The average electrician in the United States earns $71,490 a year, and the median, which is the figure that describes a typical worker rather than one dragged around by the top end, is $63,190. That works out at about $34.37 an hour. Where you work moves that a long way: Oregon averages $99,750 and Arkansas $53,470. Everything below is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 release, not from job ads or self-reported surveys.
What a electrician actually does for that money
Electricians work across residential, commercial and industrial, and those three worlds pay very differently for the same license. Union membership is higher here than in most trades and shows up clearly in the top states. The apprenticeship is long, which keeps supply tight and wages firmer than in trades you can enter in a week.
What electricians earn, from bottom to top
An average hides the spread, and the spread is what matters when you are deciding whether to enter the trade or what to pay someone. Here is the full range BLS publishes.
| Percentile | Annual | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% | $42,640 | Starting out, or an apprentice rate |
| 25th | $49,430 | Still building speed and a customer base |
| Median | $63,190 | The middle of the trade |
| 75th | $83,940 | Experienced, licensed, in demand |
| Top 10% | $108,510 | Specialists, supervisors and owners |
Electrical salary by state
Oregon pays the most at $99,750 a year, and Arkansas the least at $53,470. Cost of living explains part of that gap and licensing rules explain a good deal of the rest.
| # | State | Average annual | Median annual | Hourly | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon | $99,750 | $101,310 | $47.96 | 10,590 |
| 2 | Washington | $94,470 | $95,220 | $45.42 | 19,380 |
| 3 | Hawaii | $92,870 | $96,460 | $44.65 | 3,070 |
| 4 | Illinois | $92,230 | $99,560 | $44.34 | 23,120 |
| 5 | Alaska | $90,040 | $89,440 | $43.29 | 1,870 |
| 6 | District of Columbia | $88,860 | $78,970 | $42.72 | 2,440 |
| 7 | New Jersey | $86,700 | $77,250 | $41.68 | 13,520 |
| 8 | California | $85,860 | $76,160 | $41.28 | 73,310 |
| 9 | New York | $84,860 | $78,750 | $40.80 | 40,130 |
| 10 | Massachusetts | $81,560 | $79,420 | $39.21 | 17,810 |
| 11 | Minnesota | $80,830 | $78,160 | $38.86 | 14,350 |
| 12 | Connecticut | $77,390 | $77,540 | $37.21 | 7,710 |
| 13 | Maine | $77,250 | $75,380 | $37.14 | 3,780 |
| 14 | Pennsylvania | $75,770 | $67,600 | $36.43 | 22,730 |
| 15 | Nevada | $75,710 | $73,570 | $36.40 | 8,350 |
| 16 | Maryland | $75,450 | $73,490 | $36.28 | 13,690 |
| 17 | Wyoming | $74,860 | $76,120 | $35.99 | 2,960 |
| 18 | Rhode Island | $74,150 | $74,090 | $35.65 | 2,420 |
| 19 | Michigan | $73,840 | $76,270 | $35.50 | 23,530 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | $73,810 | $76,540 | $35.49 | 14,310 |
| 21 | Vermont | $73,360 | $63,430 | $35.27 | 1,270 |
| 22 | Missouri | $72,310 | $65,410 | $34.77 | 12,780 |
| 23 | Montana | $71,930 | $76,760 | $34.58 | 2,750 |
| 24 | Indiana | $70,820 | $68,490 | $34.05 | 19,020 |
| 25 | Delaware | $70,750 | $63,700 | $34.02 | 2,260 |
| 26 | North Dakota | $70,460 | $65,710 | $33.87 | 3,570 |
| 27 | Kansas | $69,200 | $65,860 | $33.27 | 6,350 |
| 28 | Ohio | $68,840 | $64,700 | $33.09 | 28,950 |
| 29 | Virginia | $67,850 | $62,900 | $32.62 | 23,630 |
| 30 | West Virginia | $67,840 | $64,810 | $32.61 | 4,290 |
| 31 | Idaho | $66,600 | $63,000 | $32.02 | 5,690 |
| 32 | Colorado | $66,310 | $62,230 | $31.88 | 17,010 |
| 33 | New Hampshire | $65,780 | $62,840 | $31.63 | 3,330 |
| 34 | Utah | $65,290 | $62,000 | $31.39 | 11,450 |
| 35 | Arizona | $64,220 | $61,060 | $30.88 | 21,140 |
| 36 | Nebraska | $63,960 | $60,820 | $30.75 | 6,440 |
| 37 | Tennessee | $63,540 | $61,090 | $30.55 | 17,070 |
| 38 | Oklahoma | $63,410 | $61,010 | $30.49 | 8,500 |
| 39 | Iowa | $63,190 | $60,860 | $30.38 | 10,310 |
| 40 | Louisiana | $62,350 | $61,540 | $29.98 | 10,550 |
| 41 | South Dakota | $61,980 | $61,390 | $29.80 | 2,980 |
| 42 | Kentucky | $61,410 | $59,720 | $29.52 | 11,030 |
| 43 | Georgia | $61,090 | $58,320 | $29.37 | 21,650 |
| 44 | New Mexico | $59,620 | $58,390 | $28.66 | 5,020 |
| 45 | Texas | $59,280 | $58,570 | $28.50 | 76,770 |
| 46 | South Carolina | $59,030 | $58,740 | $28.38 | 8,010 |
| 47 | Mississippi | $58,000 | $60,860 | $27.88 | 6,610 |
| 48 | Florida | $57,660 | $57,250 | $27.72 | 49,700 |
| 49 | Alabama | $57,510 | $55,690 | $27.65 | 10,900 |
| 50 | North Carolina | $56,850 | $56,800 | $27.33 | 21,640 |
| 51 | Arkansas | $53,470 | $49,070 | $25.71 | 7,500 |
Where the money is: highest paying metros
State averages flatten out the difference between a city and the rural county next to it. These are the metro areas paying electricians the most.
| # | Metro area | Average annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $103,690 | $49.85 |
| 2 | Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA | $103,040 | $49.54 |
| 3 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $103,030 | $49.53 |
| 4 | Albany, OR | $100,180 | $48.16 |
| 5 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $99,720 | $47.94 |
| 6 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $99,650 | $47.91 |
| 7 | Salem, OR | $94,980 | $45.66 |
| 8 | Trenton-Princeton, NJ | $94,820 | $45.59 |
| 9 | Urban Honolulu, HI | $94,570 | $45.47 |
| 10 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $94,450 | $45.41 |
What moves the number
- Electricians work through a licensed apprenticeship in almost every state, typically four years and thousands of documented hours before the journeyman exam. It is the most structured ladder in the trades and pay tracks it closely.
- Industrial and utility work brings shift differentials and shutdown overtime; residential service work rarely does. That choice is worth more than a few dollars an hour over a year.
- Industrial controls, low-voltage and solar interconnection pay above general wiring, and a master license plus a contractor license is what lets you bid rather than be hired.
- The bottom ten percent of electricians earn under $42,640 and the top ten percent clear $108,510. That gap is the trade telling you where the money is.
- Working for somebody else and working for yourself are different questions. These figures cover employed electricians on a payroll, so they exclude the self-employed, and in this trade a large share of the best operators are exactly that.
What you can earn running the business instead
The number above is a wage. Running the business is a different calculation: you take the full ticket rather than an hourly rate, and what you keep depends on how many jobs you fit in a week, how quickly you get paid and how much of your day goes on scheduling, estimates and chasing invoices instead of on the work. That is the part software actually changes. Owners who put scheduling, estimating, invoicing and automated follow-up in one place tend to run more jobs with the same crew, which is where the gap between a electrician wage and an owner income opens up.
Electrical salary FAQs
- How much do electricians make a year?
- The median electrician in the United States earns $63,190 a year and the average is $71,490, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 release. Half the trade earns more than the median and half less.
- How much do electricians make an hour?
- The mean hourly wage is $34.37. Annual earnings are usually higher than that rate multiplied by a standard year, because overtime, call-outs and premium work are not in the base rate.
- Which state pays electricians the most?
- Oregon pays the most at an average of $99,750 a year, followed by Washington at $94,470 and Hawaii at $92,870. Cost of living accounts for some of that and licensing rules for much of the rest.
- Which cities pay electricians the most?
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA tops the list at an average of $103,690 a year, with Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA at $103,040. Metro figures move a lot more than state averages, so the city matters more than the state.
- Can electricians earn six figures?
- Yes. The top ten percent of electricians earn $108,510 or more. Getting there usually means a combination of licensing, specialization and either supervising a crew or running the business.
- Do these figures include self-employed electricians?
- No. The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program covers wage and salary workers, so sole proprietors and business owners are excluded. In a trade with as many owner-operators as this one, that matters when you read the number.
- Where does this electrical salary data come from?
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, for "Electricians" (SOC 47-2111). It is a survey of employers rather than of workers, which is why it is more reliable than self-reported salary sites.
All wage figures on this page are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. BLS suppresses figures in areas with too few employers to publish safely; those appear as n/a rather than an estimate.
