Yes, electricians can make good money and your salary is dependent on where you work and the sort of electrician you are. We discovered that the more we learned while working, the greater the career opportunities in the country were.
Even if you emphasized work/life balance and seldom worked overtime, you will be able to have a high quality of life by buying a property and taking month-long foreign trips each year.
You should think about it carefully since you may make a lot of money; it is more than the national average, but that is offset by living in an expensive city (West Los Angeles); we believe it is more about having your financial priorities in order.
We know several electricians who work as much overtime as they can because they are perpetually behind on their bills, while others work 6 months out of the year and spend the other 6 months hunting and resting in their rural cabin.
What is an electrician?
Electricians are well-versed in the design and installation of lighting systems, street lights, and intercom systems, as well as ensuring that electrical work is up to code and repairing electrical wire.
Electricians must complete at least four years of apprenticeship training before becoming licensed by their state. Most members of the field specialize in either designing, installing, maintaining, and repairing commercial and factory motors, equipment, and electrical systems, or installing, maintaining and repairing residential electrical systems.
Ryan Lee, a journeyman electrician and crew leader with Claypool Electric in Ohio says that he enjoyed working on projects with complicated systems, such as water and wastewater treatment plants. He was a bit of a perfectionist, and these types of facilities necessitate a high level of accuracy to ensure that tasks are completed correctly.
There are other subsets, such as electricians who specialize in iron and steel mills or electricians who coordinate lighting for a motion picture or television program. Installing alternative energy sources in homes and businesses necessitates collaboration with electricians, who are still required to maintain existing electrical systems.
Electricians will see an 8.4 percent increase in employment between 2019 and 2029, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Approximately 62,200 new employees are expected to be created over that period.
How much does an electrician make?
Electricians are classified into three levels: entry-level, journeyman, and master electrician.
Entry-level
An entry-level electrician is someone who is just starting in his or her profession. Entry-level electricians may only work under the supervision of certified electricians. They assist in the installation and maintenance of electrical equipment. Electricians at this level are rarely well rewarded, with hourly wages ranging from $11 to $15 on average.
Journeyman
The journeyman electrician has finished their training and is now able to work on their own. They are not, however, certified to practice as master electricians; they may do a range of electrical duties but cannot design fundamental electrical systems for structures. On average, an electrical journeyman makes approximately $24 per hour.
Electrician master
The third and highest-paid level is the master electrician. These are individuals who have years of experience working in this field and have refined their skills through time, earning them the master electrician license. To become a master electrician, you must first work as a journeyman electrician for more than two years and then pass the Master Electrician test.
As a master electrician, you can install, maintain, and repair even the most complex electrical systems. The hourly salary of a Master Electrician is between $40 and $100.
Do electricians make $100k/year?
It’s remarkable how many people can tell you how much electricians make each year even though none of you are electricians.
The pay varies depending on the county, an employer can pay anywhere from $30/hr to $65/hr, but if you are an electrician and have a contractors license you can charge upwards of $100/hr, most of them commute into the metropolitan areas for the higher pay, they spend a couple of hours a day sitting in traffic but it is worth it in our humble opinion.
A high voltage electrician works in a more risky sector of electrical, yet the salary isn’t greater than the ordinary electrician, which you’d think it would be, but we guess it depends on who you work for.
It’s not awful; there are a lot of various paths you might go in this area of employment. An electrician has many options, and electricity is everywhere; you could move to another country and find a job much faster and easier. You could work on elevators, escalators, residential, power generation plants, oil refineries, manufacturing facilities, automotive plants, steel mills; you could work on high-voltage trains like the bullet train in Japan or the metro train in New York.
What is the best type of electrician to become?
The importance of electricians nowadays cannot be overstated, and as a result, they are constantly in high demand. However, working as an electrician should be a well-paying profession. So, here is a list of the highest-paying electrical jobs:
Industrial Electrician
If you decide to work as an industrial electrician, you will most likely have the opportunity to work on huge projects with a significant number of individuals who all have the same aim, which is to finish the task and get paid well.
Substation Electrician
One of the highest-paying positions in the business is that of a substation electrician. Substation electricians are heroes since their services directly serve a big number of individuals who may be important to you. As a result, substation electricians are among the top candidates for high-paying jobs.
Maintenance Electrician
As a maintenance electrician, you will work on both large and minor projects. If you are not picky about the sort of project or the expected duration of the project, this is the position for you. As a result, this electrician profession is also a well-paying one.
Where do electricians make the most money?
An electrician’s job is not going away anytime soon in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment of electricians is expected to grow faster than average, with about 74,100 electrician positions added between 2018 and 2028, or a 10% increase.
We studied and prepared a list of the average electrician pay by the state in the United States using occupational data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
According to the BLS, the national average annual wage for an electrician is $59,190, which is somewhat more than the average annual wage for all professions, which is $51,960. The typical electrician’s pay varies greatly based on where you live. The top ten highest-paying states for electricians are shown below.
- New York: $77,810
- Alaska: $76,330
- Illinois: $75,820
- Hawaii: $75,810
- New Jersey: $71,660
- Minnesota: $70,410
- Oregon: $69,330
- California: $69,320
- Washington: $68,640
- Massachusetts: $68,030
The average electrician income in New York, the highest-paying state, has risen by 10.3 percent in the five years from 2013 to 2018. The increase in electrical pay is even more pronounced in No. 4 Hawaii and No. 6 Minnesota, where the average electrician income has increased by 18% and 24.2 percent over the previous five years, respectively.
In Conclusion
In short, electricians are a well-paid profession in the United States; their pay varies based on their aptitude, experience, and workplace.