Power Plant Operators in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,153
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$28,057
26.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,531
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — 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
$105,210
Kept after tax
$77,153
Worth in national money
$68,531
State rank
19
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. California pays power plant operators around $105,210 at the midpoint, 19 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within California this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, power plant operators ranks 112 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $105,210 the take-home is $77,153. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $68,531 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $110,960, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For power plant operators the California median is $105,210, ranking 19 of 49 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation California publishes a median for, power plant operators sits 112 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $77,153 for power plant operators, from $105,210. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $68,531. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $110,960 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Power Plant Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $105,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $171,800 |
| This salary | $105,210 |
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 California | $77,153 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,845 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$16,723 |
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 | $97,118 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$23,099 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in California earn less than $105,210. The published range is $63,510 up to $171,800, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $77,153 take-home in California comes from $105,210. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 112 of 492.
- Two cautions on $68,531, the adjusted value of that $105,210 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of California. 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 112 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for power plant operators in California the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $63,510 to $171,800. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $77,153, from $105,210, assumes a single California filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 112 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 19 of 49 for it.
- This $68,531 adjusted figure, worked from $105,210, 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 112 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 112 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $110,960 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $63,510 and the top tenth $171,800 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. California costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $68,531 rather than its face figure.
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 California's own levy, $77,153 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 California is $110,960. 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 ($63,510) and the ninetieth ($171,800) 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?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $68,531 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 $77,153 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California 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.