While many jobs have shifted to remote or home-based positions, there are still a lot of great jobs that are based on-site. With many trade jobs, you can expect to spend most of your day outside of an office traveling to appointments and many people prefer this arrangement to working at home or at an office all day.
One of those trades is an electrician. This can be a very profitable job for those with skills in this field. But what is the average salary of an electrician? There are a lot of variables for wages such as location, experience, and flexibility in scheduling.
What Is The Average Salary Of An Electrician?
First, let’s look at the location. It should be no surprise that working in a large city is usually going to pay better than working in a more remote or rural area. That’s to be expected due to the large range of cost of living at different locations.
On a state-to-state level, however, there are some general statistics on what you can expect to make in different states. New York offers the highest paid salaries for electricians, but also consider the higher cost of living. Likewise, California makes the top 10 highest paying electrician jobs, but do you want a mortgage in California?
Other high-paying states include Massachusetts and Hawaii. But there are a few states that might surprise you in the top 10. If you love the outdoors, you might consider looking for work in Alaska, ranked number two at over $76,000 for the average electrician salary.
The Pacific Northwest also pays electricians well. Oregon comes in at number seven and Washington state at number nine, only split up by California at number eight. With a much lower cost of living than California, both states can be very lucrative and provide a higher quality of life for electricians than California.
Two other states that might surprise you that made the list of the top 10 include Illinois and New Jersey. But possibly the biggest surprise — and the most promising — is Minnesota. With the cost of living significantly lower than coastal states like New York and California, Minnesota ranked a very respectable number six, averaging over $70,000 a year for electricians.
You may have to deal with a lot of snow in the winter, but you should have mild summers and lower property prices. And lower crime rates. Ya, you betcha.
States With The Lowest Wages For Electricians
It’s bad news for those who love Southern hospitality and culture when it comes to wages for electricians. Most of the bottom 10 states for wages are in the South, except Idaho, South Dakota, and Nebraska.
Southern states that are in the bottom 10 for electrician wages include Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Florida, and Alabama. Arkansas ranks dead last. It’s also worthy to note that Southern states tend to be a little less union-friendly, so that may also raise concerns for you.
The More Experience, The More Money
The more years of experience you have as an electrician, the more likely you are to pull a higher salary. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as this is true of pretty much any job. But when a state with a relatively low cost of living is offering higher wages, it implies there is a higher demand. That can work either way for someone seeking work as an electrician.
If you are less experienced, companies are more likely to take a chance on hiring someone with less experience. If you have many years of electrician experience, on the other hand, you can try to leverage your expertise for higher wages at the top end of the range. Demand also plays an important role in setting wages.
What Other Factors Influence the Average Salary Of An Electrician?
Speaking of demand, younger generations are gravitating toward more freelance and creative technology work. Which is to say, many are gravitating toward newer careers such as content providers, podcasters, bloggers, and e-commerce business owners. As a consequence, fewer people are choosing to pursue more traditional jobs, particularly trades, such as electricians, plumbers, and auto mechanics.
This means you have more negotiating power when discussing salaries for a position. You can also leverage other perks, such as a flexible work schedule, higher health benefits, or even more vacation and sick time. You might also consider cutting out the middleman altogether and starting your own electrician business.
Become Your Own Boss
When your skills are in high demand, that makes it much easier to start your own business. There are plenty of considerations that go along with that, including marketing, hiring employees, scheduling, etc.
That may seem overwhelming when trying to build a business from scratch either by yourself, or even with partners, but there are technological solutions that can help you. ServiceWorks can help you as a “silent partner” with their software.
With one piece of software, ServiceWorks can schedule appointments, track leads, invoice clients, do employee payroll, and more. If you are ready to make that leap from worker to boss, get a free trial to get a personal assistant that never sleeps.
