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

The median annual pay for a power-line worker in Minnesota is $104,180, which works out to roughly $50.09 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour year. That puts Minnesota's power-line workers well above what most skilled trades workers earn in the state, and the top quarter of earners push significantly higher.

Here is how the full spread looks using BLS OEWS May 2025 data. Workers at the 25th percentile bring in $90,730 a year, or about $43.62 an hour. The median sits at $104,180 ($50.09/hr). Workers at the 75th percentile earn $115,740, which is approximately $55.64 an hour. That $25,010 gap between the bottom and top quartiles reflects real differences in experience, employer type, and the specific work a crew handles — transmission versus distribution, overhead versus underground, utility versus contractor.

Experience is the biggest single driver of where you land in that range. A lineman fresh out of a four- or five-year apprenticeship typically comes in somewhere near the 25th percentile. Five to ten years of journeyman time, with a track record on high-voltage transmission work or specialized equipment, is what moves a worker toward the median and beyond. Foremen, lead linemen, and workers who hold a Minnesota class C or higher electrical license for line work often clear the 75th percentile threshold.

Overtime plays a real role in take-home pay for this trade. Storms, grid expansion projects, and system outages mean power-line workers regularly log hours beyond a standard 40-hour week. Those extra hours at time-and-a-half can add thousands of dollars annually to a base salary that already sits near six figures. Workers on major transmission build-outs or rural electrification contracts may see sustained overtime stretches that substantially exceed these BLS figures, since the survey captures base wages and may not fully reflect all premium pay.

Geography within Minnesota matters more than people expect. The Twin Cities metro — Minneapolis, St. Paul, and surrounding suburbs — hosts major investor-owned utilities and large contractors handling dense distribution networks. Workers there tend to cluster near the median and above. Outstate Minnesota, including Duluth, Rochester, and the rural cooperative service territories, can offer comparable wages in some cases because cooperatives compete for the same licensed journeymen. Remote northern assignments sometimes include per diem or travel pay on top of the hourly rate, which the BLS survey does not capture in the wage figures above.

Employer type also shapes your paycheck. Investor-owned utilities, rural electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, and private electrical contractors all hire power-line workers, and their pay structures differ. Some employers offer defined-benefit pension plans, tool allowances, and vehicle use that effectively add to total compensation beyond the hourly rate. Some workers in this trade are covered by collective bargaining agreements — if that applies to you, your agreement is the authoritative source for your wage scale and benefits, not a statewide average.

To move your pay toward the 75th percentile or beyond, the clearest paths are accumulating hours on high-voltage transmission (as opposed to lower-voltage distribution work), picking up equipment certifications such as aerial lift, digger derrick, or underground cable operations, and taking on lead or foreman responsibilities. Some journeymen also add value through substation or metering crossover training. Employers competing for experienced linemen in Minnesota have been offering signing bonuses and accelerated pay steps in recent years to fill gaps left by retirements, which gives journeymen real negotiating leverage when changing employers.

The BLS OEWS figures used here are the most comprehensive public wage data available for this occupation in Minnesota. They are survey-based and represent a broad cross-section of employers statewide. They do not capture every fringe benefit, shift differential, or overtime premium — so your actual annual earnings can run meaningfully higher than the figures above, depending on your situation.