Power Plant Operators in Colorado
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,322
after federal, FICA and Colorado tax
Tax takes
$25,458
24.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,268
Colorado costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Colorado — 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
$102,780
Kept after tax
$77,322
Worth in national money
$76,268
State rank
23
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Colorado is 23 of 49 states for power plant operators, with a middle wage of $102,780. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Colorado. It ranks 83 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Colorado costs about what the country costs, so from $102,780, take-home of $77,322 is worth roughly $76,268 in national money. The average comes to $108,860, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Colorado ranks 23 of 49 for power plant operators at $102,780. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Colorado, power plant operators ranks 83 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 Colorado is near the national base, so for power plant operators, whose median is $102,780, the adjusted figure of $76,268 differs little from $77,322 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $108,860 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Power Plant Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $102,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $137,720 |
| This salary | $102,780 |
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 Colorado | $77,322 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $81,136 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,227 |
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 | $97,359 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,982 |
| 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 Colorado earn under $102,780 and half over. The published range runs $76,900 at the tenth percentile to $137,720 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 Colorado's $77,322, worked from $102,780. 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 83 of 491.
- Two cautions on $76,268, the adjusted value of that $102,780 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Colorado. 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 83 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for power plant operators in Colorado, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $76,900 to $137,720; 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 Colorado take-home of $77,322, on $102,780 for work ranking 83 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 83 of 491 in the state.
- This $76,268 adjusted figure, worked from $102,780, 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 83 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 83 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $108,860, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $76,900 at the tenth percentile, $137,720 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Colorado costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $76,268 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Colorado adds its own income tax on top — which is why $77,322 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 Colorado is $108,860. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($76,900 to $137,720) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Colorado rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Colorado's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $76,268 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 $77,322 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Colorado 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.