Electrician

National median pay

$63,190

per year · $30.38 per hour

May 2025

Projected employment change

+9%

2025–35

Much faster than average

Jobs in the United States

821,000

Projected openings each year: 72,700

Typical entry-level education

High school diploma or equivalent

On-the-job training

Apprenticeship

What the occupation does

An electrician brings power to a building and keeps it working. That means running wire through walls and conduit, connecting outlets, switches, panels, and light fixtures, and tracing faults when something stops working. Much of the skill is in reading a set of plans accurately and working safely around a system that can kill you if you are careless.

Common daily responsibilities

• Read blueprints, wiring diagrams, and technical specifications.
• Install and maintain wiring, conduit, control, and lighting systems.
• Inspect electrical components such as transformers, circuit breakers, and panels.
• Diagnose faults using ammeters, voltmeters, thermal scanners, and cable testers.
• Repair or replace wiring, equipment, and fixtures with hand and power tools.
• Follow the building code your state or city has adopted, including the National Electrical Code as amended locally.
• Direct and train apprentices and helpers on a crew.

Typical work environments

• New construction sites, where the wiring goes in before the walls close up.
• Occupied homes and businesses, doing repairs and upgrades around the people who live and work there.
• Factories and industrial plants, on machinery and control systems.
• Service work, driving between jobs, often in cramped attics, crawl spaces, and basements.

Skills and abilities needed

• Comfort with maths: measurements, fractions, and simple circuit calculations.
• Steady hands and good physical stamina for standing, kneeling, and working overhead.
• The ability to read a diagram and picture how it becomes a physical system.
• Careful, methodical troubleshooting rather than guessing.
• Safety discipline, because the consequences of a shortcut are severe.
• Being able to explain a problem to a customer who does not know the vocabulary.

Ways to enter the occupation

• Registered apprenticeship

  The traditional and most common route. You are paid while you learn, and the programme combines supervised on-the-job hours with classroom instruction. Sponsors include local union programmes and non-union electrical contractors.

  Typical duration: Usually 4 years

• Technical school, then employment

  Some people complete a certificate or associate degree in electrical technology first, then enter the trade as a helper or apprentice. This can shorten the classroom portion but rarely removes the supervised hours.

  Typical duration: 6 months to 2 years, then supervised work

• Helper to apprentice

  Start as an electrical helper doing material handling and basic tasks, and register as an apprentice once you have a sponsor.

  Typical duration: Varies by employer

• Military training

  Electrical and construction-related military occupational specialties can translate into civilian hours and sometimes into advanced standing in an apprenticeship. Ask about credential mapping before you leave service.

  Typical duration: Varies

How long training takes

A registered apprenticeship usually runs about four years, combining paid supervised work with classroom hours. A technical certificate takes six months to two years but is normally an entry point rather than a replacement for supervised experience. The total time to a full journeyman credential is commonly four to five years, and it is measured in hours worked as much as in time passed.

Licensing and certification

Most states require electricians to be licensed, and licensing is usually tiered: apprentice, journeyman, then master. The typical path runs through documented supervised hours, a written examination, and in many states a separate business and law examination before you may contract with the public. Certification from a trade association is a separate, usually voluntary, credential and does not take the place of a state licence.

This describes the general pattern. It is not a statement about the rules in your state, and nothing here means a trade is licensed nationwide.

Do requirements differ by state?

Yes, substantially. Which body issues the licence, how many supervised hours are required, what the exam covers, and whether a separate contractor licence is needed all vary by state. Some states license at the state level, others leave it to cities and counties. There is no single national electrician licence.

How to find a legitimate program

Start with Apprenticeship.gov, the U.S. Department of Labor's own registry, and search for electrical programmes near you. Ask any sponsor three things: whether the programme is registered with the Department of Labor or a state apprenticeship agency, whether the hours count toward your state's licence, and whether you are paid during training. A legitimate programme will answer all three in writing. Be cautious of any school that promises a licence or guaranteed employment, and never pay for a placement promise.

Career advancement

• Journeyman, once you have the hours and pass the exam, with a clear pay step up.
• Master electrician, which in many states allows you to pull permits and run your own contracting business.
• Specialisation: industrial controls, instrumentation, solar and energy storage, electric vehicle charging, or fire alarm and low-voltage systems.
• Foreman, superintendent, or project manager on larger commercial jobs.
• Estimator or electrical designer, moving toward the office side of the trade.

Self-employment

Self-employment is realistic and common: about 7 percent of electricians are self-employed according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Running your own electrical business normally requires a master licence or a licensed master on staff, plus business registration, liability insurance, and often a bond.

Self-employment usually brings its own requirements on top of the trade itself, such as a business registration, a contractor licence, insurance, or a bond. Those are separate from the occupational licence and are set by your state.

Related occupations

• Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration technician
• Electrical power-line installer and repairer
• Electrical and electronic engineering technologist and technician
• Plumber, pipefitter, and steamfitter

Official resources and next steps

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Outlook Handbook

  The federal source for the pay, education, and employment projections shown on this page.

• Apprenticeship.gov — U.S. Department of Labor

  The official register of registered apprenticeship programmes. Search by trade and by state, and confirm that a programme is registered before you trust it.

• CareerOneStop — U.S. Department of Labor

  Official wage data for your own area, local training listings, and the American Job Center nearest you.

• O*NET OnLine — U.S. Department of Labor

  A detailed breakdown of the tasks, tools, and knowledge each occupation actually involves, maintained by the Department of Labor.

• U.S. Department of Labor

  Federal rules on wages, safety, and training, and the starting point for finding the state agency that governs a trade.