Electricians in the United States earn a median wage of $63,190 per year, or $30.38 per hour, according to the latest national wage data. The middle 50% earn between approximately $49,430 and $83,940 per year, while the highest-paid 10% earn at least $108,510.
That median is a national benchmark, not a guaranteed starting salary. Apprentice status, location, licensing, overtime, benefits, specialization, and employment type can all change what an electrician actually earns.
| Pay period | Gross pay equivalent |
| Year | $63,190 |
| Month | About $5,266 |
| Week | About $1,215 |
| Eight-hour day | About $243 |
| Hour | $30.38 |
The monthly, weekly, and daily amounts are mathematical conversions of the national median. They assume steady full-time work and do not represent take-home pay.
How Electrician Salary Data Were Calculated
This guide uses May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics as its primary salary source. O*NET publishes those BLS estimates for electricians nationally and by state and metropolitan area.
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook currently shows a slightly older median of $62,350 from May 2024. It also contains the current 2024–2034 employment projection. The two official figures differ because they come from different reference years, not because one source is necessarily wrong.
Salary websites may also report different figures because they measure different populations. A job board may use advertised salaries, user-submitted pay, or active job listings. Government occupational data estimate wages across a much broader group of employers.
The terms matter:
- Median wage: Half of workers earn more and half earn less.
- Mean or average wage: Total wages divided by the number of workers.
- Base hourly wage: Regular gross pay before deductions.
- Annual equivalent: Hourly pay converted using an assumed work schedule.
- Total compensation: Wages plus eligible employer benefits.
- Contractor revenue: Money paid to a business before expenses.
BLS wage estimates cover wage-and-salary employees but exclude self-employed workers. The data measure straight-time gross pay and exclude overtime premiums, shift differentials, employer benefit costs, and several types of bonuses and allowances. Annual equivalents generally use a 2,080-hour work year.
That explains why an electrician’s W-2 earnings may exceed the published median after overtime—or fall below the annual conversion when work is inconsistent.
How Much Do Electricians Make per Year, Month, Day, and Hour?
At the national median, electrician pay converts to approximately:
- $63,190 per year
- $5,266 per month
- $1,215 per week
- $243 per eight-hour day
- $30.38 per hour
The annual and hourly amounts are official median wage figures. The other amounts are gross conversions before taxes, payroll deductions, benefit contributions, and variations in hours worked.
An employee’s $30.38 hourly wage should not be compared directly with the hourly labor rate an electrical contractor charges a customer. The contractor’s rate must also cover business expenses, nonbillable time, and financial risk.
What Is the Typical Electrician Salary Range?
The national median provides only one point in a wide wage distribution.
| National percentile | Annual wage | Hourly wage |
| 10th percentile | $42,640 | $20.50 |
| 25th percentile | $49,430 | $23.76 |
| 50th percentile | $63,190 | $30.38 |
| 75th percentile | $83,940 | $40.36 |
| 90th percentile | $108,510 | $52.17 |
These figures describe the national occupation as a whole. They do not assign a specific wage to apprentices, journey-level electricians, master electricians, union members, or contractors.
The 10th percentile should not automatically be labeled “apprentice pay.” It can also include employees in lower-paying locations, workers with narrower responsibilities, or jobs in lower-paying industries.
Likewise, the 90th percentile is not automatically a master-electrician salary. Location, overtime, supervisory responsibility, specialized work, and employer type can all contribute to higher earnings.
Electrician Salary by Experience Level
There is no single national wage schedule for apprentices, journey-level electricians, or master electricians. Career-stage titles and licensing requirements vary among states, localities, employers, and apprenticeship systems.
| Career stage | How pay generally works | What to verify |
| Apprentice | Paid work with progressive wage steps | Starting percentage, increases and benefits |
| Journey-level electrician | Pay reflects more independent responsibility | License, classification and local market |
| Master electrician | Advanced licensing title in some jurisdictions | Local authority and actual job duties |
| Foreman or supervisor | May include crew and project responsibility | Base wage, overtime and benefits |
| Contractor or owner | Income depends on business profit | Revenue, expenses, taxes and cash flow |
How Much Do Apprentice Electricians Make?
Registered apprenticeships are paid jobs. Apprentices earn progressive wage increases as their skills and productivity develop, but Apprenticeship.gov does not publish one national electrician-apprentice rate.
A practical way to estimate apprentice pay is:
Published journey-level hourly rate × apprentice wage percentage = apprentice hourly rate
Suppose a local program publishes a $40 journey-level rate. An apprentice step paying 50% would equal $20 per hour, while a step paying 60% would equal $24 per hour.
Those figures are examples of the calculation, not national apprentice salary estimates.
Before comparing apprenticeship offers, request the complete written wage schedule and check:
- The starting percentage.
- The number of wage steps.
- The requirements for each increase.
- The published journey-level rate.
- When health and retirement benefits begin.
- Whether classroom time is paid.
- How overtime and project gaps are handled.
A lower first-year rate may still lead to a stronger long-term outcome when the program provides predictable increases, benefits, and a recognized credential.
Journeyman Electrician Salary
“Journeyman” or “journey-level electrician” generally describes someone who has completed the required training and can perform a broader range of work with less supervision. The title is not applied uniformly across the country.
A national journeyman salary estimate may therefore combine workers with different licenses, duties, industries, and employment arrangements.
A more reliable local comparison is to:
- Confirm the license or classification required for the job.
- Check official state or metropolitan wage data.
- Review current postings requiring the same classification.
- Separate base pay from expected overtime.
- Compare benefits and employee costs.
- Determine whether the rate applies to private, union, or prevailing-wage work.
Master Electrician Salary
A master electrician is an advanced licensing classification in some jurisdictions, not a separate nationally standardized BLS occupation.
Most states require electricians to be licensed, but the titles, experience requirements, examinations, and permitted responsibilities vary.
A master license may provide access to supervisory responsibilities, permitting authority, or business ownership. It does not create one guaranteed national salary.
Some master electricians remain employees. Others operate contracting businesses. Those paths must be compared separately because employee wages and business profit measure different things.
What Type of Electrician Can Earn the Most?
There is no official national salary ranking that identifies one electrician specialty as the highest paid.
Most employee electricians are grouped under the same broad occupational classification, while employers use titles such as industrial electrician, controls electrician, maintenance electrician, foreman, or master electrician differently.
Higher earnings are more likely when a job combines several pay drivers:
- A higher-paying geographic market.
- Specialized troubleshooting or technical responsibility.
- Supervisory or project responsibility.
- Overtime, shift work, travel, or emergency callouts.
- A license required for higher-responsibility work.
- A strong union, benefit, or prevailing-wage package.
Industrial, controls, instrumentation, estimating, foreman, and project-management roles may pay more in particular markets. They should not be presented as a definitive national ranking unless the comparison uses the same location, data year, job definition, and compensation methodology.
Electrical engineers and electrical power-line installers should not be included as standard electrician specialties. BLS tracks both as separate occupations with different duties and training paths.
When comparing specialized roles, examine:
- The occupational classification.
- The required license and experience.
- Base wage before overtime.
- Expected schedule and travel.
- Benefits and other compensation.
Electrician Salary by State
Location can change electrician pay substantially. The following selected states illustrate the range in the 2025 wage data; the table is not a ranking of the best state for every worker.
| State | Median annual wage | Median hourly wage |
| Washington | $95,220 | $45.78 |
| Massachusetts | $79,420 | $38.18 |
| New York | $78,750 | $37.86 |
| California | $76,160 | $36.62 |
| Texas | $58,570 | $28.16 |
| Florida | $57,250 | $27.52 |
The figures come from the same O*NET/BLS 2025 dataset for each state.
A higher state wage does not automatically create a better financial outcome. Housing, commuting, taxes, licensing, insurance, and likely working hours can offset part of the difference.
Statewide medians can also hide large local variations. Washington’s statewide median is $95,220, while the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan median is $101,780. California’s $76,160 statewide median compares with $92,830 in the San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont metropolitan area.
Before accepting a job or relocating:
- Check official state and metropolitan wage data.
- Compare current jobs requiring the same license and experience.
- Confirm whether advertised pay is base wage or total compensation.
- Ask how much overtime is typically worked.
- Compare benefits and employee contributions.
- Estimate housing, commuting, tools, and licensing costs.
- Determine whether the job is permanent or project-based.
Related Contents:
Union and Prevailing-Wage Electrician Pay
Union and prevailing-wage jobs can offer strong compensation in some areas, but there is no single national union-electrician salary.
Union compensation may depend on:
- The local collective bargaining agreement.
- Apprentice or journey-level classification.
- Geographic jurisdiction.
- Construction type.
- Base hourly wage.
- Overtime rules.
- Pension and health contributions.
- Training and other fringe contributions.
A quoted “total package” can include employer benefit contributions. It should not automatically be interpreted as the employee’s cash hourly wage.
For construction covered by the federal Davis-Bacon framework, the prevailing wage is the combination of the applicable basic hourly rate and listed fringe benefits for a worker classification and location. Employers may meet the obligation through cash wages, qualifying benefits, or a combination of both.
That does not create one national prevailing wage for electricians. The applicable amount depends on the specific project, location, construction type, classification, and wage determination.
When comparing offers, examine the whole package:
- Cash base wage.
- Likely hours.
- Overtime rate.
- Health coverage.
- Retirement contributions.
- Paid leave.
- Training costs.
- Tool requirements.
- Travel or per diem.
- Project duration.
- Risk of gaps between assignments.
The largest hourly figure is not always the strongest long-term offer.
Employee Salary vs. Self-Employed Electrician Income
A self-employed electrician may charge customers considerably more per hour than an employee receives as wages. That does not mean the owner keeps the difference.
| Employee electrician | Self-employed electrician or contractor |
| Receives wages from an employer | Collects business revenue |
| Employer may provide benefits | Business funds its own benefits |
| Employer may provide major tools or vehicles | Owner pays for tools, vehicles and equipment |
| Payroll withholding is generally handled by the employer | Owner may need to make estimated tax payments |
| Gross wage is personal compensation | Revenue must be reduced by expenses |
| Income may be more predictable | Cash flow depends on bookings and collections |
The IRS calculates self-employed net profit by subtracting business expenses from business income. Self-employed people may also need to make estimated tax payments because an employer is not withholding those taxes from their pay.
Why a Contractor’s Billing Rate Is Not a Salary
A customer-facing labor rate may need to cover:
- Estimating and quoting time.
- Travel between jobs.
- Customer communication and scheduling.
- Vehicles and fuel.
- Tools and equipment.
- Insurance.
- Licensing.
- Bookkeeping.
- Advertising.
- Payment-processing costs.
- Callbacks or warranty work.
- Employee or subcontractor labor.
- Periods without billable work.
A simplified business-income calculation is:
Customer revenue − materials − labor − operating expenses = business profit before the owner’s personal taxes
Comparing contractor revenue directly with employee salary exaggerates the financial difference.
Business ownership may provide control over pricing, scheduling, customers, and growth. It also introduces greater cash-flow, compliance, collection, and operating risk.
For someone prioritizing predictable income, an employee job with solid benefits may be financially stronger than a business generating higher revenue but inconsistent profit.
What the Headline Salary Does Not Show
The national median is a straight-time wage benchmark. It does not fully describe annual cash flow, benefits, or take-home pay.
Overtime and Emergency Work
Most electricians work full time, and schedules may include evenings, weekends, and overtime.
Overtime can increase annual earnings, but “overtime available” does not tell an applicant:
- How many hours are typical.
- Whether overtime is voluntary.
- Whether it is seasonal.
- Whether it depends on a temporary project.
- Whether travel or on-call time is paid.
- How often emergency work occurs.
Compare base wages before adding overtime that may not be consistent.
Benefits and Total Compensation
BLS occupational wage data exclude employer costs for supplementary benefits. Two jobs with the same hourly wage can therefore have different financial value.
Relevant benefits may include:
- Employer health-insurance contributions.
- Retirement or pension contributions.
- Paid vacation and holidays.
- Paid training.
- Tool or vehicle support.
- Disability or life insurance.
Check employee contributions as well. A benefit offered at a high employee cost may be less valuable than its headline description suggests.
Taxes and Take-Home Pay
There is no universal after-tax electrician salary.
Take-home pay depends on federal, state, and local taxes; filing circumstances; benefit deductions; retirement contributions; and whether the worker is an employee or self-employed.
A gross salary should therefore be used as a comparison benchmark, not as a monthly spending amount.
Irregular Hours and Project Gaps
Annual conversions assume steady paid work. A high hourly wage with inconsistent hours may produce less annual income than a lower wage attached to predictable full-time work.
Construction cycles, project completion, temporary contracts, weather, and gaps between assignments may all affect annual earnings.
What Can Increase an Electrician’s Pay?
No license or strategy guarantees a raise, but several factors can improve access to better-paying work.
Complete the Full Apprenticeship Path
Early-career workers should compare the entire wage schedule rather than judging the career by the first-year rate.
Review the starting wage, frequency of increases, required hours, classroom obligations, completion credential, benefits, and published journey-level rate.
Obtain the License the Target Job Requires
Most states require electrician licensing, but the rules and titles differ. Confirm that a credential is recognized for the location and work you intend to pursue.
A license has limited financial value when local employers do not require it or when it does not transfer to another jurisdiction.
Build Skills Connected to Greater Responsibility
Potential pay-supporting skills include:
- Industrial troubleshooting.
- Controls and instrumentation.
- Complex maintenance.
- Estimating.
- Crew supervision.
- Code interpretation.
- Testing and fault diagnosis.
- Project coordination.
The most valuable option is the skill employers in the target market are actively seeking—not necessarily the specialty with the most impressive title.
Compare Total Compensation
An offer paying $2 more per hour may not be financially better when it provides weaker health coverage, no retirement contribution, inconsistent hours, or a much longer commute.
Compare the annual financial value and working conditions rather than one wage line.
Treat Overtime as Variable Income
Regular overtime can raise earnings, but a household budget should not rely on it unless the schedule has proved stable.
A conservative approach is to plan essential expenses around base income and treat overtime as variable income.
Understand the Business Before Becoming a Contractor
Technical skill alone does not guarantee a profitable electrical business. Contracting also requires pricing, customer acquisition, cash-flow management, bookkeeping, compliance, and expense control.
The relevant comparison is employee compensation versus expected business profit—not employee wages versus customer billing rates.
Who Electrician Work May Suit
Electrician work may suit someone who:
- Prefers practical, paid learning.
- Enjoys technical troubleshooting.
- Can follow detailed safety procedures.
- Values a skill- and license-based career path.
- Accepts site-based and sometimes physical work.
- Is willing to keep learning codes and systems.
It may be a poor fit for someone who wants entirely remote work, expects top-percentile pay immediately, or needs identical hours and working conditions in every role.
Electrician Job Outlook
Electrician employment is projected to grow 9% from 2024 to 2034, faster than the average for all occupations. BLS projects approximately 81,000 openings per year, on average, over the decade. Many openings are expected to result from both employment growth and the need to replace workers who leave the occupation.
This is a national projection, not a guarantee of an apprenticeship, job, or specific wage. Local construction activity, industrial demand, licensing requirements, and economic conditions can produce different results.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Electricians Make $100,000 a Year?
Yes. The highest-paid 10% of U.S. electricians earn at least $108,510 per year. That does not make $100,000 the typical outcome. Pay at that level may reflect location, overtime, specialized work, supervisory responsibility, or another favorable compensation factor.
A contractor can also generate more than $100,000 in business revenue without personally earning $100,000 in profit.
Do Electricians Make More Than Plumbers?
The national medians are currently very close. In the same 2025 wage dataset, electricians have a median of $63,190, while plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters have a median of $63,800.
The $610 annual difference is much smaller than the variations caused by location, overtime, experience, benefits, and employer.
Are Electrician Apprentices Paid?
Registered apprenticeships are paid jobs with progressive wage increases. Starting rates and wage steps depend on the employer, program, location, apprenticeship stage, and any applicable labor agreement.
Applicants should request the complete wage schedule rather than comparing only the advertised first-year rate.
How Much Do UK Electricians Earn?
The UK National Careers Service lists an indicative annual range of £26,000 for starters to £45,000 for experienced electricians. UK and U.S. figures should not be compared directly because the currencies, training systems, taxes, benefits, and labor markets differ.
What Electrician Pay Means for Your Career Decision
The national median is a useful starting benchmark, but the most relevant figure is the one that matches the worker’s location, career stage, license, schedule, and employment type.
An apprentice should focus on the complete wage progression and journey-level outcome. An experienced electrician should compare base pay, likely overtime, benefits, travel, and work stability. Someone considering self-employment should compare expected business profit with employee compensation rather than comparing customer billing rates with hourly wages.
Before acting, verify:
- The local wage for the state or metropolitan area.
- The required license or apprenticeship stage.
- Base pay and likely annual hours.
- Benefits and work-related costs.
- Whether the quoted amount represents wages, total compensation, business revenue, or profit.
The highest headline number is not always the best financial opportunity. A lower wage with stable hours, strong benefits, and manageable living costs can be more valuable than a higher rate attached to unpredictable work or substantially higher expenses.
