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

The median power-line worker in Virginia earns $76,590 a year, which works out to about $36.82 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.

Where you land on that range depends heavily on experience, employer, and the type of work you do. Workers at the 25th percentile — typically those earlier in their careers or in lower-cost regions of the state — earn around $60,740 a year, or roughly $29.20 an hour. Get to the 75th percentile and you're looking at $100,460 annually, about $48.30 an hour. That $39,720 spread between the bottom and top quartile is significant, and it reflects how much this trade rewards time in, certifications, and willingness to take on the harder jobs.

Virginia's power-line workforce covers a wide geography. Northern Virginia sits adjacent to the Washington, D.C. metro, where cost of living is high and utility contractors and co-ops tend to pay more to attract and keep crews. The Tidewater and Hampton Roads area has its own cluster of utility and industrial work tied to the naval and defense corridor. Meanwhile, rural areas in the Shenandoah Valley and southwest Virginia — served heavily by electric cooperatives — may offer lower base wages but often come with steady, year-round work and lower living costs.

Overtime is a real income driver in this trade. Power-line workers respond to outages, storms, and emergency restoration jobs that can stack hours well beyond 40 per week. A worker sitting at the median base rate of $36.82 an hour earns $55.23 per overtime hour. During a major storm response — like the ice storms or hurricanes that periodically hit Virginia — some workers log 60, 70, or even 80-hour weeks for stretches. That overtime income doesn't show up cleanly in the BLS annual figure, which is based on typical straight-time wages. In practice, total annual earnings for active storm-response workers often run noticeably above the published median.

Apprenticeship is the standard path into this trade. Most workers complete a multi-year apprenticeship program — typically four to five years — that combines on-the-job hours with classroom instruction covering electrical theory, climbing, rigging, and safety. Pay steps are built into apprenticeship schedules, which means a first-year apprentice earns significantly less than the published percentile figures above. Those figures represent journeyperson-level workers, not apprentices still progressing through the program.

Certification and endorsements can move your pay up. Linemen who earn certifications in underground distribution, substation work, or high-voltage transmission gain access to specialized crews that tend to pay at or above the 75th percentile. CDL-A licensing is effectively required for most line work and keeps workers eligible for the full range of crew positions. Workers who also pick up foreman or crew lead responsibilities often push well past the $100,460 threshold shown here.

Some power-line workers in Virginia are covered by collective bargaining agreements. If you're in a union shop, your wages and benefits are set by your local's agreement — check that document directly for your exact pay scale, overtime rules, and benefit contributions. The numbers on this page are statewide averages across both union and non-union workers.

The BLS data also doesn't capture the full compensation picture. Employer-paid health insurance, per diem travel pay on out-of-town jobs, tool allowances, and retirement contributions all add to the real value of a power-line job. A take-home wage of $36.82 an hour with solid benefits and regular per diem can be worth considerably more than a higher base rate with thinner benefits elsewhere.

If you want to move from the median toward the 75th percentile, the most direct routes are: completing your journeyperson hours and any relevant certifications, picking up CDL-A if you don't already have it, and positioning yourself for transmission or substation work rather than strictly distribution line work. Employers in the Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads corridors tend to pay at the higher end of the state range, so geography is worth considering if you have flexibility on where you work.