Career Training Path › Electrician schools
Electrician schools
If you finish an electrician program and work as an electrician, expect to start around $42,640–$49,430 a year and reach the trade's median of $63,190 with experience; the top quarter earn $83,940 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025). There are 528 accredited campuses offering it; their graduates' actual first-year median, counting every graduate whatever job they took, was $34,710, with median debt of $11,000.
What you'd earn working as an electrician
Annual wages for the 757,220 people employed as electricians nationally — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. This is the figure to plan around if you intend to work in the trade.
How pay grows in this trade
Getting in: Most electricians train through a 4–5 year registered apprenticeship (union IBEW/NECA or non-union IEC/ABC) that pays from day one; a trade-school certificate can shorten it or earn credit.
- Apprentice pay starts around 40–50% of journeyman scale and steps up every 6–12 months.
- Journeyman license after ~8,000 hours plus the state exam; master electrician after further years and a second exam.
- Industrial, high-voltage, instrumentation and commercial foreman roles pay above the median; union scale with benefits is typical in large metros.
- A master license plus a contractor's license lets you employ others.
Typical time to mid-career pay: 4–5 (apprenticeship) years. Licensing and apprenticeship rules vary by state and employer — verify with your state board before enrolling.
What graduates of these programs actually earned
Federal College Scorecard medians for every federally aided graduate of these programs, whatever job they took after finishing — including part-time work, apprentice wages and work outside the trade. That is why they sit below the trade's wage ladder above. Use them to compare schools against each other, not to judge what the career pays.
Find electrician programs by state
50 campuses · $34,243 yr-1 pay Florida
41 campuses · $30,405 yr-1 pay North Carolina
38 campuses · $69,326 yr-1 pay Pennsylvania
27 campuses · $36,391 yr-1 pay Texas
27 campuses · $55,636 yr-1 pay Georgia
21 campuses · $38,499 yr-1 pay Oklahoma
17 campuses · $28,712 yr-1 pay Puerto Rico
17 campuses · $18,699 yr-1 pay Virginia
16 campuses · $38,419 yr-1 pay Kentucky
15 campuses · $24,629 yr-1 pay Minnesota
15 campuses · $41,294 yr-1 pay Ohio
15 campuses · $40,087 yr-1 pay Kansas
14 campuses · $39,230 yr-1 pay Mississippi
14 campuses · $39,039 yr-1 pay Arizona
13 campuses Tennessee
13 campuses · $27,295 yr-1 pay Louisiana
12 campuses · $28,003 yr-1 pay Illinois
11 campuses · $44,670 yr-1 pay New Jersey
11 campuses · $29,885 yr-1 pay Alabama
10 campuses · $35,191 yr-1 pay Michigan
10 campuses · $58,958 yr-1 pay Iowa
9 campuses · $46,717 yr-1 pay New York
9 campuses · $33,374 yr-1 pay Wisconsin
9 campuses · $44,465 yr-1 pay West Virginia
9 campuses · $28,723 yr-1 pay Oregon
8 campuses Utah
8 campuses Connecticut
6 campuses · $33,198 yr-1 pay South Carolina
6 campuses · $34,570 yr-1 pay Washington
6 campuses · $40,269 yr-1 pay Colorado
5 campuses · $49,662 yr-1 pay Maine
5 campuses Nebraska
5 campuses · $54,275 yr-1 pay New Mexico
4 campuses · $36,535 yr-1 pay Nevada
4 campuses · $35,949 yr-1 pay South Dakota
4 campuses · $40,992 yr-1 pay Wyoming
4 campuses Hawaii
3 campuses Indiana
3 campuses · $34,918 yr-1 pay Massachusetts
2 campuses Maryland
2 campuses · $33,198 yr-1 pay Missouri
2 campuses · $50,000 yr-1 pay North Dakota
2 campuses Rhode Island
2 campuses Arkansas
1 campuses Delaware
1 campuses Montana
1 campuses New Hampshire
1 campuses Palau
1 campuses
Where electrician graduates earn the most
Median program-level earnings one year after completion, states with 3+ reporting programs. Source: College Scorecard field-of-study data.
Public vs. non-profit vs. for-profit electrician schools
| School type | Campuses | Median earnings, yr 1 | Median debt | Avg completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public | 416 | $39,422 | $8,703 | 49% |
| Private non-profit | 17 | $36,391 | $12,000 | 70% |
| Private for-profit | 95 | $33,344 | $11,568 | 70% |
How to choose a electrician program
- Check accreditation first. Every campus listed here is accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, or awarded federally reported credentials. Each profile names the accreditor and links to the federal record.
- Compare completion, not just tuition. A cheap program that half the class never finishes costs more than it looks. Profiles show each campus's completion rate against its state average.
- Look at earnings a year out, by program. The Scorecard reports median earnings for graduates of this specific program at this specific campus where cohorts are large enough. That is the number to compare, not national averages.
- Ask about federal aid. "Title IV eligible: Yes" means FAFSA, Pell Grants and federal loans apply. Many also accept GI Bill and WIOA funding — ask.
- Verify state licensing where it applies. Trades like electrician may need a state license or certification after the program; the school should say which exam its graduates sit.
Earnings are median wages and self-employment income reported to the IRS (W-2 and Schedule SE) for graduates who received federal aid and were working and not enrolled, measured in the calendar year after finishing. They are pay only: health insurance, retirement contributions and other benefits are not included.
"What the trade pays" is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025): annual wages for everyone employed in the occupation nationally, at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles. The 10th–25th percentile band is a fair guide to entry-level pay; the 75th–90th to experienced workers. Program earnings (above) are lower because they count every graduate of the program in their first year, including part-time work, apprentice wages and jobs outside the trade.
Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 2022-23 Completions survey; College Scorecard June 2026; Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), September 2026), the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Completions survey, and the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP). Figures are federal medians and means for campuses in this program group; "not reported" means the federal file suppresses the value for privacy (small cohorts) — never an estimate.