Occupations · Production
Power Plant Operators
Control, operate, or maintain machinery to generate electric power. Includes auxiliary equipment operators.
O*NET 30.3 Database (USDOL/ETA) · occupation code 51-8013.00
What it pays
A single “average salary” hides the spread. This is the whole distribution — the gap between the bottom and top bar is usually the number that matters.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 · national, cross-industry · annual wage
These are national figures, identical for every reader. The report recuts them for your metro area and ranks it among all of them.
Get yours →Pay over time
Median up 96% between 2003 and 2024, before inflation. The band shows the 10th to 90th percentile.
BLS OEWS, one release per year. Before May 2011 only national estimates were published, so geography detail starts there.
Where the jobs are
| Metro area | Median wage | Employed |
|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | $128,340 | 1,250 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $107,650 | 690 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | $103,380 | 600 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $106,030 | 450 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $97,920 | 390 |
BLS OEWS May 2024, metropolitan estimates · the 5 areas with the most people in this occupation
Your metro area, and where it ranks
LockedAll metropolitan areas BLS publishes for this occupation, with your own city's median and its rank among them.
Open in your report →Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent · BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
What people in this job actually do
Ordered by how important the work is rated.
- Control generator output to match the phase, frequency, or voltage of electricity supplied to panels.
- Control power generating equipment, including boilers, turbines, generators, or reactors, using control boards or semi-automatic equipment.
- Take regulatory action, based on readings from charts, meters and gauges, at established intervals.
- 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.
- Operate or maintain distributed power generation equipment, including fuel cells or microturbines, to produce energy on-site for manufacturing or other commercial purposes.
- Adjust controls to generate specified electrical power or to regulate the flow of power between generating stations and substations.
- Open and close valves and switches in sequence to start or shut down auxiliary units.
- 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.
- Operate, control, or monitor equipment, such as acid or gas carbon dioxide removal units, carbon dioxide compressors, or pipelines, to capture, store, or transport carbon dioxide exhaust.
- Regulate equipment operations and conditions, such as water levels, based on instrument data or from computers.
- Operate, control, or monitor gasifiers or related equipment, such as coolers, water quenches, water gas shifts reactors, or sulfur recovery units, to produce syngas or electricity from coal.
O*NET 30.3 task ratings, importance scale
Skills that matter most
Importance, rated 1 to 5.
O*NET 30.3 skills, importance scale
Software and tools
A dot marks what O*NET flags as in demand.
O*NET 30.3 software skills · hot-technology flag
What your tools are worth
Occupation-based, not posting-based: how much employment, pay and projected growth sit behind each tool. It is not a count of job ads.
| Tool | Value | Spread across occupations |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Access | 71 | 265 → 372 occupations since 2015 |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | 69 | 400 → 629 occupations since 2015 |
| Microsoft Outlook | 68 | 348 → 642 occupations since 2015 |
What your tools are worth
LockedThe same score for every tool in this occupation, plus the ones you ticked and the ones you did not.
Open in your report →What this work is actually like
Conditions rated against the average across all occupations — only what makes this job different is listed.
O*NET 30.3 Job Zones
Working conditions that stand out
O*NET 30.3 work context, frequency scale · observed 2024-08
How people actually get in
Share of workers by the education they hold.
O*NET 30.2 education, training and experience · observed 2024-08
What kind of person the work suits
Occupational interest profile, rated 1 to 7.
O*NET 30.2 occupational interests (RIASEC)
What you take with you
Skills rated for how well they transfer into other occupations.
O*NET 30.3 transferable skills, importance scale
Knowledge the work draws on
Abilities it leans on
O*NET 30.3 abilities and knowledge, importance scale
How this job is advertised
The same work is posted under many titles — this is what to search for.
O*NET 30.3 job titles reported for this occupation
Get this as a personal report
The same sourced evidence, recut for the closest published view of your city, state or industry, as a dated PDF.
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What changed since 2015
Comparing O*NET release 20.1 (2015-10-01) with 30.3 (2026-05-01). Signs, not colour alone, carry the meaning. 3 entries that were only relabelled between releases are left out.
Now listed 7
Diff across the O*NET releases held here in full since October 2015, following occupations through merges and retirements. O*NET re-surveys occupations on a rolling cycle, so “no change” can also mean “not re-surveyed”.
Related jobs
O*NET 30.3 related occupations
Also called
O*NET 30.3 alternative titles
The same work in Europe
| ESCO occupation | ISCO | Match |
|---|---|---|
| geothermal power plant operator | 3131.1.4 | broader |
| steam turbine operator | 3131.1.9 | broader |
| hydroelectric plant operator | 3131.1.5 | broader |
| fossil-fuel power plant operator | 3131.1.3 | broader |
| power production plant operator | 3131.1 | broader |
| power plant control room operator | 3131.1.7 | broader |
Official ESCO ↔ O*NET crosswalk (ESCO Secretariat with USDOL/ETA)
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