Power Plant Operators in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$66,885
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$18,085
21.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,154
Arizona costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arizona — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$84,970
Kept after tax
$66,885
Worth in national money
$66,154
State rank
42
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Arizona pays power plant operators a middle wage of $84,970, 42 of 49 states and about 16.73% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Arizona. It ranks 95 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Arizona costs about what the country costs, so from $84,970, take-home of $66,885 is worth roughly $66,154 in national money. The average comes to $89,350, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Arizona's $84,970 median for power plant operators places it 42 of 49 states, about 16.73% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Within Arizona, power plant operators ranks 95 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Price parity in Arizona is near the national base, so for power plant operators, whose median is $84,970, the adjusted figure of $66,154 differs little from $66,885 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $89,350 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Power Plant Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $57,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $84,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $118,910 |
| This salary | $84,970 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Arizona | $66,885 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $68,606 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,447 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $82,523 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,143 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of power plant operators in Arizona earn under $84,970 and half over. The published range runs $57,560 at the tenth percentile to $118,910 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Arizona's $66,885, worked from $84,970. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 95 of 491.
- Two cautions on $66,154, the adjusted value of that $84,970 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Arizona. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 95 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for power plant operators in Arizona, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $57,560 to $118,910; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Arizona take-home of $66,885, on $84,970 for work ranking 95 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 95 of 491 in the state.
- This $66,154 adjusted figure, worked from $84,970, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 95 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 95 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $89,350, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $57,560, the highest tenth $118,910, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Arizona run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $66,154 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Arizona's own levy, $66,885 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Arizona is $89,350. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($57,560) and the ninetieth ($118,910) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Arizona's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $66,154 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $66,885 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arizona income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.