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

The median power-line worker in Pennsylvania earns $106,230 per year, which works out to about $51.07 per hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That's a strong wage by any measure, and it reflects the real danger and physical demand the job carries — working at height on energized lines, in all weather, often on nights and weekends when the grid goes down.

The pay spread across Pennsylvania is meaningful. Workers at the 25th percentile — typically those with fewer years in the trade or working in lower-wage corners of the state — earn $92,030 annually, or roughly $44.25 per hour. Get to the 75th percentile and that number climbs to $117,940, about $56.70 per hour. That $25,910 gap between the bottom quarter and the top quarter tells you that experience, certifications, and the specific employer you land with all make a real difference to your take-home.

All figures on this page come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025.

To put Pennsylvania's numbers in context: power-line work is one of the higher-paying trades in the state full stop. Electricians in Pennsylvania typically earn a median closer to the low-to-mid $70,000s. Ironworkers and pipefitters sit in a similar range. Power-line workers clear most of them, and the reason is straightforward — the work is more physically hazardous, the on-call demands are heavier, and the training pipeline through apprenticeship is long and selective.

What actually moves your pay within the state comes down to a few concrete factors. Geography matters: workers near Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and their surrounding utility corridors generally see stronger wages than those in more rural parts of central or northern Pennsylvania, partly because of cost of living pressures on wages and partly because larger utilities operate more complex systems that require more skilled hands. Employer type also matters — investor-owned utilities, municipal electric authorities, and electrical contractors all pay differently, and the work mix (transmission vs. distribution, overhead vs. underground) affects both pay rate and overtime opportunity.

Overtime is worth calling out specifically. Power-line workers are among the trades most likely to log heavy overtime during storm restoration events. A worker sitting at the median base rate of $51.07 per hour earns $76.61 per hour once time-and-a-half kicks in. Workers in storm-heavy years routinely report that overtime adds $10,000 to $20,000 or more on top of their base annual pay. That income isn't guaranteed, but it's a real and recurring part of what the trade pays in Pennsylvania.

Apprenticeship starting wages are well below these medians. Most apprentice power-line programs in Pennsylvania start apprentices somewhere around 50–60% of journeyworker scale, stepping up incrementally over three to four years. That means an apprentice starting out might gross $46,000–$55,000 in their first year before overtime. By the final year of a four-year program, they're typically within a few percent of full journeyworker pay.

Benefits matter too. Most power-line workers in Pennsylvania — whether employed directly by a utility or through a contractor — receive health insurance, paid time off, and defined-contribution or defined-benefit retirement plans. The total compensation package at a major utility can add 30–40% on top of base wages when you factor in employer benefit costs. A journeyworker earning the $106,230 median wage could be looking at total compensation north of $130,000 when benefits are fully accounted for, though that figure is not directly reported in BLS wage data.

No union scale data is currently available for this specific trade and state on TradesPays, but collective bargaining agreements are common among utility workers in Pennsylvania. If your employer or hiring hall uses a CBA, your wage schedule may be structured differently from the BLS estimates above — confirm your step and scale directly with your local.

The bottom line: if you're comparing trades to enter or looking to benchmark your current pay, $106,230 median and $51.07 per hour is the number to hold in your head for a fully-qualified power-line worker in Pennsylvania as of May 2025.