Electrician Salary: BLS Median Pay by State
Half of electricians earned more than $63,190 a year and half earned less, according to the May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. State medians in this guide run from $49,070 to $101,310.
$63,190
Median annual wage
Electricians, May 2025 OEWS
$30.38
Median hourly wage
Official OEWS hourly median
9.5%
Projected growth, 2024–2034
all occupations: 3.1%
757,220
OEWS employment, May 2025
wage and salary workers
Wage figures are medians for Electricians (SOC 47-2111). May 2025 OEWS estimates, released May 15, 2026; reviewed July 2026. The OEWS mean is $71,490 per year ($34.37 per hour), which is a different statistic from the median.
Electricians install, maintain, and repair electrical power, lighting, communications, and control systems in homes, businesses, and industrial plants. The May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics put the median annual wage for electricians at $63,190, or $30.38 an hour. The median is the midpoint of the wage distribution, so half of the 757,220 electricians covered by that survey earned more and half earned less. The arithmetic mean was higher at $71,490 a year, which is normal in an occupation where a long upper tail pulls the average above the midpoint. Pay differs substantially between states: the published state medians in this guide range from $49,070 in Arkansas to $101,310 in Oregon. On the employment side, BLS projects electrician employment to rise from 818,700 in 2024 to 896,100 in 2034, a net increase of 77,400 positions, with an average of 81,000 openings a year once retirements and transfers to other occupations are counted. This guide sets out those published figures, explains what each one measures, and is explicit about where BLS does not publish data at all.
Electrician wage benchmark lookup
Look up the official BLS median wage for Electricians nationally or in a listed state. This is a published benchmark, not a personalized salary estimate, and it applies no adjustment for experience, employer, or credentials.
Only states with a published OEWS median for this occupation are listed.
Median annual wage, United States (national)
$63,190/year
Median hourly wage: $30.38/hr
Source: May 2025 OEWS estimates, released May 15, 2026; reviewed July 2026. Half of electricians in this area earned more than this amount and half earned less. OEWS covers wage and salary workers. It excludes self-employed people and owners or partners of unincorporated firms, so it does not measure owner earnings, draws, or business profit.
Electrician median wages by state
Across the 32 states listed here, the May 2025 OEWS median for Electricians runs from $49,070 in Arkansas to $101,310 in Oregon. Both the annual and hourly columns are published medians; neither is derived from the other.
States with the highest median pay
| State | Median annual | Median hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon | $101,310 | $48.71/hr |
| Illinois | $99,560 | $47.87/hr |
| Hawaii | $96,460 | $46.38/hr |
| Washington | $95,220 | $45.78/hr |
| Alaska | $89,440 | $43.00/hr |
| Massachusetts | $79,420 | $38.18/hr |
| New York | $78,750 | $37.86/hr |
| Minnesota | $78,160 | $37.58/hr |
| Connecticut | $77,540 | $37.28/hr |
| New Jersey | $77,250 | $37.14/hr |
| Wisconsin | $76,540 | $36.80/hr |
States with the lowest median pay
| State | Median annual | Median hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | $61,090 | $29.37/hr |
| Arizona | $61,060 | $29.36/hr |
| Mississippi | $60,860 | $29.26/hr |
| Kentucky | $59,720 | $28.71/hr |
| South Carolina | $58,740 | $28.24/hr |
| Texas | $58,570 | $28.16/hr |
| Georgia | $58,320 | $28.04/hr |
| Florida | $57,250 | $27.52/hr |
| North Carolina | $56,800 | $27.31/hr |
| Alabama | $55,690 | $26.78/hr |
| Arkansas | $49,070 | $23.59/hr |
Career path and progression
What the work involves at each stage. BLS publishes wages for the occupation as a whole, not by years of experience or license tier, so no pay figures are shown here.
Apprentice
Learns the trade on the job while completing classroom instruction, working under the direction of a licensed electrician. Program length and the hours required are set by the state or the sponsoring program.
Licensed electrician
Works independently on installations, service, and repairs once the state or local licensing authority has issued a license. Scope of work depends on the license class held.
Lead or foreman
Runs a crew, sequences work with other trades, handles inspections and code questions, and mentors apprentices on the job.
Master electrician or contractor
Holds the license class that a jurisdiction requires to design systems, pull permits, and take responsibility for a contracting business. Requirements differ by state and locality.
Specialties and work settings
Electricians is a single BLS occupation, so the published wage data does not break out these specialties. They are described here for career planning only.
Residential
New construction wiring, service upgrades, panel replacements, and repairs in single-family and multi-family housing.
Commercial
Offices, retail, restaurants, and institutional buildings. Larger circuits and distribution equipment than residential work, and more coordination with other trades.
Industrial
Manufacturing plants and process facilities. Motor controls, programmable logic controllers, drives, and medium-voltage distribution equipment.
Low voltage and systems
Structured cabling, fire alarm, access control, and audiovisual systems. Some jurisdictions license this work separately from general electrical work.
Solar and storage
Photovoltaic arrays, inverters, and battery systems. BLS tracks dedicated Solar Photovoltaic Installers separately under SOC 47-2231.
Utility line work
Transmission and distribution line construction and maintenance. BLS reports this as a separate occupation, Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers, SOC 49-9051.
Licenses and credentials in this trade
Requirements are set by states and localities and differ between them. BLS does not publish a wage premium for any license or credential, so none is claimed here.
| Credential | Full name | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Journeyman license | State or local journeyman electrician license | Authorizes independent electrical work within the scope the issuing jurisdiction defines. Experience hours, classroom hours, and exam content are set locally, so the path differs from state to state. |
| Master license | State or local master electrician license | The license class jurisdictions typically tie to permit authority and responsibility for a contracting business. Some states issue it, others delegate licensing to counties or cities. |
| Low voltage license | Limited energy or low voltage systems license | A separate credential in some jurisdictions for fire alarm, communications, and security systems work. |
| OSHA 30 | OSHA 30-Hour Construction Outreach Training | Voluntary safety outreach training on construction hazards. It is a training course rather than a credential OSHA issues, and many general contractors ask for it before site access. |
| NABCEP | NABCEP PV Installation Professional | A voluntary industry credential for photovoltaic system installation, awarded by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners. |
Electrician pay compared with related occupations
Every row is a single BLS detailed occupation with its own SOC code, May 2025 OEWS medians, and 2024–2034 projected growth. Rows are not adjusted for hours, region, or self-employment.
| Occupation | Median annual | Median hourly | Growth 2024–2034 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ElectricianThis guideElectricians | $63,190 | $30.38 | 9.5% |
| Plumber and pipefitterPlumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters | $63,800 | $30.67 | 4.5% |
| HVACR technicianHeating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers | $61,010 | $29.33 | 8.1% |
| Sheet metal workerSheet Metal Workers | $61,800 | $29.71 | 2.4% |
| Power-line installerElectrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers | $95,320 | $45.83 | 6.6% |
| Elevator installerElevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers | $109,910 | $52.84 | 5% |
| WelderWelders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers | $53,750 | $25.84 | 2.2% |
| Solar PV installerSolar Photovoltaic Installers | $53,140 | $25.55 | 42.1% |
Employment projections, 2024–2034
Projection figures come from the BLS National Employment Matrix for Electricians. They use a broader employment concept than the OEWS wage-and-salary count above, so the two employment figures are not interchangeable.
818,700
Employment, 2024
National Employment Matrix base year
896,100
Projected employment, 2034
National Employment Matrix projection
+77,400
Net employment change, 2024–2034
BLS published net change
9.5%
Projected growth, 2024–2034
percent change in employment
81,000
Average annual openings, 2024–2034
includes growth plus separations
3.1%
All occupations, 2024–2034
benchmark growth rate
BLS projects 9.5% employment growth for this occupation from 2024 to 2034, above the 3.1% BLS projects for all occupations.
The projection is one of the stronger ones among the construction trades. BLS expects employment of electricians to grow from 818,700 in 2024 to 896,100 in 2034, a net gain of 77,400 positions, and expects an average of 81,000 openings a year over the decade once workers who retire or move to other occupations are counted. Openings therefore outnumber net new positions by a wide margin, which is typical of a licensed trade with an established workforce. BLS attributes construction-trade demand to construction activity and to the maintenance and upgrading of existing systems. It does not publish a breakdown of how much of the projected growth is attributable to any single driver, so this guide does not assign shares to electric vehicle charging, data centers, or grid work.
Methodology and sources
- Occupation:
- Electricians (SOC 47-2111)
- Wage source:
- May 2025 OEWS estimates, released May 15, 2026; reviewed July 2026.
- Projection source:
- BLS Employment Projections and National Employment Matrix, 2024–2034, released August 28, 2025.
- Median vs mean:
- The median is the midpoint of the wage distribution. The mean is the arithmetic average and is usually higher. Headline figures on this page are medians.
- Scope:
- OEWS covers wage and salary workers. It excludes self-employed people and owners or partners of unincorporated firms, so it does not measure owner earnings, draws, or business profit.
- Note:
- All wage figures are the 47-2111 rows of the May 2025 OEWS national and state cross-industry files. All projection figures are the 47-2111 row of the BLS 2024-2034 occupational projections table.
- Note:
- BLS reports Solar Photovoltaic Installers (47-2231) and Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers (49-9051) as separate occupations, so their wages are not included in the electrician figures above.
- Coverage caveat:
- State tables list only the states with a published OEWS median for this occupation. BLS suppresses estimates that do not meet its disclosure or reliability standards, and published employment levels are rounded, so a published net change can differ slightly from the difference between the rounded 2024 and 2034 levels.
- Last reviewed:
- July 2026
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about electricians pay, answered from the published data.
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median annual wage for electricians was $63,190, or $30.38 an hour. Half of electricians earned more than that and half earned less. The separate arithmetic mean was $71,490 a year.
The published median hourly wage was $30.38. BLS also publishes the mean hourly wage, which was $34.37. These are two different statistics and the median is the better answer to what a typical electrician earns.
Among the states in this guide, the highest May 2025 OEWS annual medians were Oregon at $101,310, Illinois at $99,560, Hawaii at $96,460, Washington at $95,220, and Alaska at $89,440. These are state medians for the occupation, not offers for any individual role.
Not at the median. The May 2025 OEWS annual median was $63,190 for electricians and $63,800 for the combined Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters occupation, so the plumbing occupation was slightly higher nationally. The gap is small relative to the variation between states.
BLS projects employment to rise 9.5% between 2024 and 2034, from 818,700 to 896,100. That is above the 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same period. The projection also implies an average of 81,000 openings a year.
Licensing is handled by states and in some cases by counties or cities, and the required experience hours, classroom hours, and exams differ between them. Check the licensing authority for the specific state and locality where you plan to work.
No. OEWS publishes wage percentiles for the occupation as a whole and does not break wages out by years of experience, apprentice or journeyman status, specialty, or credential. Any figure presented that way comes from a different source.
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