State of the electrical trade, 2026
What electricians earn in every state, where the jobs are, how fast the work is projected to grow, which states license it and what typical electrical jobs cost. Every figure comes from a public dataset or a koira.ai cost guide, with the method below and a CSV of the full table.
The short version
- The national median for electricians is $30.38 an hour ($63,190 a year). Pay runs from $23.59 in Arkansas to $48.71 in Oregon.
- Texas has the most electricians on payrolls, 76,770. See electrician pay in every state.
- State labor offices project +6.5% more jobs nationally from 2022 to 2032, with about 73,500 openings a year. Utah leads at +42.2%.
- 41 of the 51 states koira.ai has checked require a state license for electrical work, 4 license part of it and 6 leave it to cities and counties. The electrical license guide has each state's steps.
- A typical electrical panel upgrade is about $2,150 nationally in Koira's electrical panel upgrade cost guide. By state, the Koira estimate runs from $1,854 in Arkansas to $2,646 in Hawaii.
What electricians earn
Median hourly wage by state, May 2025, the ten highest paying states. BLS published a median for 51 of the 50 states and DC.
The five lowest: Arkansas $23.59, Alabama $26.78, North Carolina $27.31, Florida $27.52 and Georgia $28.04.
| Percentile | Hourly |
|---|---|
| 10th | $20.50 |
| 25th | $23.76 |
| Median | $30.38 |
| 75th | $40.36 |
| 90th | $52.17 |
What that wage means for a price
A wage is not a rate. Using the starting numbers of the free labor rate calculator (40 hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and a 15% profit), a business paying the national median has to bill about $123.94 an hour to cover it.
| Where | Median wage | Rate to bill |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $30.38 | $123.94 |
| Oregon, highest median | $48.71 | $156.13 |
| Arkansas, lowest median | $23.59 | $112.02 |
Change any of those numbers in the calculator to see your own rate. The CSV has the rate for every state.
Where the work is
The ten states with the most electricians employed, May 2025.
Where the trade is most concentrated
Electricians per 1,000 jobs of every kind in the state. A high number means the trade is a bigger share of local work than it is nationally.
Jobs outlook
State labor market offices project electricians jobs nationally to go from 762,600 in 2022 to 811,800 in 2032, a change of +6.5%, with about 73,500 openings a year from growth, retirements and people leaving the trade.
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, on a newer base, projects 9% growth for electricians from 2025 to 2035, about 72,700 openings a year.
The ten states with the fastest projected growth, 2022 to 2032. Projections exist for 50 states.
Slowest: West Virginia +0.5%, Maine +0.5% and New York +4.6%. The path into the trade, state by state, is in how to become an electrician.
Licensing
Does the state require a state license for electrical work? Each answer comes from the state's own board or statute.
- State license: 41 states.
- Partly licensed (residential only, above a dollar amount, or a registration): 4. Local only: 6. Not checked yet: 0.
- 34 of the 51 checked states put an insurance or bond rule in the license itself.
What electrical jobs cost
National price ranges from Koira's cost guides. Each guide takes the low, average and high figures of two or more published cost guides and shows them.
| Job | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke detector installation | $70 | $110 | $150 |
| Light switch installation | $100 | $150 | $200 |
| Electrical outlet installation | $130 | $190 | $260 |
| Recessed lighting installation | $140 | $290 | $410 |
| Ceiling fan installation | $240 | $360 | $490 |
| Bathroom exhaust fan installation | $250 | $400 | $730 |
| Electric baseboard heater installation | $410 | $760 | $1,100 |
| Electric fireplace installation | $370 | $880 | $1,600 |
| EV charger installation | $780 | $1,100 | $1,950 |
| Lightning rod installation | $530 | $1,350 | $2,350 |
| Electrical panel upgrade | $1,300 | $2,150 | $3,000 |
| Home automation installation | $1,100 | $2,400 | $3,700 |
| Rewiring a house | $6,650 | $9,150 | $11,500 |
| Whole house generator installation | $5,750 | $10,000 | $14,500 |
One job, state by state
Koira estimates of a typical electrical panel upgrade in the ten most expensive states. Only the labor share of the price moves with the state's BLS wage; materials do not.
Every state
| State | Median hourly | Employed | Jobs 2022 to 2032 | State license | Typical electrical panel upgrade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $30.38 | 757,220 | +6.5% | 41 states | $2,150 |
| Alabama | $26.78 | 10,900 | +11.1% | Yes | $1,896 |
| Alaska | $43.00 | 1,870 | +12.8% | Yes | $2,498 |
| Arizona | $29.36 | 21,140 | +18.7% | Yes | $2,117 |
| Arkansas | $23.59 | 7,500 | +10.4% | Yes | $1,854 |
| California | $36.62 | 73,310 | +13.3% | Yes | $2,413 |
| Colorado | $29.92 | 17,010 | +17.0% | Yes | $2,186 |
| Connecticut | $37.28 | 7,710 | +13.5% | Yes | $2,412 |
| Delaware | $30.63 | 2,260 | +12.9% | Yes | $2,146 |
| District of Columbia | $37.97 | 2,440 | +11.4% | Yes | $2,379 |
| Florida | $27.52 | 49,700 | +17.4% | Yes | $1,929 |
| Georgia | $28.04 | 21,650 | +17.0% | Yes | $1,939 |
| Hawaii | $46.38 | 3,070 | Not published | Yes | $2,646 |
| Idaho | $30.29 | 5,690 | +28.8% | Yes | $2,077 |
| Illinois | $47.87 | 23,120 | +7.1% | No, local only | $2,606 |
| Indiana | $32.93 | 19,020 | +7.4% | No, local only | $2,200 |
| Iowa | $29.26 | 10,310 | +14.3% | Yes | $2,148 |
| Kansas | $31.66 | 6,350 | +8.9% | No, local only | $2,051 |
| Kentucky | $28.71 | 11,030 | +6.7% | Yes | $2,011 |
| Louisiana | $29.59 | 10,550 | +11.7% | Partly | $1,942 |
| Maine | $36.24 | 3,780 | +0.5% | Yes | $2,167 |
| Maryland | $35.33 | 13,690 | +10.8% | Yes | $2,157 |
| Massachusetts | $38.18 | 17,810 | +11.3% | Yes | $2,538 |
| Michigan | $36.67 | 23,530 | +4.9% | Yes | $2,186 |
| Minnesota | $37.58 | 14,350 | +9.9% | Yes | $2,433 |
| Mississippi | $29.26 | 6,610 | +23.1% | Yes | $1,874 |
| Missouri | $31.45 | 12,780 | +8.1% | No, local only | $2,197 |
| Montana | $36.90 | 2,750 | +26.7% | Yes | $2,181 |
| Nebraska | $29.24 | 6,440 | +14.0% | Yes | $2,025 |
| Nevada | $35.37 | 8,350 | +14.2% | Yes | $2,197 |
| New Hampshire | $30.21 | 3,330 | +13.7% | Yes | $2,162 |
| New Jersey | $37.14 | 13,520 | +9.9% | Yes | $2,451 |
| New Mexico | $28.07 | 5,020 | +17.1% | Yes | $1,941 |
| New York | $37.86 | 40,130 | +4.6% | No, local only | $2,385 |
| North Carolina | $27.31 | 21,640 | +13.2% | Yes | $1,930 |
| North Dakota | $31.59 | 3,570 | +15.5% | Yes | $2,185 |
| Ohio | $31.11 | 28,950 | +5.4% | Partly | $2,206 |
| Oklahoma | $29.33 | 8,500 | +9.0% | Yes | $1,913 |
| Oregon | $48.71 | 10,590 | +20.0% | Yes | $2,292 |
| Pennsylvania | $32.50 | 22,730 | +7.0% | No, local only | $2,171 |
| Rhode Island | $35.62 | 2,420 | +15.3% | Yes | $2,226 |
| South Carolina | $28.24 | 8,010 | +9.5% | Yes | $1,934 |
| South Dakota | $29.51 | 2,980 | +16.7% | Yes | $1,946 |
| Tennessee | $29.37 | 17,070 | +13.1% | Partly | $1,954 |
| Texas | $28.16 | 76,770 | +18.1% | Yes | $1,925 |
| Utah | $29.81 | 11,450 | +42.2% | Yes | $2,098 |
| Vermont | $30.49 | 1,270 | +11.0% | Partly | $2,154 |
| Virginia | $30.24 | 23,630 | +6.6% | Yes | $2,083 |
| Washington | $45.78 | 19,380 | +10.2% | Yes | $2,496 |
| West Virginia | $31.16 | 4,290 | +0.5% | Yes | $2,108 |
| Wisconsin | $36.80 | 14,310 | +13.9% | Yes | $2,239 |
| Wyoming | $36.59 | 2,960 | +23.0% | Yes | $2,155 |
How this report is made
Pay and employment are cells from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics files for May 2025 (state file, national file), occupation code 47-2111, all industries. They count people on a payroll; owner-operators are not in them. A cell BLS did not publish reads "Not published" and is empty in the CSV.
The rate to bill is the labor rate calculator's formula with its starting assumptions listed above and only the wage changed: the yearly cost of the worker plus overhead, spread over the billable hours, then a profit margin on top.
Job projections are each state labor market office's long-term projection for 2022 to 2032, published together by Projections Central. A state missing from that file has no figure here. The national outlook line quotes the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Licensing counts only rows of the electrical license guide that an official board or statute page confirmed. States not checked yet are shown that way, never guessed. This is not legal advice.
Job prices come from the koira.ai cost guides. The national band is worked out from the published guides each one lists. State prices are Koira estimates: the labor share of the band is scaled by the state's BLS median wage for the work over the national median, held to 0.7 to 1.4. See the job prices by state report for the same method across trades.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Electricians; Projections Central, long-term occupational projections 2022 to 2032 (state labor market offices); Fixr, smoke detector installation cost; HomeAdvisor, smoke detector installation cost; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national files); Fixr, light switch installation cost; HomeAdvisor, light switch installation cost; Fixr, electrical outlet installation cost; HomeAdvisor, electrical outlet installation cost; Fixr, recessed lighting installation cost; Bob Vila, recessed lighting installation cost; Fixr, ceiling fan installation cost; HomeAdvisor, ceiling fan installation cost; Bob Vila, ceiling fan installation cost; Fixr, bathroom exhaust fan installation cost; HomeAdvisor, bathroom exhaust fan installation cost; Fixr, electric baseboard heater installation cost; HomeAdvisor, electric baseboard heater installation cost; Bob Vila, electric baseboard heater installation cost; Fixr, electric fireplace installation cost; HomeAdvisor, electric fireplace installation cost; Fixr, ev charger installation cost; HomeAdvisor, ev charger installation cost; Fixr, lightning rod installation cost; HomeAdvisor, lightning rod installation cost; Fixr, electrical panel upgrade cost; HomeAdvisor, electrical panel upgrade cost; This Old House, electrical panel upgrade cost; Fixr, home automation installation cost; HomeAdvisor, home automation installation cost; HomeAdvisor, rewiring a house cost; Fixr, rewiring a house cost; Fixr, whole house generator installation cost; HomeAdvisor, whole house generator installation cost; Bob Vila, whole house generator installation cost.
Running a electrical business? See how electrical businesses run on Koira, free on the Office plan.
Data as of: BLS wages and employment, May 2025. Job projections, 2022 to 2032 (Projections Central). License rows checked October 8, 2026 to October 9, 2026. Cost guides checked October 9, 2026. All reports.