Plant and System Operators, All Other salary

SOC 51-8099 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$62,470

per year, nationally

Middle half

$48,900–$78,480

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

14,080

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+1.6%

1,600 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.

$40,700$94,560

10th: $40,700
25th: $48,900
Median: $62,470
75th: $78,480
90th: $94,560

Getting in

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

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

Where plant and system operators, all other 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	Massachusetts	$120,660	105.8	40	0.13×
2	Washington	$88,730	107.0	190	0.60×
3	Minnesota	$88,290	98.6	200	0.74×
4	Maryland	$81,890	105.0	270	1.08×
5	Montana	$81,340	94.6	170	3.70×
6	Nevada	$80,000	100.0	150	1.09×
7	California	$78,020	110.7	1,560	0.94×
8	Illinois	$77,780	100.0	230	0.41×
9	Iowa	$75,800	87.8	50	0.34×
10	New York	$74,700	107.9	310	0.35×
11	Oklahoma	$74,240	87.8	80	0.55×
12	Kansas	$74,190	90.1	60	0.46×
13	Oregon	$71,900	103.4	140	0.77×
14	West Virginia	$70,660	89.5	120	1.95×
15	Indiana	$70,490	93.3	280	0.96×
16	New Jersey	$69,970	108.8	290	0.74×
17	Kentucky	$69,430	90.2	30	0.18×
18	Arizona	$69,260	100.7	150	0.50×
19	Connecticut	$68,950	103.6	100	0.65×
20	Utah	$67,910	98.9	180	1.12×
21	Wyoming	$66,770	92.7	90	3.40×
22	Mississippi	$65,080	87.0	140	1.35×
23	Michigan	$64,690	96.2	250	0.62×
24	Ohio	$64,140	92.8	340	0.68×
25	New Hampshire	$64,030	104.2	120	1.97×
26	Wisconsin	$62,800	94.1	160	0.60×
27	Louisiana	$62,630	88.2	350	2.02×
28	Maine	$62,270	97.0	110	1.81×
29	Virginia	$61,940	101.1	180	0.48×
30	Idaho	$61,690	95.5	40	0.54×
31	North Carolina	$61,190	94.3	220	0.48×
32	Tennessee	$60,240	91.9	150	0.51×
33	South Dakota	$57,430	88.6	190	4.48×
34	South Carolina	$56,060	93.7	150	0.71×
35	New Mexico	$55,710	92.2	120	1.50×
36	Alabama	$51,690	88.8	30	0.18×
37	Colorado	$51,600	103.1	1,050	4.02×
38	Missouri	$51,560	90.8	380	1.44×
39	Florida	$50,910	103.4	590	0.66×
40	Pennsylvania	$50,840	97.6	620	1.13×
41	Texas	$50,820	97.1	3,570	2.80×
42	Nebraska	$48,220	90.1	70	0.70×
43	Arkansas	$46,020	86.9	120	1.04×
44	Georgia	$44,670	96.3	240	0.54×

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 plant and system operators, all other wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for plant and system operators, all other

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	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$94,420	106.7	90	0.95×
2	Reno, NV	$92,870	101.0	40	1.70×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$91,310	115.6	230	1.08×
4	Duluth, MN-WI	$88,290	88.8	40	3.16×
5	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$85,590	110.4	30	0.32×
6	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$85,300	111.1	60	0.32×
7	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$84,390	104.8	100	0.59×
8	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$83,870	100.2	60	0.60×
9	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$83,760	108.9	380	1.32×
10	Billings, MT	$83,530	93.5	50	6.17×
11	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$81,660	100.9	40	1.28×
12	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$80,660	103.6	160	0.39×
13	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$80,430	106.4	270	1.71×
14	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$78,500	112.6	290	0.33×
15	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$78,350	104.5	70	0.57×
16	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$77,330	111.9	150	1.11×
17	Gulfport-Biloxi, MS	$77,290	90.0	—	—
18	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$77,130	113.6	400	0.71×
19	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$73,540	105.4	80	0.71×
20	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$72,780	95.7	90	0.90×
21	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$71,800	93.1	30	0.51×
22	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$70,820	101.1	70	4.37×
23	Columbia, SC	$70,620	93.7	40	1.06×
24	St. Louis, MO-IL	$69,910	95.1	90	0.78×
25	Tulsa, OK	$68,950	89.2	40	0.86×
26	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$68,850	103.3	40	0.18×
27	Columbus, OH	$68,690	95.5	30	0.34×
28	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$67,760	102.6	170	0.64×
29	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$67,390	95.4	60	0.60×
30	Cleveland, OH	$67,340	93.9	40	0.39×
31	Fresno, CA	$67,180	102.2	30	0.75×
32	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$66,170	92.7	30	0.98×
33	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$64,030	108.3	110	0.46×
34	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$62,470	100.9	60	0.75×
35	Rapid City, SD	$62,190	89.2	30	5.12×
36	Colorado Springs, CO	$61,840	100.7	90	3.30×
37	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$61,790	100.3	90	0.55×
38	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$61,200	97.3	60	0.46×
39	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$61,110	98.2	50	0.69×
40	Sioux Falls, SD-MN	$60,650	90.6	60	3.69×

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 plant and system operators, all other 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
Power Plant Operators$102,040
Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators$78,620
Gas Plant Operators$87,820
Chemical Plant and System Operators$78,120
Power Distributors and Dispatchers$106,730
Nuclear Power Reactor Operators$122,890

Plant and System Operators, All Other salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where plant and system operators, all other earn the most

Best paying metro areas for plant and system operators, all other

Similar occupations

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