Yes—electricians can earn $100,000 a year. The highest-paid 10% of electricians earned more than $108,510 in May 2025. Your route to six figures may be a higher-paying field position, overtime, project leadership or owning an electrical contracting business.
What does a six-figure electrician salary take?
At 40 hours a week for 52 paid weeks, $100,000 works out to about $48.08 an hour. At $50 an hour, the same schedule pays $104,000 before taxes.
Overtime can also make a difference. For an illustrative job paying $40 an hour with overtime at time-and-a-half, 40 regular hours plus six overtime hours each week would produce $101,920 over 52 weeks. That assumes those hours are available and paid all year.
Where do higher earnings come from?
- More demanding field work. Build useful skills in troubleshooting, industrial controls, motors or complex installations. Compare actual pay rates for that work in your area.
- Leading crews and projects. Learn to plan labor, read drawings, coordinate work and keep projects on budget. Nationwide, construction managers earned a median $114,990 in May 2025. The highest-paid 10% earned more than $189,440. Those figures cover construction management across trades.
- Owning a contracting company. An owner can earn compensation for their work plus a share of business profits. Building that income takes customers, accurate estimates, reliable crews and disciplined cash management.
How much do North Carolina electricians make?
- NC electricians: the median is $56,800. The top 10% earn $75,060 or more.
- NC construction-trade supervisors: the top 10% earn $104,850 or more.
- NC construction managers: the median is $106,640. The top 10% earn $176,690 or more.
These are May 2025 BLS wage estimates. The NC supervisor and manager categories cover multiple construction trades, not just electricians, and none measures NC Limited, Intermediate or Unlimited license holders separately. In NC, six-figure employee pay shows up mostly in construction supervision and management.
The highest-earning electricians have licenses. They are normally owner-operators of mid-sized contractors (often multi-generational family businesses) or leaders at the largest private contractors in the state. Compare NC’s Limited, Intermediate and Unlimited requirements, and see how owner pay works in How Much Do Electrical Contractors Make? Owner Income Explained.
Prepare for your next electrical license with JCR
Practice code lookups and calculations, work through mock exam questions and get ready for test day.
Live classes teach the 2020 NEC. Check your state’s exam requirements before choosing a course. NC prep includes NC business and law. For another state, also study any business-and-law material required for your license. JCR carries the 2020 NEC softbound code book.
Already licensed? Earn your CE with JCR
Choose in-person classes, live Zoom or recorded courses. Review NEC navigation, grounding and bonding, and other electrical topics. Check the course’s NEC edition, state approval and credit hours before enrolling.
See CE courses and class datesHow can a license help you earn more?
Get the license required for the work you want to do. A journeyman credential, master license and contractor license can serve different purposes. Check your state’s licensing requirements and official board links before choosing an exam.
- Pick your next role. Decide whether you want to advance in the field, supervise projects or run a business. Ask employers what skills and credentials they pay more for.
- Document your experience. Keep the employment records and supervisor verification your licensing program requires.
- Prepare to pass. Practice finding NEC rules, working calculations and answering questions within the exam’s time limit. Start with JCR’s free 25-question 2020 NEC test.
- Agree on the compensation. Before taking responsibility for a crew or becoming a company’s qualifying individual, discuss the duties, authority and pay.
Common electrician pay questions
Do electricians need overtime to make $100,000?
No. A straight-time rate of about $48.08 an hour reaches that level over 2,080 paid hours. Overtime is another route, but compare the required hours, travel and benefits as well as the annual total.
Why is the national median electrician salary lower?
The $63,190 national median combines workers at different experience levels, in different industries and locations. It is not a ceiling for an experienced electrician.
Does BLS include contractor-owner profits?
No. BLS wage estimates measure employee pay and exclude self-employed workers, business profit distributions and overtime premium pay. Compare an employee offer with employee wages. Evaluate a contracting business through its revenue, costs and owner cash flow.
Sources and JCR products checked October 26, 2026. Employee wage figures use May 2025 data. NC section added November 4, 2026.
