How Much Do Journeyman Electricians Make a Year?
The most recent federal wage data (BLS, released May 15, 2026) puts the median electrician’s pay at $63,190 a year ($30.38/hour) and the mean at $71,490 ($34.37/hour), across all 757,220 US electricians. BLS doesn’t break out journeyman pay separately; journeymen typically land in the middle-to-upper part of this range.
That range is wide because “electrician” in federal data covers everyone from a brand-new journeyman to a master running a crew. The top 10 percent, above $108,510 a year, skew toward union shops, high-voltage specialties, and expensive metro markets. What separates a $45,000 year from a $100,000 year is mostly geography, union status, and overtime, not the license itself.
What does BLS say journeyman electricians earn?
Nationally, electricians earned a median of $63,190 a year and a mean of $71,490 in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release, published May 15, 2026 after a data-collection delay caused by the fall 2025 government shutdown. That release counted 757,220 electricians nationwide, the third-largest construction occupation behind laborers and supervisors, according to the BLS news release.
Those numbers cover every electrician on payroll, from a first-year journeyman to a 20-year master running a crew. A newly licensed journeyman working full time without much overtime tends to sit closer to the median; someone with 10-plus years, union scale, or a supervisory role pushes toward the mean and above.
What’s the full pay range, top to bottom?
| Percentile | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $20.50 | $42,640 |
| 25th | $23.77 | $49,430 |
| 50th (median) | $30.38 | $63,190 |
| Mean (average) | $34.37 | $71,490 |
| 75th | $40.36 | $83,940 |
| 90th | $52.17 | $108,510 |
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Hourly figures calculated at 2,080 hours/year where BLS reports annual only.
The bottom 10 percent are mostly apprentices close to finishing their hours or electricians in low-cost, non-union markets. The top 10 percent are almost always union journeymen or masters in high-cost metros, or people logging heavy overtime.
How much more do union journeymen make?
Meaningfully more, once you count total compensation. IBEW Local 48, which covers the Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington market, lists a 2026 gross wage of $44.07 an hour for a residential journey-level electrician and $65.50 an hour for a commercial-industrial journey-level electrician, according to the union’s own 2026 wage schedule. Add employer-paid pension, health insurance, and annuity contributions, and the total wage package for the commercial-industrial rate reaches $95.79 an hour.
That’s one local, and rates differ by city and contract, but the pattern holds broadly: union scale runs well above the BLS national mean once benefits are included, even after dues come out. Non-union journeymen in the same market usually earn less per hour but keep more of that hourly rate as direct pay rather than fund contributions.
Does specialty or industry change journeyman pay?
Yes, and it’s one of the bigger levers a journeyman controls directly. Industrial maintenance, high-voltage transmission work, and data center construction routinely pay above standard commercial rates, because the work carries more risk and requires more training. Residential service work, by contrast, tends to sit at the lower end of the journeyman range in most markets.
Electricians who cross-train into solar installation or EV charging infrastructure often pick up premium rates on those specific projects, though the base license and exam are the same as any other journeyman path. Specialty work is usually something you add after a few years on the tools, not something you start with.
How does overtime affect take-home pay?
BLS wage figures exclude overtime, shift differentials, and bonuses entirely, so the real number on a journeyman’s paycheck often runs higher than the OEWS figures suggest. A journeyman earning $32 an hour who picks up 10 hours of weekly overtime at time-and-a-half adds roughly $16,600 a year on top of straight-time pay.
That’s one reason experienced journeymen in commercial and industrial work frequently clear $80,000-$100,000 even in markets where the base rate looks closer to the national median. Overtime access depends heavily on your employer and sector; residential service shops tend to offer less of it than commercial or industrial contractors.
How does journeyman pay compare to master electrician pay?
Master electricians earn more on average, but it’s the added responsibility that changes, not an automatic raise from the license alone. In Texas, a journeyman needs two years of licensed experience and 12,000 total hours on the job to qualify for the master exam, per the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Employed masters typically out-earn journeymen by running crews or taking on supervisory pay. Self-employed masters who pull their own permits and run a contracting business see the widest range, from modest to well above six figures, depending entirely on how much work they book and how well they run the business side.
FAQ
How much does a journeyman electrician make per hour? Nationally, electricians (the BLS category that includes journeymen) earned a median hourly wage of $30.38 and a mean of $34.37 as of the May 2025 OEWS release. Journeymen with a few years of experience in a mid-size market typically land between the median and mean. Union scale and overtime push the number higher in many cases.
Does BLS wage data include overtime pay? No. BLS OEWS figures are straight-time gross pay only and specifically exclude overtime, shift differentials, and bonuses. Since overtime is common in commercial and industrial electrical work, actual annual earnings for many journeymen run higher than the published BLS figures suggest.
How much more do union journeyman electricians make? It depends on the local, but total compensation, wages plus employer-paid benefits, commonly runs well above non-union pay in the same market. IBEW Local 48’s 2026 schedule shows a $95.79 total hourly package for commercial-industrial journeymen once pension, health, and annuity contributions are counted, versus a $65.50 gross wage alone.
Do journeyman electricians make more than apprentices? Yes, substantially. BLS reports a separate “helpers-electricians” category, mostly apprentices, at a mean annual wage of $44,080 for May 2025, compared to $71,490 mean for the full electrician category that includes journeymen. Passing the journeyman exam typically brings an immediate jump to full scale.
What’s the difference between journeyman and master electrician pay? Master electricians generally earn more, mainly because the license unlocks supervisory roles and business ownership. An employed master often earns a premium over journeyman scale, while a self-employed master running a contracting business has no wage ceiling but also no guaranteed income. The gap is driven more by role than by the license itself.