Highest paying states and metros for electricians

Oregon is the highest paying state for electricians, with a median wage of $48.71 an hour ($101,310 a year) on BLS OEWS May 2025 data. Illinois ($47.87), Hawaii ($46.38), Washington ($45.78) and Alaska ($43.00) round out the top five. Adjust for prices and Illinois edges past Oregon, while California falls out of the top half.

01Top 10 states by median wage

The median is the middle electrician in the state: half make more, half make less.

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, occupation 47-2111, state data. The national median was $30.38.

There's a cliff after the top five. Alaska's median is $43.00; sixth place, Massachusetts, is $38.18. Four of the top five are Pacific states, and the fifth is Illinois.

For what these numbers mean for a carded hand (they include apprentices and leave out overtime), start with journeyman electrician pay in 2026.

02Mean vs median: why the lists don't match

Mean is the average; median is the middle. Pay pages that mix them give different rankings for the same year.

Rank by mean and New Jersey ($41.68) and California ($41.28) move into the top 10, while Minnesota and Connecticut drop out. California's mean is $4.66 above its median (our math), because its top earners pull the average up. California's 90th percentile, $67.47 an hour, is the highest of any state.

So the honest answer depends on the question:

• Where does the middle electrician do best? Median. Oregon.
• Where is the ceiling highest? 90th percentile. California ($67.47), then Washington ($64.40), Vermont ($63.50) and New York ($63.29).

If a site gives you one number and doesn't say which, don't trust the ranking.

03Highest paying metros

The Pacific Northwest owns the metro list, with the Bay Area and Chicago close behind.

BLS ranks top-paying areas by mean wage, so this table is sorted that way, with the median next to it.

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, metro data.

Two things stand out. The Bay Area has the highest mean but a lower median than Portland or Chicago; its top 10% (over $87.66 an hour) pulls the average up. And size matters. Chicago has 17,720 electricians; Albany, Oregon has 440. A small metro can post a big number with only a few shops behind it.

04Top paying rural areas

You don't need a big city to make big-city money. Several nonmetro areas in the Northwest and Alaska pay above most metros.

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, nonmetropolitan area data.

Eastern Oregon's rural median, $45.81, beats the medians in Boston ($38.42) and New York ($37.99).

05Lowest paying states

The five lowest state medians in May 2025 were Arkansas ($23.59), Alabama ($26.78), North Carolina ($27.31), Florida ($27.52) and Georgia ($28.04).

The median electrician in Oregon makes about 2.06 times the median electrician in Arkansas, a gap of $25.12 an hour (our math). That's before overtime, which BLS doesn't count.

Low state medians don't mean every hand there is underpaid. They mean the middle of the market is low. Plenty of carded hands in those states work above it, often on industrial or travel work. If you're in one of them and want to see where your own rate sits, use the three-number underpaid check.

06Cost of living: what the gap looks like after prices

Higher prices eat part of the gap between top and bottom states, not all of it.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes Regional Price Parities: a price level for each state where 100 is the national average. Divide a state's median wage by its price level and you get a rough price-adjusted wage.

Sources: wages from BLS OEWS, May 2025; price levels are 2024 all-items Regional Price Parities from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Adjusted column is our math.

What changes:

• Illinois moves to first. Its prices sit right at the national average, so its wages go further than Oregon's.
• Wyoming, Wisconsin and Montana climb. Mid-pack wages, low prices. Montana's adjusted median is $38.99.
• California drops to the middle of the pack. The highest prices of any state (110.72) take its $36.62 median down to about $33.
• Florida falls below Arkansas. Florida's prices are above average; Arkansas has some of the lowest.
• The Oregon to Arkansas gap shrinks from 2.06 times to about 1.74 times. Still a big gap.

Take this as a rough guide. The price data is 2024 and the wages are May 2025. And a state average hides a lot: Seattle and Spokane are both in Washington and don't cost the same to live in. Housing is the big swing, so price out rent where you'd actually live.

07Before you chase a state

A higher median doesn't mean you'll get it on day one. Three things decide whether a move pays.

1. Your license. Some states take your card by reciprocity or endorsement, some make you test, some license only at the city level. Check electrician license requirements by state and confirm with the board before you move. Moving your license to another state covers the steps.
2. Union or open shop. In Portland and Seattle, the IBEW inside journeyman wage ($65.50 at Local 48, $77.93 at Local 46, both 2026) sits above the metro's BLS 90th percentile. Different years and different counts, but it tells you where the top of those markets is. If that's the work you want, the hall's rules decide how you get on. The numbers both ways are in union vs non-union electrician pay.
3. Whether you have to move at all. A travel job with per diem can put high-state money in your pocket while your family stays put. Compare it with the whole-check math on travel vs local work.

One national electrical contractor told us they had gone after hands in neighboring states whose licenses could carry over by endorsement. Shops near a state line already look across it. You can too.

Run your Pay Check to see what electricians with your license make near you. Takes about a minute and your boss never hears about it.

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