Where you work matters more than almost anything else. An electrician at a power utility earned a median of $106,640, while one at a typical building contractor earned $61,640. These figures are straight-time wages; BLS says overtime is common in the trade and it is not included.

How much do electricians make?

BLS counted 757,220 electrician jobs in May 2025. Their pay spread:

Measure (May 2025) Annual Hourly
Lowest 10% earned less than $42,640
25th percentile $49,430
Median $63,190 $30.38
Average (mean) $71,490 $34.37
75th percentile $83,940
Top 10% earned more than $108,510

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, occupation 47-2111, from the BLS national data file downloaded October 27, 2026.

The average sits about $8,300 above the median, a sign that a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. The state and industry tables below show where they are.

Apprentice, helper and senior electrician pay

BLS does not publish pay by license level, so there is no official journeyman or master electrician figure. The closest measures are the jobs on either side of an electrician:

Job (BLS title) Jobs Median, May 2025 Average
Powerhouse, substation and relay electrical repairers 20,720 $103,020 $100,760
Electrical power-line installers and repairers (linemen) 131,070 $95,320 $91,970
First-line supervisors of construction trades 812,210 $79,920 $86,450
Electricians 757,220 $63,190 $71,490
Helpers, electricians 63,630 $42,670 $44,080

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, national estimates. The supervisors line covers every construction trade, not only electricians.

Most electricians learn through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship, with about 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training each year, according to BLS. Helpers, at a median $42,670, give a rough idea of pay at the start. Moving into substation work or line work pays roughly $30,000 to $40,000 more at the median. For line work, see our lineman salary guide.

Electrician salary by state

BLS WAGE DATA · MAY 2025

Electrician salary by state

Median annual wage and number of jobs in each state for electricians, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national median is $63,190.

Color the map by
Alabama: $55,690 medianALAlaska: $89,440 medianAKArizona: $61,060 medianAZArkansas: $49,070 medianARCalifornia: $76,160 medianCAColorado: $62,230 medianCOConnecticut: $77,540 medianDelaware: $63,700 medianFlorida: $57,250 medianFLGeorgia: $58,320 medianGAHawaii: $96,460 medianHIIdaho: $63,000 medianIDIllinois: $99,560 medianILIndiana: $68,490 medianINIowa: $60,860 medianIAKansas: $65,860 medianKSKentucky: $59,720 medianKYLouisiana: $61,540 medianLAMaine: $75,380 medianMEMaryland: $73,490 medianMassachusetts: $79,420 medianMichigan: $76,270 medianMIMinnesota: $78,160 medianMNMississippi: $60,860 medianMSMissouri: $65,410 medianMOMontana: $76,760 medianMTNebraska: $60,820 medianNENevada: $73,570 medianNVNew Hampshire: $62,840 medianNHNew Jersey: $77,250 medianNew Mexico: $58,390 medianNMNew York: $78,750 medianNYNorth Carolina: $56,800 medianNCNorth Dakota: $65,710 medianNDOhio: $64,700 medianOHOklahoma: $61,010 medianOKOregon: $101,310 medianORPennsylvania: $67,600 medianPARhode Island: $74,090 medianSouth Carolina: $58,740 medianSCSouth Dakota: $61,390 medianSDTennessee: $61,090 medianTNTexas: $58,570 medianTXUtah: $62,000 medianUTVermont: $63,430 medianVTVirginia: $62,900 medianVAWashington: $95,220 medianWAWashington, D.C.: $78,970 medianWest Virginia: $64,810 medianWVWisconsin: $76,540 medianWIWyoming: $76,120 medianWY
Small states
Under $60K$60K to $65K$65K to $70K$70K to $80K$80K+No BLS estimate
ILLINOIS · MAY 2025$99,560median annual wage, #2 of 51 with a figure
THE DETAIL$92,230 average · 23,120 jobsBureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS

Click or tap a state, or use Tab and Enter. These are wages paid in May 2025 to electricians, BLS occupation 47-2111. BLS counts straight-time pay, so overtime is not included.

All 51 state figures
Electricians pay by state, May 2025
StateMedianAverageJobs
$101,310$99,75010,590
$99,560$92,23023,120
$96,460$92,8703,070
$95,220$94,47019,380
$89,440$90,0401,870
$79,420$81,56017,810
$78,970$88,8602,440
$78,750$84,86040,130
$78,160$80,83014,350
$77,540$77,3907,710
$77,250$86,70013,520
$76,760$71,9302,750
$76,540$73,81014,310
$76,270$73,84023,530
$76,160$85,86073,310
$76,120$74,8602,960
$75,380$77,2503,780
$74,090$74,1502,420
$73,570$75,7108,350
$73,490$75,45013,690
$68,490$70,82019,020
$67,600$75,77022,730
$65,860$69,2006,350
$65,710$70,4603,570
$65,410$72,31012,780
$64,810$67,8404,290
$64,700$68,84028,950
$63,700$70,7502,260
$63,430$73,3601,270
$63,000$66,6005,690
$62,900$67,85023,630
$62,840$65,7803,330
$62,230$66,31017,010
$62,000$65,29011,450
$61,540$62,35010,550
$61,390$61,9802,980
$61,090$63,54017,070
$61,060$64,22021,140
$61,010$63,4108,500
$60,860$63,19010,310
$60,860$58,0006,610
$60,820$63,9606,440
$59,720$61,41011,030
$58,740$59,0308,010
$58,570$59,28076,770
$58,390$59,6205,020
$58,320$61,09021,650
$57,250$57,66049,700
$56,800$56,85021,640
$55,690$57,51010,900
$49,070$53,4707,500

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, occupation 47-2111, from the BLS state data file downloaded October 27, 2026. Boundaries: US Census via us-atlas.

The 10 states with the highest median pay in May 2025:

State Median wage, May 2025 Electrician jobs
Oregon $101,310 10,590
Illinois $99,560 23,120
Hawaii $96,460 3,070
Washington $95,220 19,380
Alaska $89,440 1,870
Massachusetts $79,420 17,810
New York $78,750 40,130
Minnesota $78,160 14,350
Connecticut $77,540 7,710
New Jersey $77,250 13,520

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025. The District of Columbia, at $78,970, would rank between Massachusetts and New York.

The lowest state medians were Arkansas ($49,070), Alabama ($55,690), North Carolina ($56,800), Florida ($57,250) and Georgia ($58,320). An Oregon electrician at the median earned about 2.1 times as much as one in Arkansas.

The two biggest workforces show the split. Texas has the most electricians, 76,770, at a median of $58,570, below the national figure. California has 73,310 at a median of $76,160. Florida (49,700 jobs, $57,250) and New York (40,130, $78,750) come next.

Highest-paying metro areas for electricians

Metro area Median wage, May 2025 Electrician jobs
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA $105,090 7,340
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN $102,350 17,720
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA $101,780 9,750
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA $92,830 9,060
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA $91,030 5,480
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI $81,990 11,210
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI $81,890 8,810
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH $79,910 13,410
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ $79,020 36,550
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI $77,800 4,490

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, metropolitan areas with at least 3,000 electrician jobs.

The big Sun Belt metros cluster just below the national median: $59,180 in Houston, $59,010 in Dallas, $58,650 in Atlanta and $61,210 in Phoenix. Orlando, at $50,820, is the lowest-paid large metro.

Electrician salary by industry

Industry Jobs Median wage, May 2025
Building equipment contractors 560,290 $61,640
Employment services (staffing agencies) 20,510 $57,760
Local government 15,330 $82,120
Nonresidential building construction 14,670 $64,010
Utility system construction 13,080 $73,310
Electric power generation, transmission and distribution 7,950 $106,640
Motor vehicle manufacturing 5,470 $92,250
Ship and boat building 5,340 $62,440

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, national industry estimates.

About three in four electricians work for building equipment contractors, the firms that wire homes, offices and factories. The best-paid large employers are power utilities ($106,640), carmakers ($92,250) and local governments ($82,120). A small group at natural gas utilities earned a median of $131,780.

Job outlook for electricians

BLS projects employment of electricians to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, from 821,000 to 896,900 jobs, much faster than the average for all occupations. It expects about 72,700 openings a year. BLS points to two drivers: linking new power sources such as solar and wind to the grid, and the build-out of data centers for AI.

How to become an electrician

A high school diploma is the usual starting point. Most electricians then learn through an apprenticeship, though some start at a technical school, which can count toward the apprenticeship. Most states require electricians to be licensed, according to BLS.

How I checked these numbers

Every pay and job figure comes from the BLS May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data files, which I downloaded on October 27, 2026, for occupation 47-2111. The outlook and training details come from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook. BLS wages exclude overtime and benefits.

Related reading

Sources & methodology

Observations retain their source, period and definition. Uncertainty is preserved; missing values are not zero.

  1. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: national, state and metropolitan area data files (BLS) ↗

    BLS

    Accessed 2026-10-25.

  2. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Electricians (BLS) ↗

    BLS

    Accessed 2026-10-27.