Power Plant Operators in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$86,640
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$35,060
28.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$79,772
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — 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
$121,700
Kept after tax
$86,640
Worth in national money
$79,772
State rank
6
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Hawaii pays power plant operators a middle wage of $121,700, ranking 6 of 49 states and sitting about 19.27% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Hawaii. It ranks 39 out of 437 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $121,700, tax leaves $86,640 — and because Hawaii is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $79,772 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $119,700.
- Hawaii's median for power plant operators is $121,700, about 19.27% above the national figure and 6 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Hawaii, power plant operators ranks 39 of 437 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.
- After tax, $86,640 remains from the Hawaii median of $121,700 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $79,772 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $119,700 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Power Plant Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $103,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $121,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $134,770 |
| This salary | $121,700 |
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 Hawaii | $86,640 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $94,446 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$17,419 |
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 | $110,604 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$24,061 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Hawaii earn less than $121,700. The published range is $103,430 up to $134,770, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Hawaii the take-home figure of $86,640, from $121,700, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 39 of 437 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $79,772, the adjusted value of that $121,700 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Hawaii. 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 39 of 437 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for power plant operators in Hawaii the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $103,430 to $134,770. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Hawaii is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $86,640 from $121,700. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 39 of 437 locally.
- This $79,772 adjusted figure, worked from $121,700, 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 39 of 437 in the state. The occupation ranks 39 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $103,430 at the bottom tenth to $134,770 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $79,772 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Hawaii then takes its own share, leaving $86,640.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($103,430 to $134,770) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $79,772 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 $86,640 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii 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.