Power Plant Operators in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,217
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$26,293
24.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$87,643
New Mexico costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New Mexico — 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
$105,510
Kept after tax
$79,217
Worth in national money
$87,643
State rank
18
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico sits in the middle of the pack for power plant operators. The median is $105,510, ranking 18 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 485 occupations New Mexico reports, power plant operators comes in at 52 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $105,510 you keep $79,217, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $87,643 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $99,890, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- New Mexico occupies the middle band for power plant operators: a median of $105,510, ranking 18 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Power plant operators ranks 52 of 485 occupations by median in New Mexico, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and New Mexico income tax, retained pay for power plant operators on $105,510 is $79,217. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $87,643 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $99,890 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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 | $46,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $105,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $121,690 |
| This salary | $105,510 |
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 Mexico | $79,217 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $83,056 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,172 |
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 | $100,053 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,001 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 Mexico earn under $105,510 and half over. The published range runs $46,350 at the tenth percentile to $121,690 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 Mexico's $79,217, worked from $105,510. 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 52 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of New Mexico, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $87,643, the adjusted value of that $105,510 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 52 of 485 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for power plant operators in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,350 to $121,690; 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 Mexico take-home of $79,217, on $105,510 for work ranking 52 of 485 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 52 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Mexico, so $87,643 — the adjusted value of that $105,510 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 52 of 485 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 $99,890 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 $46,350 at the bottom tenth to $121,690 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $87,643.
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 Mexico then takes its own share, leaving $79,217.
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 Mexico is $99,890. 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 ($46,350 to $121,690) 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 Mexico rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
New Mexico'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 $87,643 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 $79,217 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New Mexico 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.