Electrician Salary in Missouri 2026,
$65,410 Median | BLS Data by City

Missouri electricians earn a median $65,410 a year, $31.45 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, with the middle half between $49,810 and $93,760 and a full range of $43,860 to $104,060. That is 3.5% above the $63,190 national median, and the width of the band matters far more than the midpoint.

Not at state level. Missouri issues no statewide journeyman or master electrician credential — electrical licensing is handled by municipalities and counties, each with its own examination, experience requirements and reciprocity arrangements. An electrician working across Missouri may need more than one local licence, which is worth planning around before taking work in a new jurisdiction.

St. Joseph at $97,350 by an enormous margin, then St. Louis at $77,170, Kansas City at $76,860, Joplin at $67,720 and Jefferson City at $67,630 — all above the statewide median of $65,410. St. Joseph's figure is nearly thirty-two thousand dollars above the state median, which is the widest metro outlier in this batch.

Concentrated industrial employment in a small labour market. St. Joseph's economy is anchored by food processing and manufacturing plants where maintenance electricians work with drives, controls and medium-voltage distribution on production lines that cannot afford downtime, and organised commercial work supports the rate further. In a market that size, a handful of large employers competing for a limited pool of qualified industrial electricians produces $97,350.

Missouri's graduated income tax tops out at 4.8%, relatively gentle on overtime compared with other graduated states. Kansas City and St. Louis each levy a 1% earnings tax charged on work performed inside the city, so a job site downtown attracts it even if you live elsewhere — worth noting for a trade whose work moves.

That in Missouri the sector matters more than the city, and that the metro table can mislead. St. Louis and Kansas City are large construction markets with a deep supply of tradesmen and a lot of residential and light commercial work, so the median clears around $77,000. St. Joseph is a small industrial market where the electricians in demand are plant maintenance specialists working controls, drives and distribution — a narrower, more skilled slice of the trade. The $97,350 figure is that slice being measured on its own rather than diluted.

Portability, and a clean career ladder. In Colorado or Wisconsin a state credential travels with you and the wage bands step up at each tier. In Missouri an electrician licensed in one city may need to qualify again in the next, which raises friction and makes the local employer relationship more important. It also lowers the barrier at entry, which is part of why the bottom of the Missouri band — $43,860 and $49,810 — sits so far below the industrial tier.

It is a wage figure, not a compensation figure. On organised Missouri work, pension and health contributions add substantially to what the survey records, and prevailing wage applies to public projects. Industrial plant maintenance runs shift work, call-outs and heavy overtime, so annual earnings in the upper half of the band reflect hours and disruption as well as rate. And self-employed electricians running small residential shops are largely outside the payroll survey.