Power Plant Operators in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$93,639
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$28,521
23.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$105,721
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$122,160
Kept after tax
$93,639
Worth in national money
$105,721
State rank
5
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for power plant operators is strong here. North Dakota's middle earner gets $122,160, putting the state 5 of 49 — about 19.72% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in North Dakota. It ranks 19 out of 460 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where North Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $122,160 you keep $93,639, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $105,721 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $116,410, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For power plant operators, North Dakota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $122,160, ranking 5 of 49 and running about 19.72% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Within North Dakota, power plant operators ranks 19 of 460 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 federal, FICA and North Dakota income tax, retained pay for power plant operators on $122,160 is $93,639. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $105,721 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 $116,410 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Power Plant Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $104,300 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $122,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $134,280 |
| This salary | $122,160 |
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 North Dakota | $93,639 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $94,762 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$8,204 |
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 | $120,554 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$11,664 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 North Dakota earn under $122,160 and half over. The published range runs $104,300 at the tenth percentile to $134,280 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In North Dakota the take-home figure of $93,639, from $122,160, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 19 of 460 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $105,721, the adjusted value of that $122,160 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of North Dakota. 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 19 of 460 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for power plant operators in North Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $104,300 to $134,280; 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.
- Take-home for North Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $93,639 from $122,160. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 19 of 460 locally.
- This $105,721 adjusted figure, worked from $122,160, 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 19 of 460 in the state. The occupation ranks 19 of 460 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $116,410, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $104,300 and the top tenth $134,280, so most people doing this work in North Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $105,721.
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 North Dakota's own levy, $93,639 remains.
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 North Dakota is $116,410. 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 ($104,300 to $134,280) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to North Dakota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Dakota'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 $105,721 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 $93,639 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.