Power Plant Operators in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$90,579
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$33,861
27.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$99,074
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$124,440
Kept after tax
$90,579
Worth in national money
$99,074
State rank
4
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Idaho is one of the better-paying states for power plant operators. The middle earner takes $124,440, which ranks 4 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 21.95% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Idaho. It ranks 21 out of 476 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Idaho is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $124,440 the take-home is $90,579; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $99,074 would nationally. The average lands at $112,490, below the middle of the range.
- Idaho ranks 4 of 49 states publishing a median for power plant operators, at $124,440 — about 21.95% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Idaho, power plant operators ranks 21 of 476 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.
- Post-tax income for power plant operators in Idaho, on $124,440, is $90,579 — equivalent to $99,074 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $112,490 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Power Plant Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $68,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $124,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $137,670 |
| This salary | $124,440 |
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 Idaho | $90,579 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $96,321 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$47 |
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 | $116,203 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$66 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
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 Idaho earn under $124,440 and half over. The published range runs $68,960 at the tenth percentile to $137,670 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $90,579 take-home in Idaho comes from $124,440. 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 21 of 476.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $99,074 uses one figure for the whole of Idaho. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 476 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 21.
- Figures are distribution medians for power plant operators in Idaho, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $68,960 to $137,670; 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.
- Retained pay of $90,579, from $124,440, assumes a single Idaho 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 21 of 476 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $99,074, worked from $124,440, 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 Idaho address, on work sitting at 21 of 476 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 $112,490 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $68,960 at the bottom tenth to $137,670 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Idaho is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $99,074 in national terms.
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; Idaho then takes its own share, leaving $90,579.
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 Idaho is $112,490. 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 ($68,960 to $137,670) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Idaho rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Idaho's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $99,074 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $90,579 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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.