Low-Voltage Electrician (Security Specialty)
Federal figures put this role between $42,640 and $108,510 a year, with a national median of $63,190.
What the job actually is.
Runs and terminates the cabling infrastructure security systems depend on: pathways and conduit, structured cabling, device rough-in, power and PoE distribution, and terminations that meet both the manufacturer requirements and the electrical code sections that apply to limited-energy work.
What this role pays.
We have not closed enough physical security searches to publish a band of our own for this seat, so the figures above are the federal 10th to 90th percentile spread rather than a My Trade Talent band. They are national and not adjusted for experience or region.
The federal occupation for this role 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.
Where it pays most.
Electricians across the metros we cover, May 2025. BLS publishes a median for 100 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 |
| San Francisco | $92,830 | 9,060 |
| San Jose | $91,030 | 5,480 |
| Detroit | $81,990 | 11,210 |
| Minneapolis | $81,890 | 8,810 |
| Boston | $79,910 | 13,410 |
| 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.
Credentials that move an offer.
- State License
Licensing is a state question, not a national one. The Physical Security hiring page carries the state-by-state position, and every market page names the authority for that state.
What separates a strong candidate.
Everyone who applies for this seat will claim the experience. These are the things that distinguish the people who have it, and the questions that find out.
What to look for
- Licensing stated accurately for the state, because low-voltage licensure varies and matters
- Terminations and testing described with the standard used, not just "ran the cable"
- Understands where limited-energy work still falls under the electrical code
Questions that find out
- What licence do you hold for low-voltage work in this state and what does it cover? A strong answer Names the actual licence or registration rather than saying they are licensed, and knows what it permits and what it does not - which usually stops well short of line voltage work. Knows whether their state licenses alarm, security or low-voltage work separately, whether a company licence covers them or they hold it personally, and what continuing education or renewal it carries. Knows which work requires an electrician instead.
- How do you certify a structured cabling run and what do you do with a failed test? A strong answer Tests to the category and standard with a certifier rather than a continuity tester, and knows the difference, because a wire map proves nothing about performance. Saves the results per run with the labels matching the as-built. On a failure, reads which parameter failed and at what distance, because that points at the fault - a termination, a kink, a run too long, or an untwist at the jack - rather than re-terminating blindly.
- Where does your PoE budget run out on a switch and how do you plan for it? A strong answer Knows the switch has a total power budget separate from the per-port maximum, that the devices' draw at startup and at full load differs from their idle draw, and that heaters, infrared and pan-tilt cameras spike. Adds up the real worst-case load rather than the nameplate average, allows for cable loss over distance, and leaves headroom for growth. Checks the standard the devices need rather than assuming they all take the same.
- How do you pull and terminate cable in a plenum space so it passes inspection? A strong answer Uses plenum-rated cable and plenum-rated accessories, supported independently of the ceiling grid and other trades' work at the required intervals, not laid on the tiles or tied to a sprinkler pipe. Keeps it out of the way of access panels and equipment. Fire-stops every penetration with a listed system. Knows the inspector will look at support, the rating on the jacket, and what it is tied to.
- What is your approach to cable management in a crowded IDF? A strong answer Treats it as something the next person has to work in: cable routed and dressed with slack managed rather than pulled tight, bend radius respected, patch leads to length rather than coiled, horizontal and vertical management used, and everything labelled at both ends. Keeps power and data separated and the airflow clear. Says a messy IDF is where outages come from, because nobody can work in it without disturbing something live.
- How do you plan a job so the cable you pull today is still enough in five years? A strong answer Pulls pathway capacity rather than exactly the cable count needed: conduit and tray sized with spare, sleeves and pull strings left, and a category chosen with some headroom for what the devices will become. Documents the spare so somebody knows it is there. Says the cost of extra capacity during the rough-in is trivial next to opening ceilings later, and that this is the easiest argument to win with an owner.
- What separation do you keep from line voltage, and why? A strong answer Knows the code requires separation between power and communications circuits and that they cannot share a raceway or a box without a barrier, and knows the practical reason as well as the regulatory one: induced noise on data and the safety hazard if a power conductor fails. Keeps parallel runs apart and crosses at right angles where they must cross. Says what they do when the only pathway available is shared.
- How do you label so the as-built matches what is actually in the wall? A strong answer Labels at both ends as the cable is pulled rather than at the end of the job, to a scheme that matches the drawing and the patch panel, with durable labels rather than tape and marker. Updates the drawing as changes happen on site rather than from memory afterwards. Says the as-built is the deliverable the client keeps for twenty years and that most of them are wrong because labelling was left to the last day.
- How do you plan pathways and conduit fill for a cabling job? A strong answer Calculates fill against the code for the conduit size and number of conductors rather than filling until it is tight, allows for bends and pull tension, and knows exceeding fill damages cable on the pull and makes future work impossible. Plans pull boxes at the bend limits. Coordinates the route with the other trades before anything is installed, because the pathway argument is always lost late.
- What is your approach to fire-stopping at penetrations? A strong answer Uses a listed system that matches the assembly, the penetrant and the annular space rather than a tube of red caulk, and keeps the documentation for the system used. Knows a rated wall stays rated only if every penetration is sealed to a tested detail, and that adding a cable later means redoing it rather than pushing it through. Says they check their own penetrations before the inspector does.
- How do you handle a cable run that exceeds the distance limit? A strong answer Does not install it and hope. Knows the standard's limit and why it exists, and solves it properly: a closer IDF or equipment room, an extender or media converter rated for the application, or fibre with a switch at the far end. Checks what the device supports. Says a run over length may certify and still fail intermittently under load, which is the worst kind of fault to be called back to.
- What is your process for testing and certifying fibre? A strong answer Inspects and cleans every connector end face before testing, because contamination is the main cause of fibre faults and of damaged ports. Tests loss with a light source and power meter to the right reference method for the link, and uses an OTDR for length and event location on longer runs rather than as the acceptance test. Records results per strand. Knows the loss budget for the link before measuring.
- How do you deal with an existing cable plant with no documentation? A strong answer Surveys and documents rather than guessing: tones and traces what is live and what is abandoned, tests the runs they intend to use rather than assuming they are good, and labels as they go so the next person inherits something. Prices the survey as real work. Knows abandoned cable in a plenum is a code issue and raises its removal rather than leaving it. Will not reuse an unverified run on a life safety system.
- What is your approach to grounding a rack and its equipment? A strong answer Bonds the rack and the telecommunications grounding busbar back to the building ground with a conductor sized to the standard rather than daisy-chaining through equipment, and keeps the connections clean and tight with proper lugs. Knows ground loops cause the faults people blame on cable. Grounds the cable shields at the point the standard requires rather than both ends. Checks continuity rather than assuming the rack frame is bonded.
- How do you coordinate with the electrical contractor on shared pathways? A strong answer Agrees the routes and the elevations before anything goes up, in a coordination drawing rather than a conversation, and sorts out who owns which tray and where separation will be maintained. Knows low-voltage usually loses the argument late and so makes the case early. Builds a relationship with their foreman, because the practical cooperation on site is worth more than the drawing.
- What would make you refuse to reuse existing cable? A strong answer Names real triggers: it will not certify to the required category, the jacket rating is wrong for the space, it is damaged, kinked or has been run against a hazard, it cannot be traced or labelled reliably, or it is being reused on a life safety or access control circuit where its history is unknown. Says reusing cable to save a day is the decision that produces a fault six months later that nobody can find.
The mistake this seat invites
Assuming a licensed electrician can drop straight in. The code sections, the testing standards and the licensure are a different specialty, and the reverse assumption is just as wrong.
Where the role goes next
Low-voltage electricians move to lead, foreman, or across into systems technician and integration work. Candidates ask this in the first conversation, and an employer who cannot answer it loses the people who had other options.
Interview kit for this role
- All interview questions for this role in the question bank.
- Printable interview scorecard built from these questions and signals.
- The Physical Security hiring kit - every role in the trade, with credentials and offer risks.
- Offer calculator starting from this role's pay band.
What the search actually takes.
We have not closed a physical security search in 2026 year to date, so we publish no timing figure of our own for this seat rather than borrow one. The Hiring Index shows the trades where we do.
What we have open in Physical Security right now.
One live physical security search on our board as of November 12, 2026. These are roles contractors have asked us to fill, not a sample set.
- Account Executive - CCTV & Access Control Solutions - Omaha, Nebraska
Keep reading.
- 2026 Physical Security Salary Guide - the full benchmark by role.
- Physical Security recruiting - how we run this trade.
- Salary calculator - the band by experience and region.
- Physical Security hiring in Houston - one market in detail.
- Hiring Index - how long our searches actually take.
Other Physical Security roles we recruit
All 56 roles we recruit - every trade, every seat.
