How much do commercial electricians make in 2026?
Commercial electricians are paid from the BLS electricians series: OEWS May 2025 gives the SOC 47-2111 national median as $63,190 a year ($30.38 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $42,640 and the top 10% at $108,510. The survey does not separate commercial from residential or industrial electrical work, so the honest position is that commercial construction generally sits in the upper half of that band. Three mechanisms do the work. Prevailing-wage requirements on public projects set a floor and a benefit rate that private residential work has no equivalent to. Project scale means switchgear, three-phase distribution, feeders and fire-alarm interfaces rather than house circuits, which requires print reading and coordination skill. And schedule pressure produces overtime — data centre, hospital and stadium projects run night and weekend shifts to hit turnover dates. Employment is projected to grow 9.5% through 2034 with roughly 81,000 openings a year. → Full commercial electrician career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $63,190 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Commercial Electricians earn a national median $63,190/yr ($30.38/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-2111); the P10 to P90 range is $42,640 to $108,510.
- BLS publishes a single electrician wage, so commercial work sits in the upper half of the $42,640 to $108,510 electricians range rather than in its own series.
- Prevailing-wage rules on public projects set a wage and benefit floor that private residential work does not have, which is the clearest structural pay difference in the trade.
- Overtime on schedule-driven projects — data centres, hospitals, large fit-outs — is where commercial electricians move from the median toward the $83,940 P75.
US Commercial Electrician Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do commercial electricians earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 47-2111; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-2111, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a commercial electrician earn at each career stage?
Commercial pay follows licence tier, print-reading and coordination skill, and site responsibility. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS electricians distribution (SOC 47-2111).
By State
Which states pay commercial electricians the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national electrician median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Commercial electrical pay is shaped by state prevailing-wage law more than by living costs: states with strong public-works wage requirements set higher effective floors on a large share of commercial work, while states without them leave rates to the bid market. Licence reciprocity between states also determines how easily you can follow large projects.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($72,670), the highest-paying state shown. See all 51 state salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay commercial electricians the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national electrician median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a commercial electrician’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does commercial electrician pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Commercial Electricians sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify commercial electrician wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a commercial electrician actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Commercial Electrician Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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