How much do maintenance technicians make in 2026?
Maintenance technicians are counted in the BLS maintenance and repair workers, general series: OEWS May 2025 puts the SOC 49-9071 national median at $49,590 a year ($23.84 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $35,350 and the top 10% at $77,180. This is one of the largest occupations in the survey at more than 1.5 million workers, and it is deliberately residual — it collects anyone doing general repair work who is not classified in a specific trade. That is why the band is wide and why the title tells you very little. Residential property and light commercial maintenance sits in the lower half, where the work is turnovers, plumbing and appliance repair and general upkeep. Industrial and manufacturing maintenance sits in the upper half, where technicians troubleshoot machinery, hydraulics, pneumatics and controls, hold electrical competency and often work shifts. Certification and electrical or controls skill are how you cross between them. Employment is projected to grow 3.8% through 2034 with roughly 159,800 openings a year. → Full maintenance technician career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $49,590 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Maintenance Technicians earn a national median $49,590/yr ($23.84/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 49-9071); the P10 to P90 range is $35,350 to $77,180.
- SOC 49-9071 is a large residual occupation of more than 1.5 million workers, which is why the $35,350 to $77,180 band is so wide and the job title so uninformative.
- Residential and light commercial maintenance sits in the lower half; industrial and manufacturing maintenance with controls and electrical work sits in the upper half.
- Electrical competency, hydraulics and controls skills plus reliability certification are how technicians move between those two halves.
US Maintenance Technician Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do maintenance technicians 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 49-9071; 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 49-9071, 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 maintenance technician earn at each career stage?
Maintenance pay follows technical depth and setting rather than title. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 49-9071.
By State
Which states pay maintenance technicians the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Because the occupation is residual, local pay depends heavily on which employers dominate: manufacturing-heavy states pay industrial maintenance rates, while markets dominated by residential property management pay closer to the bottom of the band. Some tasks — refrigerant handling, electrical work above certain scope — carry federal or state licensing requirements regardless of job title.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($57,030), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay maintenance technicians the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national 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 maintenance technician’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 maintenance technician pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Maintenance Technicians 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 maintenance technician wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a maintenance technician 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
Maintenance Technician Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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