- The middle half earn between $23.37 and $40.35 an hour.
- West Virginia ranks 26th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- West Virginia pays more than 3 of its 5 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 4,290 electricians on payrolls in West Virginia.
- At the state median wage, an electrical contracting business needs to bill about $125.31 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Electrician pay in West Virginia, bottom to top
The BLS group covers electricians who install and repair wiring in homes, businesses and plants. Line workers on power lines are counted separately and are not included.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $20.97 | $43,620 | $20.50 |
| 25th percentile | $23.37 | $48,610 | $23.76 |
| Median | $31.16 | $64,810 | $30.38 |
| 75th percentile | $40.35 | $83,920 | $40.36 |
| 90th percentile | $45.74 | $95,140 | $52.17 |
| Average (mean) | $32.61 | $67,840 | $34.37 |
Pay is bunched up in West Virginia. The top tenth earn $45.74 an hour or more, about 2.2 times the $20.97 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.5 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
The floor is higher than nationally ($20.97 against $20.50) but the ceiling is lower ($45.74 against $52.17), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average, $32.61, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How West Virginia compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $64,810 in West Virginia against $63,190 nationally, $1,620 more.
In the state ranking, West Virginia sits 26th, between Missouri ($31.45) and Ohio ($31.11). The range runs from $23.59 in Arkansas to $48.71 in Oregon.
Against its neighboring states, West Virginia is in the middle: Maryland and Pennsylvania pay more, and Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia pay less.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against West Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | $31.16 | $64,810 | |
| Kentucky | $28.71 | $59,720 | −$2.45 an hour |
| Maryland | $35.33 | $73,490 | +$4.17 an hour |
| Ohio | $31.11 | $64,700 | −$0.05 an hour |
| Pennsylvania | $32.50 | $67,600 | +$1.34 an hour |
| Virginia | $30.24 | $62,900 | −$0.92 an hour |
How many electricians work in West Virginia
About 4,290 electricians work on payrolls in West Virginia, 0.6% of the 757,220 nationwide, the 39th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 6.1 of every 1,000 jobs in West Virginia, 1.3 times the national share.
What an electrical contracting business in West Virginia should charge
Say you run an electrical contracting business in West Virginia and pay the state median of $31.16 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on its starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $31.16 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $69,771 |
| Break-even rate | ($69,771 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $106.51 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $106.51 ÷ 0.85 | $125.31 |
That is $125.31 per billable hour, 4 times the wage, and $1.37 more than the $123.94 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $40.35 in West Virginia, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $141.45.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $23.37, the rate only drops to $111.63.
Overhead, at $60 of every billed hour, and the unbilled hours move this rate more than a raise does. A dollar more in wages adds about $1.76 to the rate.
Run it with your own numbers in the electrician labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as an electrician in West Virginia
- Licensing. What West Virginia asks for before you can work on your own: Electrical license in West Virginia.
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how electrical contractors run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 47-2111, electricians, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: electrician salary by state.