How much do electricians make in Washington in 2026?

The median electrician salary in Washington is $95,220 a year, which works out to roughly $45.78 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That figure puts Washington electricians well above the national median and reflects a state where large commercial construction, data center buildouts, and strong code-compliance requirements keep demand for licensed journeymen consistently high.

Pay spreads wide across the state. At the 25th percentile, electricians earn $66,630 annually — about $32.03 an hour. These are typically workers early in their careers, still building hours toward a journeyman license, or those working in lower-cost metro areas and rural counties where project volume is thinner. At the 75th percentile, the number climbs to $121,530 a year, roughly $58.43 an hour. That upper tier represents experienced journeymen and master electricians who have specialty certifications, years of commercial or industrial project experience, or who consistently pick up overtime.

The gap between the 25th and 75th percentile is $54,900 per year. That spread tells you something important: in Washington, what you know and where you work matters at least as much as your license. An electrician doing residential service work in a smaller market is going to land near the bottom of that range. One running gear on a hospital expansion in the Puget Sound region, or commissioning switchgear on an industrial site in the Tri-Cities or Vancouver corridor, is going to be closer to the top.

Geography within Washington creates real wage differences. The greater Seattle metro — King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties — drives the bulk of high-wage commercial work. Major tech campuses, high-rise construction, light rail expansion, and utility-scale projects all generate sustained demand. Spokane and eastern Washington follow behind, with a mix of agricultural, industrial, and municipal work that tends to pay closer to the state median. The Olympic Peninsula and more rural areas of the state will generally fall below the median, with fewer large-project opportunities.

Overtime is a meaningful factor in this trade. A journeyman earning $45.78 an hour straight time can push annual take-home significantly higher during busy project cycles. On a heavy commercial job, 10 to 20 hours of overtime per week over several months adds up fast. The BLS figures capture base wages but don't reflect what electricians actually bank in a big-project year with consistent OT.

Specialty work also pushes pay up. Electricians who add certifications in fire alarm systems, low-voltage, photovoltaic installations, or industrial controls can move into roles where the hourly rate exceeds what a standard residential or light-commercial journeyman earns. High-voltage transmission and substation work is another path to the upper end of the range.

Licensing in Washington is managed by the Department of Labor and Industries. An electrical trainee must log 8,000 hours under a licensed journeyman, pass state exams, and meet continuing education requirements to reach journeyman status. The master electrician credential requires additional experience and testing. Each step in that progression typically comes with a pay bump, and having your license current and your continuing education up to date keeps you in the running for higher-paying employer contracts.

Some electricians in Washington work under collective bargaining agreements. The pay and conditions in those agreements vary by local and by contract cycle. If you're covered by a union contract, your agreement is the most accurate source for your actual wage scale — check directly with your local for current rates and fringe benefits, which can represent a significant part of total compensation.

All figures on this page come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. BLS surveys employers and captures base wages; it does not include overtime premium pay, per diem, or the value of benefits like health insurance and pension contributions. Your real annual earnings may be higher than what the percentile figures suggest.