Power Plant Operators in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,279
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$27,161
26.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,174
Illinois costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Illinois — 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
$104,440
Kept after tax
$77,279
Worth in national money
$78,174
State rank
20
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Illinois is 20 of 49 states for power plant operators, with a middle wage of $104,440. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Illinois this is well-paid work. Of 494 occupations with published figures in the state, power plant operators ranks 62 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $104,440 the take-home is $77,279, which is worth about $78,174 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $103,620, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Illinois ranks 20 of 49 for power plant operators at $104,440. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation Illinois publishes a median for, power plant operators sits 62 of 494 — 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.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for power plant operators on its $104,440 median: $77,279 retained after tax becomes $78,174 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $103,620 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in 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 | $77,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,040 |
| This salary | $104,440 |
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 Illinois | $77,279 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,304 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,523 |
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 | $97,297 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,010 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $104,440 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $77,330 and the ninetieth is $128,040 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $77,279 take-home in Illinois comes from $104,440. 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 62 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $78,174, the adjusted value of that $104,440 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 62 of 494 in the state.
- The Illinois median of $104,440 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $77,330 to $128,040. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $77,279, from $104,440, assumes a single Illinois 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 62 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $78,174 — the adjusted value of that $104,440 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 62 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $77,330 at the tenth percentile, $128,040 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Illinois sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $78,174 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Illinois adds its own income tax on top — which is why $77,279 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($77,330 to $128,040) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Illinois rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Illinois'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 $78,174 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 $77,279 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Illinois 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.