Power Plant Operators in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$101,228
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$30,392
23.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$93,245
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$131,620
Kept after tax
$101,228
Worth in national money
$93,245
State rank
1
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for power plant operators. The middle earner takes $131,620, which ranks 1 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 28.99% above the national middle.
- Within Washington this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, power plant operators ranks 43 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $131,620, tax leaves $101,228 — and because Washington is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $93,245 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $128,230.
- Washington ranks 1 of 49 states publishing a median for power plant operators, at $131,620 — about 28.99% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Washington publishes a median for, power plant operators sits 43 of 493 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After tax, $101,228 remains from the Washington median of $131,620 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $93,245 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $128,230 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Power Plant Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $85,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $131,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $168,610 |
| This salary | $131,620 |
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 Washington | $101,228 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $101,228 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,926 |
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 | $131,620 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$15,372 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $131,620 as a midpoint for Washington, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $85,390 and the ninetieth is $168,610 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Washington the take-home figure of $101,228, from $131,620, 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 43 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Washington, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $93,245, the adjusted value of that $131,620 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 43 of 493 in the state.
- The Washington median of $131,620 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $85,390 to $168,610. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Washington is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $101,228 from $131,620. 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 43 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Washington, so $93,245 — the adjusted value of that $131,620 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 43 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $85,390 at the bottom tenth to $168,610 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Washington costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $93,245 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $101,228 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($85,390 to $168,610) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $93,245 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $101,228 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.