Power Plant Operators in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,386
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$22,015
23.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,907
Kentucky costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kentucky — 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
$93,400
Kept after tax
$71,386
Worth in national money
$78,907
State rank
39
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays power plant operators a middle wage of $93,400, 39 of 49 states and about 8.47% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Kentucky. It ranks 63 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $93,400 the take-home is $71,386; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $78,907 would nationally. The average comes to $93,970, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky's $93,400 median for power plant operators places it 39 of 49 states, about 8.47% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Within Kentucky, power plant operators ranks 63 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.
- Post-tax income for power plant operators in Kentucky, on $93,400, is $71,386 — equivalent to $78,907 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 $93,970 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Power Plant Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $93,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $118,400 |
| This salary | $93,400 |
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 Kentucky | $71,386 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $74,537 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,203 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $88,920 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,043 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $93,400 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $66,830 and the ninetieth is $118,400 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $71,386 take-home in Kentucky comes from $93,400. 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 63 of 491.
- Two cautions on $78,907, the adjusted value of that $93,400 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Kentucky. 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 63 of 491 locally.
- The Kentucky median of $93,400 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $66,830 to $118,400. 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 $71,386, from $93,400, assumes a single Kentucky 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 63 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 49 for it.
- This $78,907 adjusted figure, worked from $93,400, 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 63 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 63 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $66,830 at the tenth percentile, $118,400 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Kentucky is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $78,907 in national terms.
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 Kentucky's own levy, $71,386 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($66,830 to $118,400) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Kentucky rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Kentucky'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 $78,907 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 $71,386 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kentucky 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.