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

The median Wisconsin power-line worker earns $105,820 a year, which works out to roughly $50.88 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That's a strong number for a physically demanding trade that keeps the lights on across the state — but where you land inside that range depends heavily on your experience, your employer, and how much overtime you log.

The bottom quarter of power-line workers in Wisconsin — the 25th percentile — earns around $82,150 a year, or about $39.50 an hour. Workers at this level are typically newer to the trade, still building their climbing hours and system knowledge, or working for smaller contractors or co-ops with tighter pay scales. The 75th percentile sits at $112,150 annually, roughly $53.92 an hour. These are journeymen with years of linework behind them, often holding specialized certifications or working for large investor-owned utilities with structured wage progressions.

The gap between the 25th and 75th percentile is about $30,000 a year — $14.42 an hour. That spread reflects real differences in skill, tenure, and employer type rather than just luck. Moving from one end of that range to the other is a realistic career arc for a Wisconsin lineworker who sticks with the trade and takes on more complex work.

Power-line work has a seasonal rhythm in Wisconsin that can push total earnings well above base wages. Ice storms, heavy winds, and severe summer weather drive emergency restoration work that frequently means extended overtime — sometimes double-time rates for long stretches. A lineworker at the median base of $50.88 an hour collecting time-and-a-half for 400 overtime hours in a bad weather year adds more than $10,000 to their annual take-home. Workers who are available for storm callouts and mutual-aid deployments to other states can see their W-2s jump significantly above what BLS figures capture, since BLS tracks straight-time wages, not total annual earnings with overtime.

Geography matters within Wisconsin. The Fox Valley and Milwaukee metro areas have larger investor-owned utility footprints and more transmission and substation work, which often pays at the higher end of the range. Rural electric cooperatives in the northern and central parts of the state are important employers too, and pay can vary — some co-ops match or beat utility wages, while others run leaner. Contractors who work for utilities on a subcontract basis round out the employer landscape, and their pay structures range widely.

The path into the trade in Wisconsin typically runs through a formal apprenticeship program, which combines on-the-job training with classroom instruction covering electrical theory, safety, pole climbing, and equipment operation. Apprentices start at a percentage of journeyman scale and step up in pay at regular intervals, usually every six months. Completing a full apprenticeship — generally four years — puts a worker in a strong position to earn at or above the median quickly.

Some Wisconsin power-line workers are covered by collective bargaining agreements. If you're in a union shop, your pay, benefits, and overtime rules are set by a negotiated contract. Get a copy of your local agreement and compare it against these BLS benchmarks directly — the contract language is the authoritative number for your situation, not any general figure.

Certifications and cross-training can move pay upward even after reaching journeyman status. Workers qualified on transmission lines, substation switching, or underground systems typically command higher wages than those limited to distribution overhead work. CDL-A licensing is effectively required for most line work and is a baseline expectation, not a differentiator — but additional endorsements for specialized equipment can help.

The BLS OEWS figures used here come from the May 2025 survey and represent employer-reported straight-time wages. They don't include overtime premiums, per diem, tool allowances, or benefits. For a trade with the overtime exposure that linework carries, total compensation packages often run noticeably higher than the base wage figures alone suggest.

Wisconsin's power grid is aging in many areas, and ongoing investment in reliability, renewable integration, and transmission upgrades means steady demand for experienced lineworkers is expected to continue. That fundamental supply-and-demand dynamic supports wages at the upper end of the range for workers with the right certifications and a track record on complex jobs.