Power Plant Operators in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,422
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$27,698
25.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$83,600
Utah costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Utah — 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
$107,120
Kept after tax
$79,422
Worth in national money
$83,600
State rank
12
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for power plant operators is strong here. Utah's middle earner gets $107,120, putting the state 12 of 49 — about 4.98% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Utah. It ranks 45 out of 487 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Utah is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $107,120 the take-home is $79,422; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $83,600 would nationally. The average lands at $106,170, below the middle of the range.
- For power plant operators, Utah sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $107,120, ranking 12 of 49 and running about 4.98% 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 Utah, power plant operators ranks 45 of 487 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.
- Post-tax income for power plant operators in Utah, on $107,120, is $79,422 — equivalent to $83,600 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $106,170 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Power Plant Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $77,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $107,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $126,190 |
| This salary | $107,120 |
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 Utah | $79,422 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $84,189 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,036 |
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 | $100,344 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,194 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
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 Utah earn under $107,120 and half over. The published range runs $77,440 at the tenth percentile to $126,190 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Utah the take-home figure of $79,422, from $107,120, 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 45 of 487 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $83,600, the adjusted value of that $107,120 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Utah. 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 45 of 487 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for power plant operators in Utah, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $77,440 to $126,190; 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 Utah is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $79,422 from $107,120. 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 45 of 487 locally.
- This $83,600 adjusted figure, worked from $107,120, 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 45 of 487 in the state. The occupation ranks 45 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $77,440 at the tenth percentile, $126,190 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 $83,600.
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; Utah then takes its own share, leaving $79,422.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($77,440 to $126,190) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Utah rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Utah'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 $83,600 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 $79,422 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Utah 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.