Power Plant Operators in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,654
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$23,556
24.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$82,046
West Virginia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in West 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
$97,210
Kept after tax
$73,654
Worth in national money
$82,046
State rank
35
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for power plant operators is on the low side in West Virginia. The middle earner gets $97,210. That is 35 of 49 states, and about 4.73% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 473 occupations West Virginia reports, power plant operators comes in at 39 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $97,210 you keep $73,654, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $82,046 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $93,210, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For power plant operators, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $97,210, ranking 35 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 4.73%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Power plant operators ranks 39 of 473 occupations by median in West Virginia, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for power plant operators on $97,210 is $73,654. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $82,046 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 $93,210 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 | $57,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $119,990 |
| This salary | $97,210 |
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 West Virginia | $73,654 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,217 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,584 |
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 | $92,145 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,569 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $97,210 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $57,180 and the ninetieth is $119,990 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $73,654, worked from $97,210. 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 39 of 473.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $82,046, the adjusted value of that $97,210 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 39 of 473 in the state.
- The West Virginia median of $97,210 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $57,180 to $119,990. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The West Virginia take-home of $73,654, on $97,210 for work ranking 39 of 473 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 39 of 473 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $82,046 — the adjusted value of that $97,210 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 39 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $93,210 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $57,180 and the top tenth $119,990, so most people doing this work in West Virginia sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. West Virginia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $82,046 in national terms.
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 West Virginia's own levy, $73,654 remains.
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.
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 West Virginia is $93,210. 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 ($57,180 to $119,990) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to West Virginia rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
West Virginia'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 $82,046 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 $73,654 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and West 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.