Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers

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2019 Workforce

48k

Average Age

43.9

Average Salary

$98,116

Average Male Salary

$101,106

Average Female Salary

$63,173

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 $98,116 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers by wage are Architects, except landscape and naval, Computer network architects, and Veterinarians.

Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers are part of the Production Occupations, along with Firstline supervisors of production & operating workers, Electrical, electronics, & electromechanical assemblers, Engine & other machine assemblers, Structural metal fabricators & fitters, Other assemblers and fabricators, and 55 more.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers are Idaho Falls City PUMA, ID, Subsistence Alaska PUMA, AK, and Dothan City PUMA, AL. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers are Idaho Falls City PUMA, ID, Subsistence Alaska PUMA, AK, and Dothan City PUMA, AL.

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Production Occupations Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations

Employment

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers and on wages and locations 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 Electric & gas, and other combinations. Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers are paid most in Emporia City PUMA, KS but are relatively concentrated in Idaho Falls City PUMA, ID.

Wages

Yearly Wage

$98,116

AVERAGE SALARY

± $6,104

In 2019, Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers earned an average of $98,116, $42,592 more than than the average national salary of $55,524.

Computer network architects make somewhat more than Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers while Architects, except landscape and naval make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.245

WAGE GINI

In 2016, Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.245, which is lower than 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).

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States shaded by average annual wage for Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers.

Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers.

Industries

Most Common

The most common industries employing Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers, by number of employees, are Electric power generation, transmission & distribution, Electric & gas, and other combinations, Natural gas distribution, Pulp, paper, & paperboard mills , Water, steam, air-conditioning, & irrigation systems, and Pipeline transportation.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers, by average wage, are Electric & gas, and other combinations, Electric power generation, transmission & distribution, and Pipeline transportation.

Industries by Share

48k

2019 Workforce

± 5,378

0.836%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 15.7%

The number of people employed as Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers has been growing at a rate of 0.836%, from 47,595 people in 2018 to 47,993 people in 2019.

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 83.4%, followed by Electric & gas, and other combinations with 3.72% and Natural gas distribution with 2.43%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers in the US. The average age of male Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers in the workforce is 43.9 and of female Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers is 43.4, and the most common race/ethnicity for Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers is White (Non-Hispanic).

Composition by Sex

44.2k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 5,161

3.78k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 1,510

92.1% of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers are Male, making them the more common sex in the occupation. This chart shows the sex breakdown of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers

White (Non-Hispanic)
Black (Non-Hispanic)
White (Hispanic)

73.9% of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 11.9% of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers, Black (Non-Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers.

Age by Sex

43.9

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 1.48

43.4

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 5.27

The median age of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers is 43.9, and Male employees are generally 0.553 years older than than their Female counterparts.

Education

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 a relatively high number of Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers hold a major in Engineering Technologies.

Majors

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

MOST COMMON MAJORS

MOST SPECIALIZED MAJORS

Skills

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. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Power plant operators, distributors, & dispatchers need more than the average amount of Equipment Maintenance, Repairing, and Equipment Selection.