Electrician Salary Explained: Entry-Level to Senior Pay
From apprentice wages through journey-level work to a master license and supervision, here is how electrician earnings build and where the gaps sit.
Electricians earned a median annual wage of $63,190 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), with the lowest-paid 10 percent under $42,640 a year and the highest-paid 10 percent above $108,510 a year. The same agency's occupational wage tables report a mean hourly wage of $31.39 and a mean annual wage of $65,280 across about 690,050 electricians.
The spread from $42,640 to $108,510 a year is driven mostly by three things: how far you are through an apprenticeship and licensing, which state you work in, and whether your employer is a government agency, a manufacturer or an electrical contractor. This guide breaks each of those out.
What This Job Pays Right Now
The median annual wage for electricians was $63,190 in May 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). On an hourly basis, the same agency's occupational wage tables report a national mean hourly wage of $31.39, alongside a mean annual wage of $65,280 across about 690,050 electricians — the mean sits above the median because high earners at the top of the scale pull the average up.
The full distribution matters more than the single midpoint. The lowest 10 percent of electricians earned less than $42,640 a year and the highest 10 percent earned more than $108,510 a year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025). O*NET OnLine (2025), using the same federal wage data for SOC 47-2111, fills in the middle: 25th percentile $49,430 a year, median $63,190 a year, 75th percentile $83,940 a year, 90th percentile $108,510 a year.
For the year-over-year direction, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a 2024 median for the same occupation in the prior edition of its Occupational Outlook Handbook (2024); read the two editions side by side rather than relying on a figure quoted second-hand. Because the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics series is refreshed each year, check the current electricians page at bls.gov and your state workforce agency for the latest median before you negotiate — the figures here are the May 2025 release.
Pay is also structured differently depending on who you work for. Apprentices are usually paid a percentage of the journey-level rate that steps up as they complete hours, hourly employees of contractors and manufacturers often earn overtime premiums, and self-employed electricians bill by the job or the hour and carry their own costs.
Pay by Experience Level
No published survey reports electrician pay by exact years served, so the table below uses the published percentile wage distribution as a proxy, plus the separate figure for helpers to electricians — the lower-skill role many people hold before or at the start of a formal apprenticeship.
| Experience band | Low (annual) | Median (annual) | High (annual) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry level: helper or first-year apprentice (0–2 years) | $42,640 | $42,670 | $49,430 |
| Mid-career journey worker (3–9 years) | $49,430 | $63,190 | $83,940 |
| Senior: master electrician, foreman or project manager (10+ years) | $83,940 | $108,510 | $132,580 |
What each number is: $42,640 a year is the 10th percentile and $49,430 a year the 25th percentile for electricians (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025); $42,670 a year, or $20.51 an hour, is the 2025 median for helpers to electricians, a distinct occupation with 66,600 people employed (ONET OnLine, 2025); $63,190 a year is the national median and $83,940 a year the 75th percentile (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025); $108,510 a year is the 90th percentile (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025); $132,580 a year is the 90th percentile for the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area, the top-end figure reached by senior electricians in a high-wage market (ONET OnLine, 2024).
Two structural points explain the climb from the $42,670 a year helper median to the $63,190 a year electrician median. First, most electricians learn the trade in a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship with about 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training a year plus technical instruction, and apprentices are paid less than fully trained electricians, with pay rising as they learn to do more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). Second, completing the apprenticeship makes you a journey worker; meeting further requirements allows advancement to master electrician, supervisor or project manager (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025), which is the group reaching the $108,510-a-year band and above.
Pay by State or Metro Area
The figures below are mean annual and hourly wages from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics state wage tables for electricians, plus one metro average from O*NET OnLine (2024).
| State or metro area | Mean annual | Mean hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $88,630 | $42.61 |
| District of Columbia | $85,910 | $41.30 |
| Washington | $85,190 | $40.96 |
| Illinois | $84,790 | $40.76 |
| Oregon | $83,180 | $39.99 |
| New York | $81,740 | — |
| California | $78,140 | — |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City metro (average) | $76,450 | — |
| Michigan | $62,850 | — |
| Texas | $54,980 | — |
| Florida | $50,710 | — |
| Arkansas | $47,070 | $22.63 |
Hawaii, at $88,630 a year ($42.61 an hour), is the highest-paying state by mean wage — it is also among the most expensive states in the country for housing, so weigh the figure against local rents and purchase prices before treating it as a raise. Arkansas, at $47,070 a year ($22.63 an hour), is the lowest figure in the published state tables; it is also among the states with the highest concentration of electrician jobs, and living costs there run well below the national average, so the difference in what you keep is smaller than the $88,630 against $47,070 headline suggests.
Employment volume and pay do not move together. California has the largest workforce at 73,300 electricians with a mean of $78,140 a year, while Texas employs 64,360 at a mean of $54,980 a year and Florida 42,250 at $50,710 a year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Within a single metro the spread is wide: in New York-Newark-Jersey City the average is $76,450 a year, with 10 percent earning $47,100 a year or less and 10 percent earning $132,580 a year or more, against a US average of $62,350 a year (O*NET OnLine, 2024).
Pay by Employer Type or Industry
These are median annual wages by top industry for electricians, May 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
| Employer type | Median annual | Why it pays that |
|---|---|---|
| Government (excluding state and local education and hospitals) | $79,820 | Public agencies run structured pay scales with step increases and tend to hire licensed journey workers for plant, school and facility maintenance rather than entry-level labor. |
| Manufacturing | $74,550 | Plants pay for industrial controls, motors and high-voltage competence, and for the shift and call-out coverage needed to keep production lines running. |
| Electrical contractors and other wiring installation contractors | $61,570 | This is the largest employer group and spans apprentice to foreman, so its median of $61,570 a year sits close to the overall national median of $63,190 a year. |
| Employment services (staffing agencies) | $57,760 | Placements are short-term and the agency takes a margin, so the rate reaching the worker is lower than a direct hire on the same site. |
The same license and skill set pays a median of $79,820 a year in government and $57,760 a year in employment services (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025). Self-employment is the other route: self-employed electricians often work in residential construction and may be able to set their own schedule (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025), but no separate median is published for them, so earnings there depend on your billing rate and how much of the year you keep booked.
What Actually Moves Your Pay
- Finishing the apprenticeship and getting licensed. Helpers to electricians had a 2025 median of $42,670 a year, or $20.51 an hour (O*NET OnLine, 2025), against $63,190 a year for electricians (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025). Most states require you to pass a test and be licensed, and requirements vary by state; CareerOneStop lists them.
- Which industry you work in. At the median, employment services pays $57,760 a year, electrical contractors $61,570 a year, manufacturing $74,550 a year and government $79,820 a year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025) — the same move counted twice if you also change state.
- Which state you work in. Hawaii's mean of $88,630 a year ($42.61 an hour) against Arkansas's $47,070 a year ($22.63 an hour) is the widest published state gap (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Adjust for housing costs before you move.
- Overtime and call-out hours. Almost all electricians work full time, schedules can include evenings and weekends, and overtime is common during scheduled maintenance and construction pushes (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). Each extra hour is worth at least the national mean hourly wage of $31.39 before any premium your employer or contract adds.
- Specialty certifications. Electricians can add certifications in areas such as solar photovoltaic, electrical generating or lighting systems, with details available through CareerOneStop (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). Specialized work is one route into the top quartile, which starts at $83,940 a year against the $63,190 a year median (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025).
- Advancing to master electrician, foreman or project manager. This is the group reaching the published top end: more than $108,510 a year for the highest-paid 10 percent nationally (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025), and $132,580 a year or more for the top 10 percent in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro (O*NET OnLine, 2024).
Frequently asked questions
What does an electrician earn starting out?
Before and during early apprenticeship, the realistic benchmark is helpers to electricians: a median of $20.51 an hour, or $42,670 a year in 2025 (O*NET OnLine). Among electricians, the lowest-paid 10 percent earned under $42,640 a year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025). Apprentices are paid less than fully trained electricians, and their pay rises as they learn to do more.
How long does it take to reach the national median?
Most electricians train through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship with about 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training a year plus technical instruction (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025), and become journey workers on completion. The national median of $63,190 a year is roughly the journey-level mark; the 75th percentile of $83,940 a year generally takes additional licensing, specialization or a supervisory role.
Which states and industries pay electricians the most?
By state mean wage, Hawaii leads at $88,630 a year ($42.61 an hour), followed by the District of Columbia at $85,910, Washington at $85,190, Illinois at $84,790 and Oregon at $83,180 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). By industry, government pays a median of $79,820 a year and manufacturing $74,550 a year, against $61,570 a year for electrical contractors (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025).
Is the job market for electricians growing?
Employment of electricians is projected to grow 9 percent from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the average for all occupations, with about 72,700 openings projected each year on average (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). The same source counted 821,000 electrician jobs in 2025.
Where should I check current rates for my own area?
Start with the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics page for electricians, the source of the $63,190 a year national median and state means such as Texas at $54,980 and New York at $81,740, then check your state workforce agency and CareerOneStop for local licensing and wage detail.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Electricians : Occupational Outlook Handbook (2025)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Electricians : Occupational Outlook Handbook (2024)
Written by
Felix writes a column on the inner life of work — burnout, ambition, the quiet math people do about whether a job is worth it. He prefers plain language to management jargon and says so often.
