The salary statistics of power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers are shown in Table 1. The average hourly salary of power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers in the United States is shown in Table 2. In the next few tables we compare the average salaries of power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers within different industry sectors and in the 50 states of the United States. The power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers annual salary statistics are from the national compensation survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2022 and published in April 2023 [1].
| Percentile Bracket | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| 10th Percentile Wage | $57,960 |
| 25th Percentile Wage | $77,720 |
| 50th Percentile Wage | $97,570 |
| 75th Percentile Wage | $109,740 |
| 90th Percentile Wage | $129,900 |
Table 1 shows the average annual salary for power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers. The average annual salary for the 90th percentile (the top 10 percent of the highest paid) power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers is $129,900. The median annual salary (50th percentile) is $97,570. The average annual salary for the bottom 10 percent is $57,960. We note that in the United States, the annual salary of the 90th percentile (the top 10 percent of the highest paid) is almost 124% higher than that of the bottom 10 percent.
The table and chart below show the trend of the median salary of power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers from 2012 to 2022.
| Year | Median Salary | Yearly Growth | 10-Year Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $97,570 | 2.85% | 30.07% |
| 2021 | $94,790 | 6.01% | - |
| 2020 | $89,090 | 3.52% | - |
| 2019 | $85,950 | 3.41% | - |
| 2018 | $83,020 | 3.11% | - |
| 2017 | $80,440 | 2.57% | - |
| 2016 | $78,370 | 3.46% | - |
| 2015 | $75,660 | 3.63% | - |
| 2014 | $72,910 | 3.22% | - |
| 2013 | $70,560 | 3.30% | - |
| 2012 | $68,230 | - | - |
The average salaries of power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers in 13 major industry sectors are shown in Table 2. We note that the salaries vary considerably within different industry sectors. The highest paying industry sector for power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers occupations is the management of companies and enterprises sector with an annual salary $105,690. The lowest paying sector is the educational services sector (annual salary $58,960).