Power Plant Operators salary

SOC 51-8013 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$102,040

per year, nationally

Middle half

$79,690–$119,080

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

29,320

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-11.2%

2,500 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$61,790$131,940

10th: $61,790
25th: $79,690
Median: $102,040
75th: $119,080
90th: $131,940

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where power plant operators earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Washington	$131,620	107.0	430	0.65×
2	Nevada	$131,400	100.0	250	0.86×
3	New Jersey	$131,370	108.8	300	0.37×
4	Idaho	$124,440	95.5	310	1.90×
5	North Dakota	$122,160	89.0	150	1.89×
6	Hawaii	$121,700	110.0	290	2.43×
7	Tennessee	$115,920	91.9	490	0.80×
8	Maryland	$111,260	105.0	330	0.64×
9	Oregon	$109,830	103.4	250	0.66×
10	North Carolina	$108,300	94.3	420	0.45×
11	Georgia	$107,580	96.3	590	0.64×
12	Utah	$107,120	98.9	420	1.27×
13	Alabama	$107,080	88.8	790	1.99×
14	Indiana	$107,000	93.3	1,190	1.97×
15	New York	$106,990	107.9	1,960	1.07×
16	Montana	$106,040	94.6	130	1.32×
17	Michigan	$105,820	96.2	1,220	1.47×
18	New Mexico	$105,510	92.2	130	0.77×
19	California	$105,210	110.7	2,610	0.76×
20	Illinois	$104,440	100.0	1,160	1.01×
21	Ohio	$104,160	92.8	730	0.70×
22	Delaware	$103,010	99.8	80	0.86×
23	Colorado	$102,780	103.1	250	0.46×
24	Texas	$102,510	97.1	2,100	0.79×
25	Mississippi	$102,400	87.0	450	2.05×
26	Missouri	$101,900	90.8	—	—
27	Louisiana	$101,170	88.2	370	1.01×
28	Iowa	$100,500	87.8	470	1.61×
29	Massachusetts	$100,140	105.8	880	1.29×
30	Wyoming	$99,200	92.7	230	4.38×
31	Nebraska	$98,210	90.1	360	1.89×
32	Rhode Island	$98,050	102.3	50	0.56×
33	Arkansas	$97,760	86.9	220	0.89×
34	Connecticut	$97,460	103.6	250	0.78×
35	West Virginia	$97,210	89.5	170	1.28×
36	Pennsylvania	$95,800	97.6	1,010	0.89×
37	Minnesota	$94,390	98.6	970	1.75×
38	Florida	$94,290	103.4	1,640	0.88×
39	Kentucky	$93,400	90.2	690	1.83×
40	Alaska	$88,870	102.4	650	10.60×
41	Oklahoma	$88,590	87.8	520	1.63×
42	Arizona	$84,970	100.7	390	0.64×
43	New Hampshire	$81,070	104.2	90	0.72×
44	Maine	$81,060	97.0	190	1.59×
45	Kansas	$79,980	90.1	520	1.92×
46	South Carolina	$79,900	93.7	680	1.56×
47	Vermont	$78,240	98.0	140	2.41×
48	Virginia	$73,640	101.1	590	0.76×
49	Wisconsin	$66,080	94.1	420	0.76×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where power plant operators wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for power plant operators

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$145,510	103.9	70	7.65×
2	Fresno, CA	$138,930	102.2	130	1.47×
3	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$137,030	105.4	—	—
4	Boise City, ID	$134,050	98.4	70	1.01×
5	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$133,380	106.7	210	1.01×
6	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$133,140	100.2	130	0.62×
7	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$132,600	115.6	300	0.67×
8	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$132,030	97.3	120	0.48×
9	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$131,770	112.6	1,090	0.61×
10	Reno, NV	$129,020	101.0	60	1.15×
11	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$126,190	100.9	100	0.64×
12	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$124,950	111.1	90	0.24×
13	New Haven, CT	$123,840	104.6	50	0.89×
14	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$123,540	103.6	640	0.75×
15	Urban Honolulu, HI	$122,020	111.0	170	1.97×
16	Jacksonville, FL	$119,550	99.5	90	0.64×
17	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$119,380	100.1	260	0.48×
18	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	$119,080	92.2	120	1.02×
19	Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT	$117,850	98.2	50	0.91×
20	Knoxville, TN	$115,920	92.6	90	1.17×
21	Decatur, AL	$115,920	87.2	30	2.70×
22	Chattanooga, TN-GA	$115,920	91.5	60	1.13×
23	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	$113,540	91.9	90	2.13×
24	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$111,260	104.5	230	0.88×
25	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$110,950	94.7	220	1.03×
26	Kansas City, MO-KS	$110,410	92.5	230	1.13×
27	Columbus, OH	$110,030	95.5	130	0.61×
28	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$109,820	95.4	220	1.06×
29	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$109,090	95.7	100	0.49×
30	Port St. Lucie, FL	$109,090	100.2	50	1.70×
31	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$108,050	100.3	300	0.83×
32	Toledo, OH	$107,440	91.5	50	0.83×
33	Montgomery, AL	$107,080	89.7	60	1.98×
34	Birmingham, AL	$106,990	91.6	280	2.84×
35	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$106,720	103.1	240	0.31×
36	Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL	$106,540	97.1	100	2.07×
37	Omaha, NE-IA	$106,520	91.9	80	0.87×
38	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$105,870	113.6	540	0.46×
39	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$105,740	100.9	170	0.63×
40	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$105,370	96.3	80	0.40×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where power plant operators wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators$60,020
Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers$96,710
Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators$78,620
Gas Plant Operators$87,820
Chemical Plant and System Operators$78,120
Plant and System Operators, All Other$62,470
Power Distributors and Dispatchers$106,730
Nuclear Power Reactor Operators$122,890