Electrician Salary (2026): Journeyman Pay Guide for All 50 States

Licensed electricians in the United States earn a national median of $64,530 per year — roughly $31.02/hour straight-time, before overtime, prevailing wage premiums, and per diem are added. Total take-home for a typical journeyman is routinely 30–60% above straight-time base once overtime is included, and substantially more for IBEW union journeymen working on prevailing wage projects, lineman-track electricians on storm restoration, and traveling card holders. Electrician pay continues to climb rapidly, driven by the massive infrastructure spending wave from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS Act-funded semiconductor fab construction (Intel Arizona, TSMC Arizona, Samsung Texas), the AI data center construction boom requiring extensive electrical infrastructure, the EV charging infrastructure rollout, and the structural shortage of qualified electricians as the experienced workforce retires faster than apprenticeship programs produce journeymen.

The national median is only the middle of the distribution. Three numbers describe the real range of electrician compensation:

• Entry-level electricians (10th percentile): $43,544/year — typically electrician apprentices in years 1–4 of a 4-5 year apprenticeship program (IBEW/NECA Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee — JATC — or independent contractor training), paid a percentage of journeyman scale that increases each apprentice year (typically 40% year 1 → 90% by year 5), residential helpers at small electrical contractors, or entry-level helpers at non-union shops.
• Median electrician (50th percentile): $64,530/year — the working journeyman electrician with 5–15 years post-apprenticeship experience, frequently at a commercial electrical contractor or industrial electrical contractor, on full journeyman scale including overtime opportunity. IBEW union journeymen in major metros earn meaningfully more than non-union peers in the same metro at this experience level.
• Top-earning electricians (90th percentile): $110,810/year — senior electricians in high-cost metros, IBEW union journeymen and foremen at top commercial electrical contractors in major metros, lineman / T&D electricians (transmission and distribution) at major utilities and IBEW outside-line agreements, industrial electricians at semiconductor fabs and data centers, electrical superintendents and general foremen, master electricians running their own contracting businesses, and senior electricians on traveling card status working national construction projects.

Geographic location matters enormously for electrician pay. Electricians in Hillsboro, OR earn a median of $109,761, while colleagues in Aguadilla, PR earn around $34,343. IBEW union journeyman wireman scale in major metros (NYC IBEW Local 3, Chicago IBEW Local 134, San Francisco IBEW Local 6, Seattle IBEW Local 46, LA IBEW Local 11) ranges from $60–$95/hour straight-time package (wages + benefits + pension contributions), pushing total annual compensation for full-time journeymen well into the $130,000–$200,000+ range. Lineman/T&D electricians (IBEW outside line agreements) routinely clear $150,000–$300,000+ with storm restoration overtime in major events. Non-union open-shop electrician pay typically runs 25–50% below union scale in markets where strong union representation exists.

Electrician Salary vs Journeyman Electrician Salary — Are They the Same?

The credential tier creates substantial pay differences. Electrician is the broad occupational title; the U.S. electrical trade follows a clear credentialing progression with major pay implications:

• Apprentice Electrician (year 1) — entry tier; 40–50% of journeyman scale. Begins 4-5 year structured apprenticeship combining 8,000+ hours of on-job training with 600+ hours of classroom instruction.
• Apprentice Electrician (years 2–5) — progressive step increases; 55–90% of journeyman scale.
• Journeyman Electrician (state-licensed) — passed apprenticeship + state journeyman exam. Authorized to install, repair, and maintain electrical systems under supervision of a master electrician. Full pay scale.
• Master Electrician (state-licensed) — typically requires 2–7 years of journeyman experience plus state master electrician exam plus business and code knowledge. Authorized to design electrical systems, supervise journeymen, pull permits, and operate as a contractor business owner.
• Foreman — journeyman or master electrician supervising a crew (typically 4–12 electricians); foreman pay differential typically $3–$8/hour above journeyman scale.
• General Foreman — supervises multiple foreman crews on large projects; substantial pay differential.
• Electrical Superintendent — top of field supervision; manages all electrical work on major projects. Salary-based pay above journeyman foreman.
• Specialty endorsements:
  • Lineman / Outside Lineman (IBEW outside line — T&D) — transmission and distribution electrical work at utilities and contractors. Generally the highest-paying electrical trade. IBEW Local 1245 (PG&E territory) and similar locals.
  • Inside Wireman (IBEW inside) — commercial and industrial building electrical work. The dominant IBEW journeyman track.
  • Residential Wireman — single-family and multifamily residential electrical work.
  • Telecommunications / VDV (Voice/Data/Video) Installer — low-voltage specialty.
  • Sound and Communication / Audio Visual — specialty installation.
  • Industrial Electrician — high-voltage industrial systems, motor controls, PLCs (programmable logic controllers).
  • Solar Photovoltaic Installer — adjacent SOC code (47-2231); often held by electrical contractors with NABCEP certification.
  • EV Charging Station Installer — emerging specialty supporting EV infrastructure rollout.
  • Data Center Electrician — emerging specialty supporting hyperscale data center construction.
• National Electrical Code (NEC) — published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 70). Updated every 3 years (current cycle 2026). Every electrician must work in compliance with the locally-adopted NEC.

State licensure varies substantially. Most states require state Journeyman and Master Electrician licensure with state-specific exams; a handful of states delegate licensure to local jurisdictions. The Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) and Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) represent non-union open-shop contractors; the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) represents IBEW-signatory contractors. The Electrical Training Alliance (ETA), formerly the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC), runs the IBEW/NECA apprenticeship program.

The same job goes by several names in salary surveys and job postings:

• Electrician salary / electrician pay / electrician hourly
• Journeyman electrician salary / state-licensed journeyman pay
• Master electrician salary / master electrician business owner income
• Apprentice electrician salary / electrician apprentice pay
• Inside wireman salary / IBEW inside wireman pay
• Lineman salary / outside lineman pay / IBEW lineman pay / utility lineman salary
• Industrial electrician salary / industrial maintenance electrician pay
• Commercial electrician salary / residential electrician pay
• Foreman electrician salary / general foreman pay
• Electrical superintendent salary
• Solar PV installer salary / EV charging installer pay
• Data center electrician salary / semiconductor fab electrician pay

All of these reference SOC code 47-2111 (Electricians) in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey — the data source used throughout this site. Electrical line installers and repairers (SOC 49-9051) covering outside line work are tracked under an adjacent SOC code; many lineman roles fall under the line installers code rather than the electricians code.

Compensation Structure: Hourly Base, Overtime, Per Diem, and Union Package

Electrician compensation rarely fits a single salary number. The dominant structures across the trade:

• IBEW union journeyman scale (Inside Wireman) — varies by local. Major metros: NYC IBEW Local 3 wireman package $80–$110+/hour all-in (wages + benefits + pension contributions); Chicago IBEW Local 134, SF IBEW Local 6, Seattle IBEW Local 46, LA IBEW Local 11 wireman package $70–$95+/hour all-in. Smaller metros and southern states $40–$65/hour all-in package. Foreman differential $3–$8/hour above journeyman; general foreman differential $5–$12/hour above journeyman.
• IBEW outside lineman scale (Outside Construction Local agreements) — top of the electrician pay distribution. Major utility-territory locals (IBEW Local 1245 PG&E, IBEW Local 47 Southern California Edison, IBEW Local 125 Western Oregon, IBEW Local 77 Pacific Northwest) pay $55–$80+/hour straight-time with substantial overtime opportunity. Storm restoration overtime can push monthly earnings to $25,000+ in major weather events.
• Non-union open-shop journeyman electrician — pay typically $25–$45/hour straight-time in metros where strong union representation exists; non-union competitive markets pay 25–50% below union scale.
• Apprentice electrician (years 1–5) — progressive percentage of journeyman scale; year 1 typically 40–50%, year 5 typically 85–95% of journeyman.
• Industrial electrician (manufacturing, semiconductor, data center) — competitive base + shift differential + overtime. Senior industrial electricians at semiconductor fab construction and data center buildout reach top of the SOC distribution.
• Master electrician / electrical contractor business owner — owns electrical contracting business; income distribution wide ($85,000–$350,000+ net) depending on business size and specialty. Top commercial electrical contractors reach the very top of the SOC distribution through business ownership.
• Federal civilian electrician (Department of Defense, USACE, NAVFAC, GSA) — pay on Wage Grade (WG) federal blue-collar pay scale with strong federal benefits and pension.
• Prevailing wage / Davis-Bacon work — federal Davis-Bacon Act and state prevailing wage laws require federally-funded construction projects to pay union-equivalent prevailing wage rates. Significantly raises non-union electrician pay on federally-funded projects.
• Traveling journeyman ("traveler" or "book-2") on IBEW national construction — IBEW journeymen working under their local's reciprocity agreement on major projects in other locals' jurisdictions; receives local journeyman scale plus per diem ($75–$175/day) for living expenses while away from home.
• Storm restoration overtime (lineman) — major weather events (hurricanes, ice storms, derecho events) trigger massive overtime for lineman / T&D electricians. Multi-week overtime stretches at 1.5× or 2× hourly with per diem.
• Pension — IBEW journeymen participate in defined-benefit pension plans (NEBF — National Electrical Benefit Fund, plus local supplemental pension plans). Multi-employer pension provides substantial retirement benefit. Non-union electricians typically receive 401(k)-style retirement plans.
• Health insurance — IBEW journeymen receive employer-paid health coverage through union health and welfare funds; non-union electricians receive employer-provided plans.

2026 Electrician Salary Projection

Electrician pay has grown at a compound annual rate of 2.12% over the past five years, driven by the massive infrastructure spending wave from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS Act-funded semiconductor fab construction (which requires extensive industrial electrical work — Intel Arizona, TSMC Arizona, Samsung Texas, GlobalFoundries Vermont/NY), the AI data center construction boom (multi-hundred-billion-dollar hyperscale facility buildout from Microsoft/Google/Amazon/Meta/NVIDIA-aligned facilities), the EV charging infrastructure rollout under federal and state programs, the renewable energy infrastructure buildout (utility-scale solar, wind, battery storage), and the structural shortage of qualified electricians as the experienced workforce retires faster than apprenticeship programs produce journeymen. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment for Electricians to grow 11% through 2033 — much faster than average — keeping strong upward pressure on wages.

An IBEW union foreman at a Bay Area commercial electrical contractor or a senior lineman at PG&E can earn three to four times what an entry-level apprentice at a small Mississippi residential electrical contractor takes home. Four factors explain almost all of that gap: union status and specialty, location and prevailing-wage market, credential tier and seniority, and overtime, premium pay, and business ownership.

1. Union Status and Specialty: The Single Largest Pay Driver

The single biggest pay-shaping decision for an electrician is union status and specialty:

• IBEW outside lineman (transmission and distribution) — top of the electrician pay distribution. Major utility-territory IBEW locals (Local 1245 PG&E, Local 47 SCE, Local 125 Western Oregon, Local 77 Pacific Northwest) pay journeyman lineman $55–$80+/hour straight-time with substantial overtime, storm restoration, and per diem. Major utility employers: PG&E, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, Duke Energy, Southern Company, Dominion Energy, NextEra Energy, ConEd, Eversource, Exelon, AEP, FirstEnergy, Entergy, DTE.
• IBEW inside wireman (commercial and industrial) — major-metro IBEW journeyman scale. Top reliable pay through union scale. Major IBEW signatory contractors (NECA member firms): Cupertino Electric, Rosendin Electric, MYR Group, MDU Construction Services, Helix Electric, EMCOR Group, Lutz, Egan Company, IES Holdings, Bergelectric, Sturgeon Electric, Mansfield Electrical, Allied Electric.
• Industrial electrician at semiconductor fab and data center construction — premium pay supporting CHIPS Act fab construction (Intel Ohio, TSMC Arizona, Samsung Taylor TX, GlobalFoundries NY/VT) and AI data center hyperscale buildout (Microsoft, Google, Amazon AWS, Meta).
• Industrial maintenance electrician (manufacturing, refining, semiconductor fab operations, paper mill, chemical plant) — competitive long-term pay with shift differentials and overtime; in-house at major operators.
• Non-union open-shop electrician (commercial and residential) — pay varies widely; competitive in markets without strong union representation. IEC (Independent Electrical Contractors) and ABC (Associated Builders and Contractors) represent non-union contractors.
• Master electrician / electrical contractor business owner — owns and operates electrical contracting business. Net income distribution wide ($85,000–$350,000+) depending on business size. Top commercial electrical contractors reach very top of SOC distribution.
• Federal civilian electrician (DoD, USACE, NAVFAC, GSA, federal facilities) — Wage Grade (WG) pay scale with strong federal pension and benefits.
• Specialty installations (data center, semiconductor fab, hospital, university, biotech labs) — premium specialty pay for technical complexity.
• Solar / EV / battery storage / EV charging installation specialty — fastest-growing specialty segments.

2. Location and Prevailing-Wage Market

Metropolitan areas with strong IBEW union representation and high costs of living offer the highest electrician pay:

• San Francisco Bay Area — IBEW Local 6 (San Francisco), Local 595 (Oakland), Local 332 (San Jose); top union scale supporting tech construction.
• New York City tri-state — IBEW Local 3 (NYC); historically among the highest IBEW journeyman scales in the U.S.
• Los Angeles — IBEW Local 11; strong union representation supporting commercial construction.
• Seattle Pacific Northwest — IBEW Local 46; strong scale supporting tech construction (Microsoft, Amazon, Apple).
• Chicago — IBEW Local 134; strong commercial construction market.
• Boston — IBEW Local 103; strong scale supporting biotech and academic construction.
• Washington DC metro — IBEW Local 26; strong federal construction market.
• Honolulu — IBEW Local 1186; high cost of living plus isolated market.
• Phoenix / Tucson Arizona — CHIPS Act fab construction explosion (Intel Ocotillo, TSMC); strong industrial electrical demand.
• Austin / Dallas / Houston Texas — major data center construction, EV manufacturing buildout, semiconductor fab (Samsung Taylor); no state income tax.
• Atlanta Georgia — strong Sun Belt commercial construction market.
• Davis-Bacon prevailing wage on federally-funded projects — Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding triggers Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements; non-union contractors must pay union-equivalent prevailing wage on federally-funded projects, significantly raising effective electrician compensation.
• State prevailing wage laws — CA (state prevailing wage applies to all state-funded projects), NY, NJ, IL, MA, WA, OR maintain state prevailing wage laws beyond federal Davis-Bacon.
• State income tax variation — electricians in no-income-tax states (TX, FL, TN, NV, WA) retain meaningfully more of their gross income.
• CHIPS Act fab construction concentration — Arizona, Texas, Ohio, NY Mohawk Valley, Vermont concentrate semiconductor fab construction supporting premium industrial electrical pay.
• Data center construction hubs — Northern Virginia (Loudoun County), Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus OH; data center buildout supports premium industrial electrical pay.

3. Credential Tier and Seniority

Credential tier drives electrician income substantially:

• Apprentice Electrician (years 1–5) — progressive scale through apprenticeship years. Year 1 typically 40–50% of journeyman; year 5 typically 85–95%.
• Journeyman Electrician (years 5+) — full journeyman scale; major step change from apprentice.
• Foreman — journeyman supervising a crew (3–12 electricians); $3–$8/hour differential.
• General Foreman — supervises multiple foreman crews; $5–$12/hour differential.
• Electrical Superintendent — top field supervisor; often salaried at major commercial contractors.
• Master Electrician (state-licensed) — requires 2–7 years journeyman + exam; authorized to design systems, supervise journeymen, pull permits, operate as contractor business owner.
• NABCEP (North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners) PV Installation Professional — solar specialty credential.
• NICET (National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies) certifications — Fire Alarm, Special Hazards Suppression, Inspection and Testing of Fire Alarm Systems specialty.
• OSHA 30-hour Construction — universal safety credential.
• OSHA 510 / 500 (Outreach Trainer) — supports senior foreman and supervisor roles.
• Code certifications (NEC, IBC code training) — supports state journeyman and master electrician exam preparation and ongoing code compliance.
• Specialty endorsements (low-voltage VDV, sound and communication, audio visual) — supports specialty installation work.

4. Overtime, Premium Pay, and Business Ownership

Base hourly is only part of total electrician compensation. The dominant total-compensation drivers beyond base hourly:

• Overtime — typically 1.5× hourly above 40 hours/week (8 hours/day in some states). Major commercial and industrial projects frequently require 50–60+ hour weeks, generating substantial overtime.
• Doubletime — IBEW agreements typically pay doubletime for hours above 10 or 12 in a day, Sundays, and holidays.
• Shift differential — typically 7–15% premium for evening and overnight shifts; industrial facility maintenance often runs 24/7 with shift differentials.
• Storm restoration overtime (lineman) — major weather events trigger multi-week overtime stretches at 1.5× or 2× hourly with per diem. Lineman storm restoration generates substantial annual variable income.
• Per diem (traveling journeyman) — IBEW journeymen working under traveler/book-2 status receive $75–$175/day per diem for living expenses while working away from home local.
• Hazard pay and special premiums — high-voltage work, energized work, confined-space work, asbestos abatement-adjacent work.
• Davis-Bacon prevailing wage — federal infrastructure projects pay union-equivalent prevailing wage to all contractors.
• Pension — IBEW journeymen participate in NEBF (National Electrical Benefit Fund) + local supplemental pension plans. Defined-benefit pension delivers substantial retirement benefit. Many union retirees collect pension while continuing to work.
• Health insurance — IBEW employer-paid health coverage through union health and welfare funds.
• Master electrician / electrical contractor business ownership — owns and operates electrical contracting business; net income $85,000–$350,000+ depending on business size. Top commercial electrical contractors with multiple journeymen reach very top of SOC distribution.
• Side work (master electrician licensed) — master electricians can perform side work outside primary employment, generating supplementary income.

For a complete city-by-city breakdown of electrician salaries — including BLS percentile data (10th, 25th, 50th/median, 75th, 90th), local cost-of-living adjustments, and 2026 salary projections — browse the 1,689+ metro areas tracked in our dataset below.