Power Plant Operators in Minnesota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$70,338
after federal, FICA and Minnesota tax
Tax takes
$24,052
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,470
Minnesota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Minnesota — 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
$94,390
Kept after tax
$70,338
Worth in national money
$71,470
State rank
37
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Minnesota pays power plant operators a middle wage of $94,390, 37 of 49 states and about 7.5% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Minnesota. It ranks 99 out of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Minnesota costs about what the country costs, so from $94,390, take-home of $70,338 is worth roughly $71,470 in national money. The average comes to $95,700, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Minnesota's $94,390 median for power plant operators places it 37 of 49 states, about 7.5% 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 Minnesota, power plant operators ranks 99 of 490 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.
- Price parity in Minnesota is near the national base, so for power plant operators, whose median is $94,390, the adjusted figure of $71,470 differs little from $70,338 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $95,700 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Power Plant Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $72,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $94,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,900 |
| This salary | $94,390 |
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 Minnesota | $70,338 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $75,233 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,951 |
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 | $87,432 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,220 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
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 Minnesota earn under $94,390 and half over. The published range runs $72,540 at the tenth percentile to $125,900 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $70,338 take-home in Minnesota comes from $94,390. 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 99 of 490.
- Two cautions on $71,470, the adjusted value of that $94,390 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Minnesota. 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 99 of 490 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for power plant operators in Minnesota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $72,540 to $125,900; 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 $70,338, from $94,390, assumes a single Minnesota 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 99 of 490 locally, and the state ranks 37 of 49 for it.
- This $71,470 adjusted figure, worked from $94,390, 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 99 of 490 in the state. The occupation ranks 99 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $72,540 at the tenth percentile, $125,900 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $71,470.
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 Minnesota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $70,338 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($72,540 to $125,900) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Minnesota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Minnesota'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 $71,470 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 $70,338 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Minnesota 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.