How much do industrial electricians make in 2026?
Industrial electricians are paid from the BLS electricians series: OEWS May 2025 reports the SOC 47-2111 national median at $63,190 a year ($30.38 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $42,640 and the top 10% at $108,510. There is no industrial-specific wage in the survey, and industrial work generally sits in the upper half of that band for a reason that is easy to quantify on site: when a production line stops, the cost per hour is enormous, so an electrician who can troubleshoot motor controls, variable frequency drives and programmable logic controller inputs is worth paying to keep. That is also why plant work carries call-out and shutdown premiums — planned outages run around the clock and are paid accordingly. Industrial electricians in the top decile are usually controls-capable maintenance leads or travelling shutdown specialists rather than construction hands. Employment across the electricians series is projected to grow 9.5% through 2034 with roughly 81,000 openings a year. → Full industrial 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.
- Industrial 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 one electrician wage, so industrial work sits in the upper half of the $42,640 to $108,510 electricians range rather than in a separate series.
- Controls capability — motor controls, variable frequency drives and programmable logic controller troubleshooting — is the specialism that plants pay a premium for, because downtime costs far more than the differential.
- Call-out and shutdown premiums are structural in plant work: planned outages run continuously and are paid at overtime rates for their duration.
US Industrial Electrician Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do industrial 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 an industrial electrician earn at each career stage?
Industrial pay follows controls capability, plant responsibility and outage work. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS electricians distribution (SOC 47-2111).
By State
Which states pay industrial 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. Industrial electrical pay follows industry rather than living costs: states with refining, chemical, automotive, semiconductor or food processing capacity have the plants, the outage seasons and the controls work, and those markets pay above the wage index would suggest. Licence requirements for in-plant maintenance also differ, with some states exempting maintenance work performed on the owner's own equipment.
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 industrial 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 an industrial 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 industrial electrician pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Industrial 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 industrial electrician wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does an industrial 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
Industrial Electrician Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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