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Electrician Salaries in 2023: A State-by-State Guide to the Best Pay

Mike Persinger
July 1st, 2023
12 Min Read

How much do electricians make in your state?  In this guide, we’ll show you exactly how much you can expect to pay electricians in your area based on an electrician salary database shared with ServiceTitan by Payscale.com and current as of Jan. 1, 2023.

The information about electrician salaries and payscales includes the following, and you can click on the index to skip to any section you’re particularly interested in:

Finally, we’ll show you how ServiceTitan’s all-in-one software for the trades has helped hundreds of electrician businesses save time while they manage payroll, deal with timesheets, and other back office processes, including:

If, after reading this, you want to find out more about ServiceTitan’s payroll and other business management features, sign up for a free demo.

Average Electrician’s Salary by State: Payfactors’ Database

Here is what the data show about the average electrician salary based on state and experience:

STATE
ENTRY (0-2 years)
INTERMEDIATE (2-4 years)
SENIOR (4-7 years)
SUPERVISOR (7+ years)
Alabama$50,500$60,100$66,700$95,000
Alaska$56,200$67,000$74,500$105,100
Arizona$52,600$63,100$67,000$99,400
Arkansas$47,900$57,000$63,300$90,100
California$59,500$67,800$76,300$112,300
Colorado$53,700$64,000$72,000$101,400
Connecticut$57,200$67,400$75,300$107,300
Delaware$52,200$61,700$68,900$97,900
Florida$48,200$58,000$66,000$96,400
Georgia$51,000$60,300$68,200$98,400
Hawaii$54,600$65,100$72,400$103,200
Idaho$48,700$58,100$64,600$92,100
Illinois$52,800$63,800$70,500$98,900
Indiana$50,500$60,600$68,100$96,500
Iowa$49,500$61,100$64,100$92,800
Kansas$52,300$62,000$68,900$97,900
Kentucky$51,800$59,800$66,400$97,700
Louisiana$50,500$60,200$65,100$95,100
Maine$53,800$63,600$70,800$100,800
Maryland$53,100$62,900$69,600$99,500
Massachusetts$56,800$67,500$73,700$106,500
Michigan$51,300$63,000$67,900$96,000
Minnesota$60,100$67,600$72,600$101,200
Mississippi$48,800$58,200$64,600$91,900
Missouri$51,500$58,400$65,300$96,500
Montana$48,900$58,400$64,800$92,500
Nation$53,600$63,400$70,700$100,500
Nebraska$51,300$60,600$67,600$95,900
Nevada$52,700$62,900$69,800$99,600
New Hampshire$54,400$64,400$71,700$102,000
New Jersey$57,200$67,700$74,700$107,200
New Mexico$49,900$59,500$66,100$94,300
New York$55,200$65,700$72,400$103,500
North Carolina$50,700$59,800$65,800$95,400
North Dakota$49,300$58,500$65,000$92,200
Ohio$52,100$60,500$68,200$97,500
Oklahoma$50,500$60,200$62,900$95,100
Oregon$54,200$64,700$71,900$102,500
Pennsylvania$51,600$62,200$68,500$98,000
Rhode Island$54,300$64,300$71,600$101,900
South Carolina$50,700$60,000$70,100$95,400
South Dakota$50,500$60,000$66,700$94,700
Tennessee$49,500$57,800$65,100$93,200
Texas$50,000$60,500$68,200$97,000
Utah$51,600$61,500$68,400$97,500
Vermont$50,000$59,200$65,800$93,800
Virginia$52,500$60,700$67,600$98,300
Washington$56,900$67,800$75,400$107,400
West Virginia$47,600$56,300$62,700$89,200
Wisconsin$52,400$62,900$68,700$96,500
Wyoming$47,500$56,700$63,000$89,900

Nationally, Payscale.com data shows that the average salary for an electrician, at every experience level, is higher than those for either plumbers or HVAC technicians.

  • For entry-level electricians, the average annual base salary is $53,600, or $25.77 per hour. That’s up 9.16% year-over-year from 2022.

  • For intermediate electricians with 2-4 years of experience, the average rises to $63,400, or $30.48 per hour. 

  • At the senior level, defined as 4-6 years of experience, the average is $70,700, or $33.99 per hour. That’s up 6.16% YoY. 

  • For electrician supervisors, with 7 or more years of experience, the median is $100,500, or $48.32 per hour. 

  • Entry-level electrician salaries rose fastest in South Dakota (11.73%), Idaho (11.70%), Utah (11.69%) and Arizona (11.69%) since January 2022, the last time Payscale.com provided ServiceTitan with data. Entry-level salaries rose slowest in Alaska (6.04%) and Minnesota (6.37%) in that timeframe.

The industry is expected to grow 10% between 2018 and 2028, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, so the jobs will be there. And, if only for financial reasons, any aversion to becoming an electrician—or joining the trades in general—doesn’t make sense. 

Another misconception? That the trades are not a tech field. 

“Our refrigerators can talk to us now,” Patrick MacIsaac, managing partner at the Roby Family of Companies in Charlotte, said. “Before, it was really just connecting wires and putting capacitors and things like that. But now you have things like smart thermostats and all this other stuff that does have a tech aspect. The market really demands that stuff now. 

“I'm as non-techy as they get for my age, but when the WiFi goes out in the house, it's a big deal. None of your stuff works.”

Payscale.com database shows electricians’ salary range

The database from Payscale.com, which works with human resources and compensation specialists in an effort to modernize compensation and salary benchmarking through technology, examines salaries nationwide. 

Developed based on more than 2,000 commercially available, reputable compensation surveys, each of which complies with generally accepted principles and practices of WorldatWork and U.S. Department of Justice compensation survey standards, the database covers all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The data include figures for the 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles for various experience levels, providing a range for electrician salaries that informs hiring managers and job seekers alike. The 90th percentile figure is the electrician salary at which 90% of similar employees make less, and 10% make more.  

To maintain congruence, each survey's average electrician salary data are aged to January 1, 2023, using aging factors specific to the combination of the job's function, level, and geographic location. The figures include base salary only, so benefits, commissions, bonuses, spiffs and similar enhancements are not included. 

The data are broken down for electrician salaries by state, region and, for selected cities, ranges for entry-level electrician salary, journeyman electrician salary and master electrician salary are included. 

Among the findings from the electrician salary data:

  • The 50th percentile salary for an entry-level electrician (0-2 years experience) nationwide is $53,600. For intermediate experience (2-4 years), it’s $63,400, and for experienced electricians (4-6 years), it’s $70,700. 

  • For electrical supervisors with seven-plus years of experience, the 50th percentile salary is $100,500, the data shows.

  • The electrician salaries in the data fall in a wide range even in the same state, based on location and other factors. In Florida, for example, the entry-level electrician salary at the 10th percentile is $40,000. At the 90th percentile, the salary is $59,800, a $19,800 difference. 

  • The 50th percentile is higher than the national median for entry-level electricians in 14 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. 

  • Entry-level electricians have the highest median pay in two of the nation’s biggest cities, with San Francisco ($63,000, $30.29 per hour) and New York City ($59,900, $28.80) topping the list. 

  • Cost of living is an important factor to consider. San Francisco has the highest salary for entry-level electricians, $63,000 at the 50th percentile, but is less attractive when cost of living is factored in, largely because of the cost of owning a home there.

  • Wyoming ($47,500) and West Virginia ($47,600) have the lowest median salary for entry-level electricians; Minnesota ($60,100) and California ($59,500) have the highest.

Top 5, Bottom 5 states for median electrician salary

ENTRY LEVEL

STATE
Annual
Hourly
Minnesota$60,100$28.89
California$59,500$28.61
New Jersey$57,200$27.50
Connecticut$57,200$27.50
Washington$56,900$27.36
Nation$53,600$25.77
Wyoming$47,500$22.84
West Virginia$47,600$22.88
Arkansas$47,900$23.03
Florida$48,200$23.17
Idaho$48,700$23.41

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

STATE
Annual
Hourly
Washington$67,800$32.60
California$67,800$32.60
New Jersey$67,700$32.55
Minnesota$67,600$32.50
Massachusetts$67,500$32.45
Nation$63,400$30.48
West Virginia$56,300$27.07
Wyoming$56,700$27.26
Arkansas$57,000$27.40
Tennessee$57,800$27.79
Florida$58,000$27.88

SENIOR LEVEL

STATE
Annual
Hourly
California$76,300$36.68
Washington$75,400$36.25
Connecticut$75,300$36.20
New Jersey$74,700$35.91
Alaska$74,500$35.82
Nation$70,700$33.99
West Virginia$62,700$30.14
Oklahoma$62,900$30.24
Wyoming$63,000$30.29
Arkansas$63,300$30.43
Iowa$64,100$30.82

SUPERVISOR LEVEL

STATE
Annual
Hourly
California$112,300$53.99
Washington$107,400$51.63
Connecticut$107,300$51.59
New Jersey$107,200$51.54
Massachusetts$106,500$51.20
Nation$100,500$48.32
West Virginia$89,200$42.88
Wyoming$89,900$43.22
Arkansas$90,100$43.32
Mississippi$91,900$44.18
Idaho$92,100$44.28

SOURCE: Payscale.com

Electrician salaries affected by need for qualified candidates

As with all jobs, electrical industry salaries are tied to supply and demand. The more job openings there are for a reduced pool of qualified candidates, the higher the salary will be.

Electrical business owners, like others in the skilled trades, struggle to find qualified employees in a highly competitive climate. They also worry about investing time and money in training, only to see those electricians go off on their own or to work for another company.

Tommy Mello, a trade company owner and investor and host of a weekly podcast, The Home Service Expert, combats that by building a strong company foundation through extensive training and high expectations for every employee, and performance pay as an incentive for helping employees grow. He also offers a $1,500 bonus to employees for referring a new hire. 

“Some people say ‘always be closing,’” Mello said. “I say, ‘always be recruiting.’” 

Sometimes, inexperienced technicians can overestimate their worth without having the knowledge or sales experience to back it up. Make sure you know what you claim you know, hiring managers say, and find a company that will build on that knowledge. 

Troubleshooting a problem and performing repairs or being part of an install crew requires technical skill but not sales ability. Recognizing, and capitalizing on, opportunity increases revenue for companies and earning potential for technicians. 

It’s important for the electrician’s income, too. 

Unlike most sales trainers, Chris Crew, President of The Blue Collar Success Group, believes he can teach a service tech with strong technical knowledge to sell, even if they show little interest in that part of the business.

“You give me the most technical technician, and I will teach them how to outsell the best salesperson,” he says. “The more comfortable I have a technician with the technical, the more comfortable and prone they are to talk about additional products and services.”

And, Crew’s not talking about the electrical job “lay-downs,” such as turning a “panel-smoking” or “lights-flickering” call into a big-ticket item.

“I’m talking about how I take, ‘needs outlet added,’ and create a very large ticket with it—without teaching my technicians to be high-pressure salespeople,” the master electrician explains.

“I’m not a fan of high-pressure sales. I am a fan of consulting,” Crew adds. “To consult, I have to be very knowledgeable. That’s why I believe technical information can lead to a better sales force.”

And, likely, higher wages for those electricians.

Electrician salaries: Frequently asked questions

How much does an electrician make?

  • An entry-level electrician in the 50th percentile nationally makes an average of $53,600, or $25.77 per hour. That’s an increase of 9.16% year-over-year from January 2022.

  • The median electrician hourly wage for an intermediate electrician (2-4 years) in the United States is $30.487, or $63.400 per year. 

  • In the 10th percentile (where 90% of electricians make more, and 10% make less), a senior electrician nationally makes $37.93 per hour, or $57,500. In the 90th percentile, the numbers are $40.91 and $85,100.

How much does a master electrician make?

  • More experience and better credentials draw higher salaries. Nationally, a senior-level average master electrician salary, at the median, is $70,700, the data shows. 

  • The range of master electrician salaries can be wide. In California, a senior electrician in the 10th percentile earns $63,600, while one in the 90th percentile makes $92,500—a difference of almost $14 an hour. In Arkansas, that range is $51,400 to $76,300.

  • A licensed electrician salary in New York City, at the 50th percentile at the senior level, makes $79,000. In Atlanta, an electrician in the same situation makes $69,700.

Do electricians get paid well?

Electricians have high earning potential for those who don’t want to go to college. Requiring only a high school diploma or the equivalent, the median salary for a licensed, entry-level electrician is $53,600; for senior-level electricians, the median figure rises to $70,700. 

  • Whether an electrician makes good money depends on more than just the raw dollar figure.

  • If loans are necessary to attend college, that debt must be taken into consideration. Electricians often attend trade school and avoid most, if not all, of that debt.

  • Cost of living is another factor. Larger, urban areas generally have higher salaries, but the dollars don’t go as far in those locations.

Fastest growing, most stagnant states for electrician salary growth, 2020-2023

Increase in median salary between January 2022 and January 2023, in Payscale.com data:

ENTRY LEVEL

STATE
Annual '22
Increase YOY
Virginia$52,50012.42%
Oklahoma$50,50012.22%
New York$55,20012.2%
Michigan$51,30012.01%
New Jersey$57,20011.94%
Nation$53,6009.16%
Alaska$56,2006.04%
Minnesota$60,1006.37%
Florida$48,2006.87%
Vermont$50,0007.53%
Texas$50,0007.53%

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

STATE
Annual '22'
Increase YOY
Oklahoma$60,2006.36%
Mississippi$58,2006.01%
South Dakota$60,0006.01%
Montana$58,4005.99%
Colorado$64,0005.96%
Nation$63,4003.09%
Alaska$67,0000.45%
Delaware$61,7001.82%
Vermont$59,2001.89%
Maryland$62,9002.28%
Tennessee$57,8002.48%

SENIOR LEVEL

STATE
Annual '22'
Increase YOY
South Dakota$66,7009.17%
Arkansas$63,3009.14%
Mississippi$64,6009.12%
Idaho64,6008.94%
Montana$64,8008.91%
Nation$70,7006.16%
Alaska$74,5003.33%
Maryland$69,6004.35%
Iowa$64,1004.40%
Vermont$65,8004.61%
Tennessee$65,1004.66%

SUPERVISOR LEVEL

STATE
Annual '22
Increase YOY
Oklahoma$95,1007.09%
Georgia$98,4006.96%
South Dakota$94,7006.88%
Arkansas$90,1006.88%
Pennsylvania$98,0006.87%
Nation$100,5003.82%
Alaska$106,1001.05%
Delaware$97,9002.51%
Vermont$93,8002.51%
Maryland$99,5002.90%
Iowa$92,8003.23%

SOURCE: Payscale.com

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What cities have the highest electrician salaries?

In the Payscale.com data, the top five cities in the survey for entry-level electrician salaries are San Francisco; New York City; Anchorage, Alaska; Bridgeport, CT; and Honolulu.  

  • Bigger cities tend to have higher salaries for electricians. San Francisco has the highest entry-level electrician salary at $63,000, or $30.29 per hour. But it also has the highest cost of living of any city in the data.

  • The average salary for a senior electrician in New York City is $79,000.

Top 5, Bottom 5 cities for median electrician salary

ENTRY LEVEL

City
State
Annual
Hourly
San FranciscoCA$63,000$30.29
New YorkNY$59,900$28.80
AnchorageAK$58,600$28.17
BridgeportCT$58,400$28.08
NewarkNJ$58,000$27.88
NationUSA$53,600$25.77
JacksonMS$48,500$23.32
Little RockAR$49,300$23.70
WichitaKS$49,300$23.70
BirminghamAL$49,700$23.89
Virginia BeachVA$50,000$24.04

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

City
State
Annual
Hourly
New YorkNY$75,200$36.15
San FranciscoCA$74,600$35.87
BostonMA$73,600$35.38
WashingtonDC$70,800$34.04
AnchorageAK$69,300$33.32
NationUSA$63,400$30.48
JacksonMS$57,300$27.55
Little RockAR$58,300$28.03
WichitaKS$58,300$28.03
BirminghamAL$58,800$28.27
Virginia BeachVA$59,100$28.41

SENIOR LEVEL

City
State
Annual
Hourly
San FranciscoCA$83,200$40.00
New YorkNY$79,000$37.98
AnchorageAK$77,300$37.16
BridgeportCT$77,000$37.02
HonoluluHI$76,600$36.83
NationUSA$70,700$33.99
JacksonMS$64,000$30.77
WichitaKS$65,000$31.25
Little RockAR$65,100$31.30
BirminghamAL$65,600$31.54
Virginia BeachVA$65,900$31.68

SUPERVISOR LEVEL

City
State
Annual
Hourly
San FranciscoCA$118,200$56.83
New YorkNY$112,400$54.04
AnchorageAK$109,800$52.79
BridgeportCT$109,300$52.55
HonoluluHI$108,800$52.31
NationUSA$100,500$48.32
JacksonMS$90,900$43.70
WichitaKS$92,400$44.42
Little RockAR$92,400$44.42
BirminghamAL$93,100$44.76
Virginia BeachVA$93,700$45.05

SOURCE: Payscale.com

How do electrician salaries compare with those in other trades?

  • Electrician vs. plumber salary: Nationally, the 50th percentile salary for an entry-level electrician ($53,600) is higher than the 50th percentile salary for an entry-level plumber ($49,100).

  • Electrician vs HVAC technician salary: Nationally, the starting salary for a licensed electrician at the entry level ($53,600) is slightly more than for entry-level HVAC technicians ($52,000), at the median.

Median National Salary by trade

ENTRY LEVEL

Entry Level
Annual
Hourly
Plumbers$49,100$23.61
Electricians$53,600$25.77
HVAC$52,000$25.00

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

Intermediate
Annual
Hourly
Plumbers$59,500$28.61
Electricians$63,400$30.48
HVAC$59,600$28.65

SENIOR LEVEL

Senior
Annual
Hourly
Plumbers$64,000$30.77
Electricians$70,700$33.99
HVAC$68,100$32.74

SUPERVISOR LEVEL

Senior
Annual
Hourly
PlumbersNANA
Electricians$100,500$48.32
HVAC$88,600$42.60

SOURCE: Payscale.com

Electrician salaries: Other factors to consider

Cost of living is also a factor not addressed in the database. For example, the median base pay for an entry-level electrician in Charleston, W.Va., is $50,300. According to the cost of living calculator at bestplaces.net, to have the same standard of living in Bridgeport, Conn., you’d need to make $71,067—and the median pay for an entry-level electrician there is $58,400.

Licensing requirements vary by state. Some states require lengthy apprentice periods. In Wisconsin, for instance, the requirement is five years. An apprentice electrician salary could be less than what licensed, entry-level electricians make. North Carolina requires two years of experience, including at least a year of primary experience, to take the limited licensing exam. The average electrician apprentice salary was not included in the data.

Industrial electrician salary vs. residential electrician salary: The Payscale.com database for electrician average salary did not divide electricians into industrial vs. residential.

Electrician unions and more: Other factors could be in play as well, such as experience level, skillset, whether the electrician is covered by a union, and more. A union electrician salary could vary from the median in the database at any experience level.

ServiceTitan: Software to Run Payroll and Your Entire Electrical Business

ServiceTitan® is the leading all-in-one software solution for the home service industry including hundreds of electrical businesses.Electrical business owners can manage all aspects of their business either from a tablet, on the ServiceTitan Mobile App, or from a computer at the office. Our software gives electrical businesses the tools they need to manage: dispatch, scheduling, call booking, marketing and reporting, as well as all payroll related tasks, which we focus on below.

Efficiently Run Electricians’ Payroll

ServiceTitan’s integrated payroll tools make it easy to pay your electricians with real-time timesheet tracking and automated bonus and overtime calculation features. By using our platform you don’t need to transfer dozens of documents between employees and managers, spend hours manually checking and inputting timesheet information into third-party payroll software, or get your techs into the office, and away from billable jobs, to sign off on timesheets. ServiceTitan automatically syncs everything for you so you can run payroll in just a few clicks.

Keep on Top of Timesheets

ServiceTitan’s timesheet feature automatically tracks time spent driving, vendor runs, and time spent on the actual job, so each timesheet is fully up to date at the end of each week, month, or other established payment period.  If any of your electricians runs into overtime, that’s also easy to configure and calculate in a few clicks. Double checking for potential discrepancies in these details usually takes hours, but with ServiceTitan it’s all accurately done for you, so you can be sure you are paying everyone correctly.

Timesheets within ServiceTitan are synced with our dispatch tools in real time, so you always know who is available for a new job. Our software also helps you correctly pay employees working back at the office. They can clock in and out right in the ServiceTitan interface so hours worked are updated in real time on their timesheets.This means timesheets and payslips always match so you don’t have to spend hours checking them.

Easily Apply Bonuses and Commissions

ServiceTitan makes it straightforward to apply bonuses and commissions to your salary structure, no matter how complex your performance-based pay. Configure ServiceTitan to provide accurate and timely calculations of bonuses, overtime and commissions to keep your team motivated to do their best work.

Techs also get to track their own timesheet to check for discrepancies, which they can highlight within the software itself, and understand how much they’ll be paid in any given period. Once they’ve taken a look, each employee can digitally sign off on their current time sheet, making the whole process more efficient.  Technicians can sign timesheets remotely and without driving to the office, which is one more step in making sure everyone is paid efficiently, in the right amount, on time, every time.

Simplify payday for everyone with Payroll Pro

Payroll Processing with Payroll Pro

If you want to take payroll processing up another gear, ServiceTitan’s premium tool Payroll Pro gives you a payment management system that we estimate can save you up to an hour per employee, per month in monthly payroll processing time.

Using Payroll Pro means you don’t need to assign payroll processing to a third-party. It automatically calculates benefits and tax deductions and deposits your employees’ salaries directly, whether they are paid hourly or are full-time salaried employees. Minimize tax liabilities and compliance risk by automatically (and accurately) filing and paying federal, state, and local taxes on your behalf. Every document is available to download in PDF format.

Sign up for Payroll Pro to save time on payroll processing and use a payroll system that is specifically designed for the trades.

Integrate with QuickBooks or Sage Intacct

If you already use QuickBooks or Sage Intacct, but are also using (or considering) ServiceTitan to help manage your electrical business, you can easily combine the two with our QuickBooks integration program or Intacct integration.

Your accounting team won’t need to learn new software when you transition to ServiceTitan. You can go completely paperless while monitoring all your transactions in real time. If you need to check a payment has been made, or a deposit has been processed? You don’t have to call the bank or look it up on your banking app because the information is right there in ServiceTitan.

You’ll also never need to enter the same more than once; just generate your invoices and purchase orders right within ServiceTitan, then export them to QuickBooks or Intacct for secure, fully accessible accounting.

QuickBooks and Sage Intacct are not included when you sign up for ServiceTitan, but you can link either of them to ServiceTitan to run your bookkeeping processes more efficiently.

Correctly Calculate Your Labor Rate with ServiceTitan’s Free Online Tool

ServiceTitan’s Labor Rate Calculator helps you accurately identify the total cost of employing your electricians and gives you a figure for how much you should be charging customers for labor to ensure maximum business profitability. All you need to do is add the key metrics requested into our free online tool to calculate a flat hourly fee that takes into account every related cost, including all your overheads.

ServiceTitan: Manage Your Payroll and Entire Electrical Business in One Place

ServiceTitan gives you and your team the software tools you need for paying and managing every aspect of your electrician salaries, including:

Beyond dealing with payroll ServiceTitan also provides you with tools to:

To find out more about how ServiceTitan can help you pay your electricians’ salaries and manage your electrical business, schedule a free demo here.

ServiceTitan Electrical Software

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