In our weekly quest to analyze each individual construction profession by state, we’ll examine electricians. The three previous professions we examined were general construction laborers, followed by heavy equipment operators . You can also see the full list of all past and future professions by clicking here.
Electricians are very essential to every single construction project, but it's also one of the most dangerous jobs in the construction industry, According to OSHA, electrocutions cause almost 9% of all construction related deaths, making it one of the group's Fatal Four. Generally, an electrician in the United States falls under 1 of 3 categories: apprentice, journeyman, and master, but this data compiles all of those levels into one category. It's also important to note that utility line installers are not included in this category.
All data below comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s most recent reports from May 2016.
Graph of Average Hourly Wage of a Electrician, by State
Rankings of Average Hourly Wage of a Electrician, by State
51. Arkansas-- $20.45/hour
50. North Carolina-- $20.65/hour
49. South Carolina-- $20.94/hour
48. Florida-- $21.30/hour
47. Alabama-- $22.29/hour
46. South Dakota-- $22.31/hour
45. Texas-- $22.31/hour
44. Georgia-- $22.35/hour
43. Tennessee-- $22.41/hour
42. Nebraska-- $22.85/hour
41. Idaho-- $22.97/hour
40. Mississippi-- $23.20/hour
39. Vermont-- $23.32/hour
38. Oklahoma-- $23.34/hour
37. Maine-- $23.48/hour
36. Virginia-- $23.74/hour
35. Arizona-- $23.78/hour
34. New Mexico-- $24.16/hour
33. Colorado-- $24.32/hour
32. Louisiana-- $24.43/hour
31. Kentucky-- $24.69/hour
30. West Virginia-- $24.85/hour
29. Ohio-- $24.86/hour
28. Utah-- $24.95/hour
27. Iowa-- $24.98/hour
26. New Hampshire-- $25.00/hour
25. Rhode Island-- $25.54/hour
24. Maryland-- $25.88/hour
23. Kansas-- $26.52/hour
22. Delaware-- $27.07/hour
21. Michigan-- $27.21/hour
20. Connecticut-- $27.63/hour
19. Indiana-- $27.73/hour
18. Wisconsin-- $27.84/hour
17. Wyoming-- $28.24/hour
16. Missouri-- $28.63/hour
15. Pennsylvania-- $28.92/hour
14. North Dakota-- $29.33/hour
13. Montana-- $29.61/hour
12. Nevada-- $29.92/hour
11. Minnesota-- $30.94/hour
10. Washington-- $31.37/hour
9. Massachusetts--$31.80/hour
8. Oregon-- $32.26/hour
7. California-- $32.75/hour
6. New Jersey-- $34.29/hour
5. District of Columbia-- $34.59/hour
4. New York-- $35.10/hour
3. Illinois-- $35.17/hour
2. Hawaii-- $35.95/hour
1. Alaska-- $39.23/hour
Graph of Average Hourly Wage of a Electrician - Adjusted for Cost of Living, by State
Cost of living in each state also has a large impact on the amount of money construction trades actually bring home, so the graph below shows each state's adjusted hourly wage based upon the cost of living index for that state. All cost of living index data comes from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center and was last updated for the second quarter of 2017. The cost of living index was based upon grocery, housing, utilities, transportation, health, and miscellaneous costs for each state.
Rankings of Average Hourly Wage of a Electrician - Adjusted for Cost of Living, by State
51. Hawaii-- $12.08/hour
50. District of Columbia-- $16.12/hour
49. California-- $17.82/hour
48. Maryland-- $18.89/hour
47. Rhode Island-- $19.84/hour
46. Maine-- $20.73/hour
45. South Carolina-- $21.23/hour
44. Florida-- $21.62/hour
43. North Carolina-- $21.77/hour
42. New Hampshire-- $22.00/hour
41. Oregon-- $22.03/hour
40. Massachusetts-- $22.10/hour
39. South Dakota-- $22.40/hour
38. Vermont-- $22.64/hour
37. Arkansas-- $23.03/hour
36. Connecticut-- $23.07/hour
35. Virginia-- $23.22/hour
34. Colorado-- $23.61/hour
33. New York-- $24.01/hour
32. Alabama-- $24.36/hour
31. Texas-- $24.41/hour
30. Georgia-- $24.45/hour
29. Arizona-- $24.61/hour
28. Nebraska-- $24.72/hour
27. Tennessee-- $24.79/hour
26. Idaho-- $24.97/hour
25. New Mexico-- $25.59/hour
24. Oklahoma-- $25.72/hour
23. Louisiana-- $25.75/hour
22. West Virginia-- $25.87/hour
21. Utah-- $26.12/hour
20. Kentucky-- $26.34/hour
19. Delaware-- $26.47/hour
18. Mississippi-- $26.56/hour
17. New Jersey-- $26.57/hour
16. Ohio-- $26.77/hour
15. Iowa-- $27.00/hour
14. Alaska-- $27.30/hour
13. Nevada-- $28.30/hour
12. Pennsylvania-- $28.46/hour
11. Wisconsin-- $28.56/hour
10. Washington-- $28.86/hour
9. Wyoming--$29.23/hour
8. Kansas-- $29.25/hour
7. Montana-- $29.40/hour
6. North Dakota-- $29.65/hour
5. Michigan-- $29.85/hour
4. Indiana-- $30.28/hour
3. Minnesota-- $31.00/hour
2. Missouri-- $31.52/hour
1. Illinois-- $36.15/hour
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