Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2024
Electrician Salary in Seattle
2024 BLS OEWS Data · Electrical · COL Index: 149
Electricians in Seattle, WA earn a median annual wage of $101,600 per 2024 BLS OEWS data, with the 10th percentile at $59,020 and the 90th at $139,230. After cost of living, that translates to $68,188 in U.S.-average purchasing power. Trade Pay Score: B (74/100).
What Electricians Take Home in Seattle
The $80,210 spread between entry-level and top-decile electricians in Seattle is around 79% of the median — a typical range for skilled trades. Workers can roughly double their entry pay through a combination of experience, certifications, union membership, and moving from helper to journeyman to foreman roles.
Seattle's cost-of-living index of 149 is well above the U.S. average — meaning a electrician earning $101,600 here brings home roughly $68,188 in U.S.-average purchasing power. That gap between nominal and real pay is one of the largest in the country and reflects expensive housing, transportation, and services. Workers should weigh whether the headline pay actually clears the cost-of-living premium.
With a Trade Pay Score of 74 (B), electricians in Seattle land in the strong second tier. Pay, growth, and purchasing power are all solid but one factor — usually wage growth or cost-of-living-adjusted real pay — keeps the score below the A threshold. For most workers, B-graded combinations are perfectly reasonable career choices.
Salary Distribution
Percentile Breakdown
| Level | Salary | COL-Adjusted |
|---|---|---|
| 10th Percentile (Apprentice / Entry) | $59,020 | $39,611 |
| 25th Percentile (Early Career) | $75,650 | $50,772 |
| 50th Percentile (Journeyman / Median) | $101,600 | $68,188 |
| 75th Percentile (Experienced) | $124,970 | $83,872 |
| 90th Percentile (Master / Foreman) | $139,230 | $93,443 |
How These Numbers Are Calculated
Every wage figure here comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program at bls.gov/oes — a survey of about 1.2 million employers per release covering more than 800 occupations and every U.S. metropolitan statistical area. The Trade Pay Score combines raw median pay (30%), 5-year wage growth (25%), employment depth (25%), and cost-of-living-adjusted purchasing power (20%) into a single 0-100 grade. Read the full methodology.
Career outlook detail — projected 2032 employment levels for electricians, typical entry-level requirements, on-the-job training expectations — comes from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at bls.gov/ooh. Apprenticeship programs in Seattle are listed at apprenticeship.gov. All three are public-domain federal data sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a Electrician make in Seattle?
Per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data, the median electrician salary in Seattle, WA is $101,600. The 10th percentile is $59,020 (typical for entry-level or apprentice-tier positions); the 90th percentile reaches $139,230 (master, foreman, or specialty roles).
How does Seattle pay compare for Electricians?
With a Trade Pay Score of 74/100 and a grade of B, the Seattle-Electrician pairing is a strong combination but with one factor (usually growth or cost-of-living-adjusted real pay) holding it back from an A grade.
What is the apprenticeship path for Electricians in Seattle?
Electricians typically complete a 4-year registered apprenticeship before reaching journeyman pay, starting around the 10th percentile ($59,020) and progressing toward the median. Registered apprenticeship programs in the area are listed at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/.
How does cost of living affect Electrician pay in Seattle?
Seattle has a cost-of-living index of 149. The median electrician salary of $101,600 translates to $68,188 in U.S.-average purchasing power — a downward adjustment because the metro is more expensive than average.
Where does this salary data come from?
Every wage figure on this page is a real BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median or percentile from the 2024 release at https://www.bls.gov/oes/, which surveys roughly 1.2 million U.S. employers per release. Career outlook context (projected employment growth through 2032) comes from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/. Both are public-domain U.S. government data sources.
Electricians in Seattle, WA earn a median annual wage of $101,600 per 2024 BLS OEWS data, with the 10th percentile at $59,020 and the 90th at $139,230. After cost of living, that translates to $68,188 in U.S.-average purchasing power. Trade Pay Score: B (74/100).
this entity is one of the data points covered by this site’s U.S. skilled-trade wage data dataset. The detail above comes directly from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey; the context that follows situates the headline numbers against the broader distribution across U.S. trades, cities, and states.
Every number on this page links back to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey; the methodology page describes the inputs, refresh cadence, and known limitations of the underlying data product.
Practical use of this page is in combination with the comparison and ranking pages elsewhere on the site, which surface the same data for this entity’s peers within U.S. trades, cities, and states. A single-entity reading without peer context can be misleading when an entity is an outlier on one axis but typical on another.