Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers

Detailed Occupation

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2021 Workforce

48.8k

Average Age

43.4

Average Salary

$102,249

Average Male Salary

$104,492

Average Female Salary

$72,215

About

Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers are most often employed by the Electric power generation, transmission & distribution industry. The average yearly wage for Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers was $102,249 in 2021.

The locations that employ the most Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers are Southeast Utah & Uintah Basin Region PUMA, UT, Subsistence Alaska PUMA, AK, and Maricopa County (West) & Gila River Indian Community (Northwest) PUMA, AZ. The locations with a relatively high concentration of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers are Subsistence Alaska PUMA, AK, Southeast Utah & Uintah Basin Region PUMA, UT, and Farmington, Bloomfield & Aztec Cities PUMA, NM.

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Production Occupations Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations

Employment

Employment and salary information for the Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers workforce. Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers workforce in 2021 was 48,834 people, of which 6.95% were women and 93% were men. Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers are paid most in Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono & Tuolumne Counties PUMA, CA but are relatively concentrated in Subsistence Alaska PUMA, AK.

Employment Over Time

Metric

Grouping

45,440

Male Workforce

± 5.23k

3,394

Female Workforce

± 1.43k

The Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers workforce in 2021 was 48,834 people (6.95% women and 93% men). This implies an average annual growth of 3.76% between 2014 (47,066) and 2021 (48,834).

Employment by Location

Level

Metric

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by average wage for Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers.

During 2021, the states that concentrated the best average annual wage were California ($133,556), Maryland ($126,095), and New Jersey ($125,898).

Yearly Wage Ranking

$102,249

AVERAGE WAGE

#45 in the ranking (2021)

$59,596

NATIONAL AVERAGE WAGE

For all occupations across the US

In 2021, Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers earned an average of $102,249, $42,653 more than the average national salary of $59,596

The graph shows the ranking of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers in relation to all Detailed Occupation in 2021.

Wage Distribution

Gender

0.278

WAGE GINI

In 2021, Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.278, which is lower than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Industry

Information on the industries that employ Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers and on wages for those in the field. Electric power generation, transmission & distribution is the industry that employs the most Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers, by average wage, is Not specified utilities ($167,018).

Occupations by Industries

Metric

Value

48.8k

2021 Workforce

± 5,425

−0.726%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 15.8%

This graphic shows the share of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers employed by various industries. Electric power generation, transmission & distribution employs the largest share of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers at 92.3%, followed by Electric & gas, and other combinations with 3.92% and Natural gas distribution with 3.74%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers in the US. The workforce of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers in 2021 was 48,834 people, with 6.95% woman, and 93% men. The average age of male Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers in the workforce is 43.5 and of female Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers is 41.7, and the most common race/ethnicity for Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers is White.

Gender and Age

Metric

The workforce of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers in 2021 was 48,834 people, with 6.95% woman, and 93% men.

The age ranges that concentrated the largest workforce were 35 to 39 years (6,899 people), 30 to 34 years (6,588 people), and 55 to 59 years (6,335 people). Among them they concentrated 41.2% of the total workforce.

Ethnicity

Gender

In 2021, 8.4% of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers workers were Hispanic and 91.6% non-Hispanic.

The treemap shows the distribution of Hispanic workers according to their origin, highlighting Mexican (78.4%), Puerto Rican (14.3)%, and All Other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino (7.35)%

You can review this information by gender using the selectors above.

Races

In 2021, 82.4% of the Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers workforce were White, of which 6.21% were women and 93.8% men. Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Black (7.82%) and Two or More Races (4.59%).

Education & Skills

Data on higher education choices for Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers is Engineering but the most specialized major according to RCA in 2021 were Science Technologies.

Among the necessary skills for Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers, Operation Monitoring stands, but the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers need more than the average amount of Equipment Maintenance.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degrees. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree obtained.

Type of Majors

Degree

The most common majors achieved by Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers in 2021 (counting all academic degrees) were Engineering (2,798 people), Business (1,962 people), and Engineering Technologies (893 people).

You can review this information for different academic grades by modifying the option selected in the selector above.

Education Levels

Metric

The main educational levels achieved by the Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers workers were High School or Equivalent (14,133 people), Some college (13,952 people), and Associates Degree (9,833 people).

The graphic shows the Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers workforce by gender and educational level.

Skills

Chart

Value

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers need many skills, but most especially Operation Monitoring, Operation and Control, Monitoring.