---
title: "Power Plant Operator"
description: "Control, operate, or maintain machinery to generate electric power. Includes auxiliary equipment operators."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/power-plant-operator"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Power Plant Operator

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-8013 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-8013.00

Control, operate, or maintain machinery to generate electric power. Includes auxiliary equipment operators.

Also advertised as: Auxiliary Operator; Control Operator; Control Room Operator; Multicraft Operator (MCO); Operations and Maintenance Technician (O and M Tech); Plant Control Operator; Plant Operator; Power Plant Operator.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $102,040 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $49.06/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $61,790 to $131,940, with the middle half between $79,690 and $119,080
- **Total US employment:** 29,320
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -5.1% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 2,300 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 51/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 29,320 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $61,790 |
| 25th | $79,690 |
| 50th (median) | $102,040 |
| 75th | $119,080 |
| 90th | $131,940 |
| Mean (average) | $99,790 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WA | $131,620 | $122,994 | 430 |
| NV | $131,400 | $131,428 | 250 |
| NJ | $131,370 | $120,739 | 300 |
| ID | $124,440 | $130,312 | 310 |
| ND | $122,160 | $137,322 | 150 |
| HI | $121,700 | $110,686 | 290 |
| TN | $115,920 | $126,178 | 490 |
| MD | $111,260 | $106,003 | 330 |
| OR | $109,830 | $106,259 | 250 |
| NC | $108,300 | $114,815 | 420 |
| GA | $107,580 | $111,722 | 590 |
| UT | $107,120 | $108,351 | 420 |
| AL | $107,080 | $120,554 | 790 |
| IN | $107,000 | $114,648 | 1,190 |
| NY | $106,990 | $99,137 | 1,960 |

36 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 51 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/power-plant-operator/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/power-plant-operator.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 29,800 in the 2025–2035 base year to 28,300 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 1,500 jobs, or -5.1%. Declining: -5.1% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 2,300 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Long-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 59.8% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 14.3% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 12.5% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 8.2% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 3.5% |
| Some College Courses | 1.7% |

## What the work involves

- Start or stop generators, auxiliary pumping equipment, turbines, or other power plant equipment as necessary.
- Monitor power plant equipment and indicators to detect evidence of operating problems.
- Control or maintain auxiliary equipment, such as pumps, fans, compressors, condensers, feedwater heaters, filters, or chlorinators, to supply water, fuel, lubricants, air, or auxiliary power.
- Regulate equipment operations and conditions, such as water levels, based on instrument data or from computers.
- Open and close valves and switches in sequence to start or shut down auxiliary units.
- Control power generating equipment, including boilers, turbines, generators, or reactors, using control boards or semi-automatic equipment.
- Record and compile operational data by completing and maintaining forms, logs, or reports.
- Clean, lubricate, or maintain equipment, such as generators, turbines, pumps, or compressors, to prevent failure or deterioration.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Critical Thinking — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operations Monitoring — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Equipment Maintenance — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Mechanical — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Chemistry — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Physics — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 6.84 |
| C — Conventional | 5.11 |
| I — Investigative | 2.84 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.94 |
| S — Social | 1.25 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 92.9 |
| ISTP | 78.6 |
| ESTJ | 76.1 |
| ISFJ | 75.3 |
| INTJ | 67.6 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Hydroelectric Plant Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/hydroelectric-plant-technician) — median $102,040
- [Biomass Plant Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/biomass-plant-technician) — median $102,040
- [Gas Plant Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/gas-plant-operator) — median $87,820
- [Geothermal Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/geothermal-technician) — median $49,230
- [Stationary Engineer and Boiler Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stationary-engineer-and-boiler-operator) — median $78,620
- [Petroleum Pump System Operator, Refinery Operator, and Gauger](https://nuecareer.com/careers/petroleum-pump-system-operator-refinery-operator-and-gauger) — median $96,710
- [Chemical Plant and System Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/chemical-plant-and-system-operator) — median $78,120
- [Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/gas-compressor-and-gas-pumping-station-operator) — median $77,320
- [Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/water-and-wastewater-treatment-plant-and-system-operator) — median $60,020
- [Power Distributor and Dispatcher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/power-distributor-and-dispatcher) — median $106,730

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/power-plant-operator