How much do wireless technicians make in 2026?
Wireless technicians are counted in the BLS radio, cellular and tower equipment installers and repairers series: OEWS May 2025 gives SOC 49-2021 a national median of $63,520 a year ($30.54 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $44,460 and the top 10% at $103,990. The series is small, at 11,140 workers, and pools climbing-focused tower work with ground-based radio and cell site technicians. The distinction inside that pool matters for pay. Climbing is a physical qualification; integration is a technical one. A wireless technician who can install and align antennas is valuable, but one who can also commission the radios, configure the baseband unit, bring the site's transport and power up, run sweep and PIM testing and hand a working sector to the network operations centre is doing work that requires understanding the radio network, not just the hardware. Those technicians sit at the top of this band and are the ones employers chase between contracts. Employment is also unusually project-shaped: spectrum deployments and technology upgrades create waves of work, and technicians follow them, with per-diem and travel forming a real part of income. Employment is projected to grow 8.6% through 2034 with roughly 1,200 openings a year. → Full wireless technician career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $63,520 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Wireless Technicians earn a national median $63,520/yr ($30.54/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 49-2021); the P10 to P90 range is $44,460 to $103,990.
- Climbing is a physical qualification; integration is a technical one — commissioning radios, configuring baseband, bringing up transport and testing a sector is what pays at the top of this band.
- The work is project-shaped: spectrum deployments and technology upgrades create waves of hiring, and technicians follow them with per-diem and travel forming a real share of income.
- The series pools climbing-focused tower work with ground-based radio and cell site technicians across only 11,140 workers nationally.
US Wireless Technician Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do wireless 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 49-2021; 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 49-2021, 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 wireless technician earn at each career stage?
Wireless pay follows how much of a site you can bring into service. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 49-2021.
By State
Which states pay wireless technicians the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national radio and cellular equipment installer median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Wireless work follows deployment programmes, and technicians travel to them, so project rates and per-diem matter more than any state's wage level.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($73,050), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay wireless 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. Densification and small cell work concentrates in large metros.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a wireless 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 wireless technician pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Wireless 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 wireless technician wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a wireless 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
Wireless Technician Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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