Power Plant Operators in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,783
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$24,677
25.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,193
Connecticut costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Connecticut — 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
$97,460
Kept after tax
$72,783
Worth in national money
$70,193
State rank
34
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for power plant operators is on the low side in Connecticut. The middle earner gets $97,460. That is 34 of 49 states, and about 4.49% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Connecticut. It ranks 101 out of 482 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $97,460 the take-home is $72,783. But Connecticut costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $70,193 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $102,700, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For power plant operators, Connecticut sits in the lower band at $97,460, ranking 34 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 4.49%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Connecticut, power plant operators ranks 101 of 482 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Connecticut income tax is $72,783 for power plant operators, from $97,460. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $70,193. ⚠️ 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 $102,700 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 | $76,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,460 |
| Top tenth earn over | $131,410 |
| This salary | $97,460 |
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 Connecticut | $72,783 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,393 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,450 |
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 | $90,907 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,053 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $97,460 as a midpoint for Connecticut, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $76,110 and the ninetieth is $131,410 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Connecticut's $72,783, worked from $97,460. 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 101 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $70,193 uses one figure for the whole of Connecticut. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 482 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 101.
- The Connecticut median of $97,460 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $76,110 to $131,410. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Connecticut take-home of $72,783, on $97,460 for work ranking 101 of 482 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 101 of 482 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $70,193, worked from $97,460, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Connecticut address, on work sitting at 101 of 482 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 $102,700 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $76,110 and the top tenth $131,410, so most people doing this work in Connecticut sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $70,193 of national purchasing power.
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 Connecticut's own levy, $72,783 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Connecticut is $102,700. 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 ($76,110 to $131,410) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Connecticut rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Connecticut's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $70,193 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 $72,783 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Connecticut 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.