There's a persistent myth that trades careers are a backup plan. The BLS data tells a different story.
The national median salary for electricians is $61,590. That's the middle — half of all electricians earn more. The 90th percentile hits $99,800. In metro areas with strong union presence, the median itself exceeds $80K.
But here's what makes the electrician path interesting as a financial decision: the starting point. An apprentice electrician earns $35K-$45K in year one — while they're learning. A college freshman earns $0 while accumulating $20K-$40K in annual tuition. By the time a college graduate starts their first job at 22, the electrician who started at 18 has earned roughly $160K in wages and has zero debt.
The state-by-state picture
Electrician pay varies more by state than most people realize. The top and bottom differ by nearly $40K at the median.
Top five states by median electrician salary:
1. Illinois — $82,310 (strong IBEW union presence, Chicago market)
2. New York — $79,460 (NYC metro inflates the statewide number)
3. California — $77,900 (high demand from housing and solar)
4. Oregon — $76,650 (prevailing wage laws on public projects)
5. Washington — $74,890 (no state income tax helps the take-home)
Bottom five:
46. Mississippi — $43,620
47. Arkansas — $43,310
48. Alabama — $44,950
49. West Virginia — $43,890
50. South Carolina — $44,380
That gap looks enormous. But after you adjust for cost of living, it narrows. An electrician making $82K in Illinois faces a state income tax of about 4.95% and Chicago-area rent of $1,580/month. An electrician making $44K in Mississippi pays no state income tax on the first $5K and rent of $880/month.
After taxes and housing, the Illinois electrician has about $3,600/month in disposable income. The Mississippi electrician has about $2,300. The gap is real — but it's $1,300/month, not the $3,200/month the gross salary difference implies.
See electrician salary and affordability in every state →
Union vs. non-union
The BLS doesn't split union and non-union wages in its OES data. But other sources make the gap clear: union electricians (IBEW) earn 15-25% more than non-union in the same metro, with significantly better benefits (pension, annuity, health insurance).
The trade-off: union apprenticeships are harder to get into (waitlists of 1-2 years in some locals), and union shops are geographically concentrated. If you're in a right-to-work state in the South, union work is scarce.
The comparison most people don't make
Here's the calculation that should be in every high school guidance office but isn't.
Path A: Electrician apprentice at 18
- Years 1-4: Earn $35K, $40K, $45K, $55K while training = $175K earned
- Year 5 onward (journeyman): Earn $62K+
- Student debt: $0
- Net position at age 23: +$175K earned, $0 debt, earning $62K
Path B: Bachelor's degree at 18, marketing job at 22
- Years 1-4: Earn $0, pay $25K/year tuition = -$100K
- Year 5 (age 22): Entry marketing coordinator salary: $48K
- Year 6 (age 23): $52K
- Net position at age 23: -$100K debt, earning $52K
At age 23, the electrician is $275K ahead of the marketing graduate in cumulative net position. The marketing manager might eventually earn more — but "eventually" can mean 10-15 years, and it assumes a steady climb that many careers don't deliver.
At the median, an electrician at age 35 earns $62K with no debt. A marketing manager at age 35 earns $76K but may still carry $40K in student loans. After loan payments, the take-home difference is about $500/month — not the life-changing gap people imagine.
What the career looks like
Year 1-4: Apprenticeship. You work full-time under a journeyman, attend classes (often at night or on weekends), and earn a percentage of journeyman wages that increases each year. Most states require 8,000-10,000 hours of supervised work plus 576+ hours of classroom instruction.
Year 5: Pass the journeyman exam. Your pay jumps. You can work independently.
Year 7-10+: Options branch. You can specialize (industrial, commercial, solar, EV charging infrastructure), become a foreman, pursue a master electrician license and start a business, or move into inspection. The 90th percentile ($100K+) comes from some combination of specialization, supervision, overtime, and geography.
The bottom line
Union vs. non-union: the data difference
BLS doesn't break out union vs. non-union wages in the OES data, but the Current Population Survey gives us a window. Nationally, union electricians earn roughly 15-25% more than non-union electricians in the same metro area. In strong union states (Illinois, New York, California, New Jersey), the gap can be 30%+.
In practical terms: a non-union electrician in Chicago might make $62,000. A union journeyman in the same city, doing the same work, makes $82,000-$95,000 — plus better health insurance, a pension, and more consistent hours. The union path requires completing a formal 4-5 year IBEW apprenticeship (which pays you while you learn), versus a faster but less structured non-union training path.
In right-to-work states (Texas, Florida, Georgia), union density is much lower, and the wage premium is smaller — maybe 10-15%. But even there, union shops tend to offer better benefits packages, which adds another $5,000-$10,000 in total compensation value.
How the trades compare to college degrees (after debt)
Here's the comparison nobody makes honestly. Let's stack a union electrician against a marketing manager — a common white-collar role that typically requires a bachelor's degree.
Union electrician in Illinois:
- Starts apprenticeship at age 18, earns $35K-$45K during training
- Journeyman by age 23, earning $82K
- Student debt: $0
- Cumulative earnings by age 30: ~$480,000
- Net worth position at 30 (rough): +$480K minus living expenses
Marketing manager in Illinois:
- 4-year college degree, graduates at 22
- Entry-level marketing coordinator: $42K
- Marketing manager by 28-30: $75K
- Student debt: $35,000 (national average, could be much more)
- Cumulative earnings by age 30: ~$380,000
- Net worth position at 30 (rough): +$380K minus living expenses minus $35K+ debt
The electrician is ahead by roughly $100K-$135K at age 30 — from a combination of starting earlier, earning more during the training period, and carrying no student debt. By age 40, the gap narrows (marketing manager salaries can grow faster with promotions to director/VP), but the electrician maintains a compounding advantage from the earlier start and the debt-free launch.
This isn't an argument against college. It's an argument against the assumption that college is always the higher-earning path. For many people, the skilled trades offer a faster, cheaper route to a comfortable middle-class life — and the BLS numbers back that up clearly.
Electricians aren't making backup-plan money. They're making competitive-with-many-college-degrees money, starting younger, with no debt. The BLS data is unambiguous about this.
The career isn't for everyone. The work is physical, sometimes dangerous, and weather-dependent in certain specialties. But if the compensation numbers surprise you, they should. The data has been saying this for years.
Look up electrician salary in your state →
All salary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Apprenticeship details from the Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship. Full methodology.