Master Electrician
We place this role between $80,000 and $120,000 a year at mid experience, before overtime, bonus and on-call.
What this role pays.
That band is mid experience, built from our own engagement history. Experience and region move it - the salary calculator applies both.
The federal occupation this role reports under is Electricians (SOC 47-2111), May 2025. Nationally it reports a median of $63,190 , with the middle of the market between $42,640 and $108,510. BLS counts this job inside that occupation rather than publishing it separately, so the figures cover a slightly wider group than this exact title.
Where it pays most.
Electricians across the metros we cover, May 2025. BLS publishes a median for 112 of them and withholds the rest, where the local sample was too small to be reliable.
| Metro | Median | Employed there |
|---|---|---|
| Portland | $105,090 | 7,340 |
| Chicago | $102,350 | 17,720 |
| Seattle | $101,780 | 9,750 |
| urban honolulu hi | $100,270 | 2,290 |
| San Francisco | $92,830 | 9,060 |
| San Jose | $91,030 | 5,480 |
| Detroit | $81,990 | 11,210 |
| Minneapolis | $81,890 | 8,810 |
| McAllen | $46,930 | 670 |
| El Paso | $48,140 | 1,380 |
| Little Rock | $48,200 | 1,870 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. The last three rows are the lowest-paying metros in the same set. Headcount is metro-wide across every industry, not this trade alone.
Master Electrician vs Journeyman Electrician (Commercial).
The licence is what the company needs rather than what the job needs. A master's licence is what lets a contractor pull permits in a jurisdiction, so losing one can stop work in a way losing a journeyman does not. Reciprocity between states is partial and often means re-examination, which makes this a regional search rather than a national one. BLS counts masters inside the same electrician occupation as journeymen and apprentices, so the federal median below sits under this seat's band rather than describing it.
Journeyman Electrician (Commercial): what it pays and what the search takes
Credentials that move an offer.
- State Master License
- NFPA 70E
Licensing is a state question, not a national one. The Commercial Electrical hiring page carries the state-by-state position, and every market page names the authority for that state.
What the search actually takes.
Across 11 closed commercial electrical searches in 2026 year to date, our median was 30 days from first contact with the candidate to hire. That is not a time-to-fill benchmark - our clock starts when we reach the candidate, not when the requisition opened. The full distribution is in the Hiring Index.
Keep reading.
- 2026 Commercial Electrical Salary Guide - the full benchmark by role.
- Commercial Electrical recruiting - how we run this trade.
- Salary calculator - the band by experience and region.
- Commercial Electrical hiring in Houston - one market in detail.
- Hiring Index - how long our searches actually take.
Other Commercial Electrical roles we recruit
All 56 roles we recruit - every trade, every seat.