Power Plant Operators in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,162
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$16,478
22.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,737
Virginia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Virginia — 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
$73,640
Kept after tax
$57,162
Worth in national money
$56,737
State rank
48
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Virginia pays power plant operators a middle wage of $73,640, 48 of 49 states and about 27.83% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Power plant operators ranks 167 among 489 occupations Virginia publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $73,640 the take-home is $57,162, which is worth about $56,737 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $74,290, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Virginia's $73,640 median for power plant operators places it 48 of 49 states, about 27.83% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 167 of 489 in Virginia places power plant operators in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for power plant operators on its $73,640 median: $57,162 retained after tax becomes $56,737 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $74,290 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Power Plant Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,770 |
| This salary | $73,640 |
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 Virginia | $57,162 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,636 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,661 |
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 | $68,702 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,735 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Virginia earn less than $73,640. The published range is $47,190 up to $102,770, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Virginia the take-home figure of $57,162, from $73,640, 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 167 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $56,737 uses one figure for the whole of Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 167.
- Reported values are medians; for power plant operators in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $47,190 to $102,770. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $57,162 from $73,640. 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 167 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $56,737, worked from $73,640, 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 Virginia address, on work sitting at 167 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $47,190 and the top tenth $102,770 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $56,737 of national purchasing power.
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; Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $57,162.
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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($47,190) and the ninetieth ($102,770) 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?
Virginia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $56,737 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 $57,162 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Virginia 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.