How much do power-line workers make in Illinois in 2026?

The median Illinois power-line worker earns $108,120 a year, which works out to roughly $51.98 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 release.

The spread across the pay scale is wide. Workers at the 25th percentile — those earlier in their careers or in lower-paying corners of the state — earn around $101,620 annually, or about $48.86 an hour. Workers at the 75th percentile pull in $126,440 a year, roughly $60.79 an hour. The gap between the bottom quarter and the top quarter is nearly $25,000 a year. That kind of spread doesn't happen by accident. It reflects differences in experience level, the type of employer (investor-owned utility, rural electric cooperative, or line contractor), the specific work performed (transmission versus distribution, underground versus overhead), and geography within Illinois.

Geography inside Illinois matters more than most people expect. The Chicago metro — Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane, and Will counties — is where the largest utilities and the densest transmission infrastructure sit. Contractors operating in that market tend to pay at the top of the scale because cost of living is higher and job complexity often demands experienced journeymen. Downstate markets — Peoria, Springfield, Carbondale — generally track lower, though rural electric cooperatives in those areas sometimes offer strong total compensation packages when housing costs are factored in.

Experience is the single biggest lever on pay. An apprentice starting out on a line crew is not earning anything close to $108,120. Apprenticeship programs for power-line work in Illinois typically run four to five years and combine on-the-job training with technical instruction covering pole climbing, rigging, transformer work, and high-voltage safety. By the time a worker reaches journeyman status, base pay moves up sharply. Workers with five or more years as a journeyman, particularly those qualified on transmission or substation work, are the ones most likely to be in the 75th percentile bracket.

Overtime is a significant part of real-world earnings for line workers that the BLS wage figures do not fully capture. The OEWS survey collects straight-time wage data. Storm restoration work is a fact of life in Illinois — ice storms in winter and severe thunderstorms in spring and summer routinely call out crews for extended shifts at time-and-a-half or double-time rates. A journeyman at the median base pay who works 200 hours of overtime in a storm year can add $15,000 to $20,000 or more to their annual take-home, pushing total earnings well above the 75th percentile figures shown here.

Specialization is another route to higher pay. Line workers who pick up certifications in substation maintenance, high-voltage cable splicing, or OSHA 10/30 safety instruction often move into crew lead or foreman roles faster. Foreman and crew supervisor positions frequently carry hourly rates above the 75th percentile figure of $60.79, plus additional responsibilities pay and sometimes vehicle allowances.

Some power-line workers in Illinois are covered by collective bargaining agreements. If that applies to you, the actual wage scale, overtime rules, and benefit provisions are spelled out in your specific agreement — check with your local directly rather than relying on statewide survey averages.

The BLS OEWS data has one more limitation worth knowing: it counts jobs, not workers. If a single journeyman works for two different contractors during the survey period, they may be counted twice or not at all depending on how the survey was structured. The figures here are solid benchmarks, but they are best used as a starting point for your own negotiation or job comparison — not as the final word on what any individual employer will offer.