Electrician hourly rate: what to charge and why it varies

An electrician's billing rate must cover the people the job requires, payroll costs, overhead and profit. Licensing and supervision determine who may do the work; local wages help you budget labor, but they are not customer billing rates. Use the hourly rate calculation with those inputs.

Check the license and supervision rules for the job

License titles are not a national pricing ladder. For example, Texas TDLR lists apprentice, residential wireman, journeyman and master licenses, alongside specialist categories. California combines contractor licensing with electrician certification.

Check what each person may do, who may apply for the permit and what supervision the work needs. California's registered trainee guidance allows a certified electrician to supervise one electrician trainee; do not assume that rule applies to every apprenticeship category or another state.

Calculate each worker's cost separately, even if the customer sees one crew rate.

What an electrician's hour costs before you mark it up

The Bureau of Labor Statistics electrician profile reports a May 2025 median wage of $30.38 an hour. That is employee pay, not what a contractor charges the customer.

For local comparisons, use the BLS occupational wage tables. Select the release year, your state or metro area, and occupation 47-2111, Electricians. Compare the same measure, such as median hourly wage, across locations. Helpers are listed separately under 47-3013. Record the year alongside any figure you put in a costing sheet.

Use those figures to assess a hiring budget, then cost the actual workers and supervision needed for your jobs. A local median does not determine your own payroll or minimum selling price.

From wage to cost

A wage is not what the hour costs you. On top of it you pay employer Social Security at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45% — 7.65% together, with Social Security stopping at the $184,500 wage base for 2026. Add FUTA at 6.0% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages, dropping to 0.6% if you qualify for the full 5.4% state credit; a handful of states in credit reduction pay more. Then add your state unemployment rate, your workers' comp premium per $100 of payroll, and whatever you carry for health insurance, retirement, paid time off and drive time. The federal pieces are published each year in IRS Publication 15. Comp and benefits depend on your own coverage and payroll, so use your own payroll, not a burden multiplier you read somewhere.

Burdened cost is not a price either — truck, tools, insurance, unpaid hours and margin sit on top. Your actual wage and payroll burden form the labor-cost input; the selling rate must also recover the rest of your costs and profit.

Include permit and inspection time in the price

Ask the local building department who may apply, which code edition and amendments apply, and what the permit costs. Do not assume that holding an employee certification also authorizes you to contract or pull permits independently.

Budget the application, any load calculation, inspection attendance, utility coordination and possible reinspection. State whether fees are passed through at cost or included in the job total, and price your administrative and site time as well.

Check prevailing wage and workers' compensation

The U.S. Department of Labor's Davis-Bacon guidance explains the wage and fringe-benefit requirements for covered federal and federally assisted construction. Coverage is project-specific; a public job may also have state or local prevailing-wage terms. Read its wage determination and contract before bidding.

Get workers' compensation costs for your actual work and payroll from the insurer or state fund that covers you. Do not substitute a national percentage for your premium.

Keeping the rates straight

Save the selling rates you calculated in DoneQuote as separate services, including permit-and-inspection labor where needed. Import an existing price list if useful, then review the imported prices and each draft's staffing, hours, fees and scope before sending.

Before you quote the next panel

• Check the applicable license and supervision rules, then cost the workers the job requires.
• Use dated local BLS wages as hiring context; add your actual payroll taxes, compensation insurance and benefits.
• Bill permit and inspection work as its own line: the fee is pass-through, the hours are not
• Check the project for prevailing wage, and your class code with an agent or your state fund