City of Seattle / Seattle Public Utilities / Meter Reader

Job-title file

Meter Reader

Carry out the duties of this position in support of the agency's public mission.

22 employees hold this title in Seattle Public Utilities. Median total compensation for the role is $78,988, below the department median of $114,795.

Employees: 22
Total payroll: $1.7M
Role median: $78,988
Agency median: $114,795
Comparison: Below

What the records show

Role pay distribution

Pay distribution for this role

$68,328$80,496+

Hover a bar for its range; click to filter the list below.

How total compensation varies among the 22 people in this role. Even for one job title, pay differs with seniority, step, overtime, and tenure. Each bar is a pay range; the far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Compared with the local labor market

Meter Reader pay vs. the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area

Across all employers in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area, the median wage for Meter Readers, Utilities — about 180 people — is $74,030. Seattle Public Utilities pays a median base salary of $78,988 for this role, 7% above that figure — about the 65th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Seattle Public Utilities sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$63,960

$65,050

$74,030

$82,260

$107,700

Seattle Public Utilities median · $78,988

The bar is the range of annual wages for Meter Readers, Utilities across every employer in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Seattle Public Utilities’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Meter Readers, Utilities — about 19,430 people — is $48,150. Seattle Public Utilities’s median base salary is 64% above that national figure, about the 85th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$34,720

$39,410

$48,150

$65,750

$85,930

Seattle Public Utilities median · $78,988

Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA range relative to the national one.

Median total compensation for this role at Seattle Public Utilities is $78,988, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.

Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.

Compare departments

This role across City of Seattle

Meter Reader is held in 2 City of Seattle departments. In Seattle Public Utilities, the median of $78,988 ranks #2 of 2.

Highest-paying departments for this role

Seattle City Light

$80,496 · 9

Median total compensation for the Meter Reader role in other City of Seattledepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.

Compare jurisdictions

Meter Reader beyond City of Seattle

This role is reported in 4 jurisdictions. In City of Seattle, the median of $80,496 ranks #2 of 4. See Meter Reader across all of City of Seattle →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

City of Los Angeles

$88,029 · 165

Miami-Dade County

$47,995 · 35

City of Buffalo

$38,225 · 9

Median total compensation for comparable Meter Readerroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.

Record list