Power Plant Operators in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,825
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$28,165
26.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,240
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — 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
$106,990
Kept after tax
$78,825
Worth in national money
$73,240
State rank
15
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. New York pays power plant operators a middle wage of $106,990, ranking 15 of 49 states and sitting about 4.85% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in New York. It ranks 76 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- New York is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $106,990 the take-home is $78,825; in national-average money that behaves like $73,240. The average comes to $108,880, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New York's median for power plant operators is $106,990, about 4.85% above the national figure and 15 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 York, power plant operators ranks 76 of 493 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.
- Take-home for power plant operators in New York, on $106,990, is $78,825; deflated by the state's price level, $73,240. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $108,880 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Power Plant Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $64,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $106,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $142,310 |
| This salary | $106,990 |
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 York | $78,825 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $84,097 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$13,302 |
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 | $99,496 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$18,375 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
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 York earn under $106,990 and half over. The published range runs $64,580 at the tenth percentile to $142,310 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 York's $78,825, worked from $106,990. 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 76 of 493.
- Two cautions on $73,240, the adjusted value of that $106,990 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New York. 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 76 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for power plant operators in New York, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $64,580 to $142,310; 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 York take-home of $78,825, on $106,990 for work ranking 76 of 493 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 76 of 493 in the state.
- This $73,240 adjusted figure, worked from $106,990, 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 76 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 76 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $64,580, the highest tenth $142,310, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in New York run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $73,240 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 York then takes its own share, leaving $78,825.
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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($64,580) and the ninetieth ($142,310) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $73,240 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 $78,825 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York 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.