Water and wastewater operator certification costs, state by state
Exam, application and renewal fees for water and wastewater operator certification, sourced from the same agency directories behind our state guides. A state whose agency publishes no figure is left out rather than filled in with a guess.
Data verified June 2026
How to read this table
What counts as a certification cost here?
It is money the state's own agency charges you: the renewal fee, and the exam or application fee where the state publishes that separately. Where a row shows two figures split by a slash, the first is the renewal fee and the second is the exam or application fee. Where it shows one figure, that is what the state publishes without splitting the two, so we leave it whole rather than guess which half it is.
Why are three states missing?
District of Columbia, Oregon and Wyoming publish no certification fee we could source, so they are not in the table. The District issues no certificate of its own and sends you back to the state that did. Oregon and Wyoming both name the testing body without naming its price. A state is missing because we could not source it, never because we skipped it.
What this table cannot promise
It cannot tell you the total you will pay. Testing centers, training providers, and late or reinstatement charges sit outside these figures, and states raise fees on their own schedules. Treat this as the number you budget against, then confirm it with the agency before you pay.
Certification cost by state
48 of the 51 states publish a certification fee. Verified June 2026 against each state's own agency directory. District of Columbia, Oregon and Wyoming publish none we could source, so they are not listed. Out-of-state fee is what a state charges to process an application from an operator certified somewhere else.
| State | Certification fee | Out-of-state fee |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $70 to $95 | $180 |
| Alaska | $100 / $150 | $300 |
| Arizona | $75 | Not stated |
| Arkansas | $10 to $40 / $25 to $40 | $25 to $40 |
| California | $70 to $274 | $182 |
| Colorado | $85 / $50 to $104 | $150 |
| Connecticut | $106 to $240 | $240 |
| Delaware | $50 to $100 / $100 | Not stated |
| Florida | $50 | $100 |
| Georgia | $65 / $25 | $100 |
| Hawaii | $20 to $50 / $25 to $75 | $25 to $70 |
| Idaho | $25 to $100 | $30 to $100 |
| Illinois | $10 | $10 |
| Indiana | $30 / $30 to $45 | Not stated |
| Iowa | $60 / $30 to $80 | $30 |
| Kansas | $20 / $25 | $25 |
| Kentucky | $200 | $50 to $500 |
| Louisiana | $10 to $20 | Not stated |
| Maine | $75 to $125 | $75 to $250 |
| Maryland | $50 to $100 / $50 | $150 |
| Massachusetts | $42 to $75 | $80 |
| Michigan | $95 | Not stated |
| Minnesota | $23 to $45 | Not stated |
| Mississippi | $30 to $45 | $75 |
| Missouri | $45 to $60 | $25 to $40 |
| Montana | $30 to $40 | $70 |
| Nebraska | $115 to $150 / $50 | $150 |
| Nevada | $80 to $150 / $69 | $150 to $250 |
| New Hampshire | $50 / $108 | Not stated |
| New Jersey | $50 / $70 to $104 | $50 to $70 |
| New Mexico | $20 to $30 / $25 to $30 | $30 |
| New York | $205 | Not stated |
| North Carolina | $30 to $101 | $100 |
| North Dakota | $40 to $150 / $150 | Not stated |
| Ohio | $45 / $45 | $45 |
| Oklahoma | $46 / $62 | Not stated |
| Pennsylvania | $60 / $35 | $100 to $150 |
| Rhode Island | $10 / $5 to $10 | Not stated |
| South Carolina | $30 / $50 to $136 | $50 |
| South Dakota | $60 / $60 | $60 |
| Tennessee | $50 to $100 / $100 | $100 |
| Texas | $111 | Not stated |
| Utah | $75 to $198 / $106 to $264 | $198 to $200 |
| Vermont | $275 | Not stated |
| Virginia | $80 / $83 to $124 | Not stated |
| Washington | $68 to $200 | $287 |
| West Virginia | $100 to $200 | Not stated |
| Wisconsin | $45 / $25 to $50 | Not stated |
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