Power Plant Operators in New Jersey
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$94,879
after federal, FICA and New Jersey tax
Tax takes
$36,491
27.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$87,139
New Jersey costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New Jersey — 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
$131,370
Kept after tax
$94,879
Worth in national money
$87,139
State rank
3
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. New Jersey pays power plant operators a middle wage of $131,370, ranking 3 of 49 states and sitting about 28.74% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in New Jersey. It ranks 44 out of 490 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $131,370, tax leaves $94,879 — and because New Jersey is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $87,139 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $120,430.
- New Jersey's median for power plant operators is $131,370, about 28.74% above the national figure and 3 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 New Jersey, power plant operators ranks 44 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.
- After tax, $94,879 remains from the New Jersey median of $131,370 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $87,139 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $120,430 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Power Plant Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $83,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $131,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $131,940 |
| This salary | $131,370 |
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 New Jersey | $94,879 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $101,057 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$16,857 |
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 | $122,331 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$23,556 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
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 New Jersey earn under $131,370 and half over. The published range runs $83,510 at the tenth percentile to $131,940 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Jersey's $94,879, worked from $131,370. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 44 of 490.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $87,139 uses one figure for the whole of New Jersey. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 490 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 44.
- Figures are distribution medians for power plant operators in New Jersey, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $83,510 to $131,940; 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.
- The New Jersey take-home of $94,879, on $131,370 for work ranking 44 of 490 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 44 of 490 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $87,139, worked from $131,370, 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 New Jersey address, on work sitting at 44 of 490 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $120,430, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $83,510 at the bottom tenth to $131,940 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. New Jersey costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $87,139 rather than its face figure.
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; New Jersey then takes its own share, leaving $94,879.
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 New Jersey is $120,430. 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 ($83,510 to $131,940) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New Jersey rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New Jersey's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $87,139 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 $94,879 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New Jersey 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.