NYC Sanitation exam — realistic wait time with a score in the mid-90s?
Just took the NYC Sanitation Worker exam (7316) in April and I'm trying to figure out what a realistic timeline looks like. I know my list number depends on my score, but I've seen wildly different answers about what score range actually leads to a hire and how long the process takes from exam to Day 1 on the job.
The base salary is around $43,000 starting, going up to about $77,000 after five years — plus the pension and benefits, which is the real draw. I've been in construction for 6 years but the stability and long-term trajectory with DSNY are genuinely better. I'm not just chasing the exam for kicks.
I scored around 95, which I thought was competitive, but then I read that in past lists even high-90s scores didn't get called for 2-3 years. Is that still accurate for the current list? Has the pace of hiring changed? Anything from people who were actually called off a recent list would be more useful than the generic stuff on most forums.
The medical and physical standards are stricter than most people expect. Even after you're called, maybe 15-20% don't clear the medical. Make sure any prior conditions are well-documented and you're not going in cold on what they check.
Veteran credits are a big factor. A vet with a 90 can rank above a non-vet with a 99. If you're not a vet, that's just how the system works. Factor it into your expectations, not as a complaint, just as a realistic input on your number.
List 7316 is going to be massive. They had something like 60,000 test takers. A 95 might put you at list number 8,000-12,000 depending on veteran credits. The list is valid for 4 years and DSNY processes a few hundred to a few thousand per class. It's genuinely a waiting game.
My cousin got hired off the 2019 list with a 97 and it still took him about 18 months to get called. Budget and attrition drive the pace more than anything else. Keep your address updated with DCAS — a lot of people miss their notices just from that.
Honestly the biggest thing nobody tells you is the wait. I sat the 7316 too and a mid-90s score is solid, but your list number is what actually matters, and even a strong number can mean waiting a year or two before they start calling that range for the DCAS process. It's not like you fail at 95, it's just that so many people cluster up there in the high 80s and 90s that a couple points can move your list spot by thousands. So don't stress the score, stress the patience.
As for the exam itself, I studied around a full-time job and a kid, so I did tiny chunks. Ten minutes on my lunch break, a bit before bed, weekends when I could. I leaned on the free sanitation worker question and answers because I could do a few on my phone without setting up anything, and honestly that repetition is what got the reading comp and the address-checking stuff to feel automatic. You don't need to grind for hours. You just need to be consistent and actually understand why you missed the ones you missed. That wasn't obvious to me at first and I wasted a week just re-reading instead of doing questions.
I was in almost the exact same spot — took the 7316 working full-time as a driver and squeezing in maybe 30-45 minutes of study before bed most nights. Wasn't glamorous but it worked. I leaned on a few online resources, including free sanitation worker question and answers, which honestly saved me a lot of time since I didn't have to hunt down real practice material.
For your question about wait times with a mid-90s score, I've heard anywhere from 6 months to over 2 years depending on how many lists are ahead of you and what the city's hiring needs look like that year. A score in the 95-97 range is strong but it's not a guarantee you'll get called quickly. Keep your contact info updated with DCAS, stay ready for the background and medical steps, and don't let the wait make you complacent — those next phases move fast once they do call.
I failed my first attempt back in 2022 and it stung. Honestly my biggest mistake was underestimating the math section — I didn't practice enough with the deductive reasoning stuff and ran out of time. Second time around I grabbed the actual study guide from the city and spent about six weeks doing timed practice under real conditions, like timing myself strictly and not stopping when I hit a hard question.
The difference was night and day. If you're in the mid-90s you're in solid shape, but don't sleep on the physical and background stages because those can drag the timeline out way longer than the list position itself. It's not just about the score — it's about having everything else ready to go so when they call your number you're not scrambling.