Highest-paid lead plant operators, 2025
Common questions
How much does a lead plant operator make in California State Controller's Office?
The typical lead plant operator was paid $129,553 in 2025; most earned between $103,140 and $166,452. This counts all 16 people paid, including part-year workers.
How much of the pay is overtime?
Overtime made up 11.0% of all pay for lead plant operators in 2025.
Which job titles are included?
Everyone whose payroll title is Lead Plant Operator, at any level (for example "Lead Plant Operator"). Part-time-schedule titles (such as "20 hours") are left out. Senior, supervising and trainee titles have their own pages.
Job titles are written out in full from the payroll's abbreviations (for example "SR CRRECTNL POLC OFCR" → "Senior Correctional Police Officer"). "Typical pay" is the median; "most earned" is the middle half. How we calculate this