Electrician cost by state

An electrician bills $85 an hour in Arkansas and $140 in Illinois. That is a 65% spread on the same hour of the same work, and it is almost entirely wages.

The billed rate is not what the electrician earns. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national mean wage for electricians at roughly a third of the billed rate; the rest is the van, the licence, the insurance, the apprentice, the stock and the profit.

How these figures are built

We hold a national billed rate and adjust it by state.

The adjustment comes from Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data: each state's mean hourly wage for the construction trades divided by the national mean. It is a measured figure.

Labour is treated as 95% of an hourly rate, because an hour of an electrician's time is almost all labour and overhead. The remaining 5% is consumables off the van, priced nationally.

Electrician hourly rate, by state

The low column is roughly an apprentice or a small owner-operator, the typical column a journeyman, the high column a master electrician or a company with a dispatcher and a warranty.

What the table does not include

The service call fee. $100 to $250 just to arrive, often credited against the work. Ask on the phone whether it is.

The minimum. A one-hour minimum is standard and a two-hour minimum is common. A ten-minute outlet swap frequently costs an hour.

Emergency rates. Nights, weekends and holidays run 1.5 to 3 times the business hours rate.

Flat-rate pricing. Much residential electrical work is now quoted from a flat-rate book rather than by the hour. The book is built from an assumed hourly rate plus materials, so the state pattern still holds; you just do not see the hours.

The permit. Most electrical work beyond a like-for-like device swap needs one, at $50 to $500 depending on the jurisdiction and the scope.

Where the state changes the job

Licensing. Some states licence at state level, some at city or county level. The tighter the licensing, the thinner the market and the higher the rate.

Code cycle. States adopt the National Electrical Code on different schedules, and some amend it. Which edition applies decides whether your job needs AFCI protection on more circuits, tamper-resistant receptacles, or a specific service disconnect arrangement. Two identical houses in adjacent states can need different work.

Utility rules. A service upgrade involves the utility as well as the electrician, and the utility's timeline and fees vary enormously.

Climate. In hurricane and wildfire regions, generator and transfer switch work is common and there are more electricians who do it. Elsewhere it is a specialist job.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Washington almost level with Illinois?

Because electrical is among the most heavily unionised of the building trades, so the state wage mean tracks metro union density more closely here than in most trades. Seattle does to Washington's figure what Chicago does to Illinois's. The two states are 1.21 and 1.27 for the same reason, and neither number describes the rural half of either state.

Is a flat-rate quote better than hourly?

Better for you when a job turns out to be difficult, worse when it turns out to be quick. For anything behind a wall, flat rate is usually the safer choice because it moves the risk to the contractor.

Should I hire a handyman for small electrical jobs?

In most states, work beyond replacing a device like for like requires a licensed electrician, and unpermitted electrical work is one of the clearest things to surface during a sale. It is also the trade where the failure mode is a fire.

Are these rates current?

The wage data is refreshed when the BLS publishes it and the national rate is reviewed each quarter. The date the figures were last set is shown with the cost figure at the top of this page.

My quote is well above the high column.

Check whether it is an emergency rate, whether a permit and inspection are included, and whether it is flat rate rather than hourly. If none of those explain it, get a second quote.