North Carolina·Construction and Extraction Occupations·SOC 47-4071

Best Septic Tank Servicer programs in North Carolina, ranked by enrollment

Clean and repair septic tanks, sewer lines, or drains.

5 schools in North Carolina run programs that feed this job, graduating 80 people a year. The job pays a median of $47,280 in North Carolina across about 1,020 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDrain CleanerService TechnicianSeptic Pump Truck DriverSeptic Tank Service TechnicianSewer CleanerReach OperatorSeptic CleanerDrain Technician
Graduates / yr
80
in North Carolina
Median pay · North Carolina
$47,280
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,020
people employed
Schools
5
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
31%
across those schools
Median net price
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in North Carolina that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in North Carolina that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in North Carolina (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own North Carolina page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
180
100.0%
5$35,730$9,500

Top 5 schools in North Carolina

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 5 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Forsyth Technical Community College
Winston-Salem, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
34Plumbing Technology/Plumber34%
2Cape Fear Community College
Wilmington, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
17Plumbing Technology/Plumber34%
3Wake Technical Community College
Raleigh, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
12Plumbing Technology/Plumber33%
4Guilford Technical Community College
Jamestown, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
9Plumbing Technology/Plumber31%
5Fayetteville Technical Community College
Fayetteville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
8Plumbing Technology/Plumber24%

All 5 schools in North Carolina

Every school in North Carolina with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in North Carolina that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Forsyth Technical Community CollegeWinston-SalemPublic341
Cape Fear Community CollegeWilmingtonPublic171
Wake Technical Community CollegeRaleighPublic121
Guilford Technical Community CollegeJamestownPublic91
Fayetteville Technical Community CollegeFayettevillePublic81

What septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners earn in North Carolina

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in North Carolina
$47,280
Mean annual
$50,900
Jobs in state
1,020
What the range looks like
10th pct$36,510Median$47,28090th pct$71,690
Versus the national median
-5.2%

U.S. median $49,880. North Carolina pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.04×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in North Carolina

Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
$56,120median
50 jobs
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
$48,400median
260 jobs
Greensboro-High Point, NC
$48,210median
60 jobs
Raleigh-Cary, NC
$47,790median
180 jobs
Asheville, NC
$47,280median
100 jobs
Jacksonville, NC
$45,520median
40 jobs
Wilmington, NC
$45,100median
60 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+7.6%
Faster than average
Openings per year
2,900
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
2,300
30,400 → 32,700
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners page.

How to become a Septic Tank Servicer

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.

Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Top skills

Critical ThinkingActive ListeningMonitoringActive LearningReading ComprehensionSpeaking

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in North Carolina

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 1 majors mapped to Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 46.0503Plumbing Technology/Plumber

Common questions

Answers for people weighing septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners programs in North Carolina.

What degree do you need to become a Septic Tank Servicer?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Plumbing Technology/Plumber, which awarded 80 degrees in North Carolina in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Septic Tank Servicer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Plumbing and Related Water Supply Services. Together they graduate about 80 people a year in North Carolina.

How much do septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners earn in North Carolina?+

The median is $47,280 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.2% below the U.S. median of $49,880. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners growing?+

BLS projects a +7.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 2,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in North Carolina?+

5 institutions in North Carolina reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Drain Cleaner, Service Technician, Septic Pump Truck Driver, Septic Tank Service Technician among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 47-4071.

Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners in other statesFloridaCaliforniaNew YorkOhioUtahPennsylvaniaMinnesotaNew Jersey
Programs in North CarolinaPlumbing Technology/Plumber

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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