Across the 29 states we track, Illinois gives Electricians the strongest cost-of-living-adjusted pay: about $95,400 real pay on a median of $98,800. Oregon follows at about $91,900 real pay, then Washington at about $85,400. The table ranks every state by real pay, so a high nominal salary in an expensive state cannot masquerade as a raise.
Electrician Salary by State (2026): Real Pay Ranked
Illinois ranks first for Electrician real pay: about $95,400 after cost of living. Median and real pay for all 29 states, ranked.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS) & BEA Regional Price Parities · Updated October 2026
States ranked
29
Metros counted
45
National average
$67,810
Electrician pay by state, ranked by real pay
| State | Median pay | Real pay (COL-adjusted) | Metro(s) counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Illinois | $98,800 | $95,400 | Chicago |
| 2. Oregon | $96,900 | $91,900 | Portland |
| 3. Washington | $94,900 | $85,400 | Seattle |
| 4. Wisconsin | $81,100 | $83,700 | Milwaukee |
| 5. Minnesota | $82,200 | $78,400 | Minneapolis |
| 6. California | $82,900 | $75,300 | Los Angeles-Long Beach, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco-Oakland, Fresno, Sacramento |
| 7. Massachusetts | $81,200 | $75,000 | Boston |
| 8. Pennsylvania | $72,700 | $70,900 | Philadelphia |
| 9. Kansas | $62,000 | $69,700 | Wichita |
| 10. Missouri | $64,000 | $69,200 | Kansas City |
| 11. New York | $76,600 | $68,000 | New York |
| 12. Michigan | $67,800 | $67,600 | Detroit |
| 13. Indiana | $64,700 | $67,600 | Indianapolis |
| 14. Nebraska | $61,500 | $66,900 | Omaha |
| 15. District of Columbia | $72,600 | $66,700 | Washington |
| 16. Ohio | $63,000 | $66,000 | Columbus |
| 17. Oklahoma | $58,700 | $65,400 | Oklahoma City, Tulsa |
| 18. Kentucky | $60,700 | $65,200 | Louisville |
| 19. Louisiana | $60,400 | $65,200 | New Orleans |
| 20. Tennessee | $57,200 | $60,700 | Nashville, Memphis |
| 21. Nevada | $60,500 | $60,400 | Las Vegas |
| 22. Arizona | $60,400 | $60,300 | Phoenix-Mesa, Tucson |
| 23. New Mexico | $56,700 | $59,400 | Albuquerque |
| 24. Colorado | $61,100 | $59,200 | Denver, Colorado Springs |
| 25. Maryland | $61,700 | $59,000 | Baltimore |
| 26. Texas | $55,600 | $56,800 | Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, El Paso |
| 27. Georgia | $56,400 | $56,300 | Atlanta |
| 28. North Carolina | $51,900 | $53,100 | Charlotte, Raleigh |
| 29. Florida | $51,600 | $48,300 | Jacksonville, Miami |
Method: each state aggregates the BLS OEWS metro medians we track for Electrician in that state - an employment-weighted mean where every counted metro publishes employment (27 of 29 states), otherwise a simple mean (2 states). Real pay = state median divided by (state RPP / 100), where the state RPP is the mean BEA Regional Price Parity of its counted metros; figures are rounded to the nearest $100. Twin cities sharing one metro estimate (for example Phoenix-Mesa) are counted once. Arlington, TX and Cleveland, OH metros lack a cost-of-living index in our dataset and are excluded from their state's figures. States without a tracked metro are omitted rather than estimated.
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Frequently Asked Questions
On cost-of-living-adjusted pay, Illinois leads at about $95,400 real pay (median $98,800), ahead of Oregon at about $91,900.
We aggregate the BLS median wages of the metros we track in each state (an employment-weighted mean where employment data exists, otherwise a simple average), then divide by the mean Regional Price Parity of those metros to get real pay.
The full city-level table with 10th-90th percentiles and every metro's cost-of-living index is on the Electrician salary hub at /salary/electrician/.