Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2024
Electrician vs Sheet Metal Worker
Electricians earn a national median of $70,935 versus $67,236 for Sheet Metal Workers, a gap of $3,699 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Electricians have posted +11% 5-year wage growth versus +4% for Sheet Metal Workers.
How These Trades Stack Up
Electricians out-earn Sheet Metal Workers on national median by $3,699 — $70,935 versus $67,236, or about 6% more. That gap reflects differences in apprenticeship length, certification requirements, industry concentration, and union footprint between the two trades.
Electricians have grown faster — +11% over five years versus +4% for Sheet Metal Workers. Sustained growth gaps of this size can compound meaningfully over a 20-30 year career, so workers comparing the two trades should weigh growth alongside the headline median.
Both trades follow a 4-year apprenticeship pathway — paid on-the-job training combined with classroom instruction, registered through the U.S. Department of Labor at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/. Apprentice pay typically scales from roughly 40% of journeyman wage in year one to 95% by the final year.
Electrician
Electrical · 4yr apprenticeship
Sheet Metal Worker
Metalwork · 4yr apprenticeship
City-by-City Comparison
| City | Electrician | Sheet Metal Worker | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland, OR | $102,070 | $77,950 | +$24,120 |
| Seattle, WA | $101,600 | $102,680 | -$1,080 |
| Chicago, IL | $99,540 | $97,970 | +$1,570 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $95,090 | $62,550 | +$32,540 |
| San Francisco, CA | $93,750 | $98,140 | -$4,390 |
| Boston, MA | $83,450 | $69,040 | +$14,410 |
| Detroit, MI | $80,330 | $61,750 | +$18,580 |
| St. Louis, MO | $79,280 | $82,150 | -$2,870 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $76,820 | $79,490 | -$2,670 |
| New York, NY | $76,450 | $77,350 | -$900 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $76,120 | $78,560 | -$2,440 |
| Kansas City, MO | $74,560 | $81,500 | -$6,940 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $74,040 | $81,140 | -$7,100 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $64,950 | $46,800 | +$18,150 |
| Indianapolis, IN | $64,120 | $64,100 | +$20 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $63,890 | $63,830 | +$60 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $63,430 | $63,390 | +$40 |
| Columbus, OH | $63,160 | $65,460 | -$2,300 |
| Denver, CO | $63,010 | $60,730 | +$2,280 |
| Nashville, TN | $61,130 | $60,510 | +$620 |
| New Orleans, LA | $60,840 | $61,090 | -$250 |
| Atlanta, GA | $60,400 | $49,630 | +$10,770 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $59,940 | $53,320 | +$6,620 |
| Houston, TX | $59,180 | $56,020 | +$3,160 |
| Dallas, TX | $57,760 | $57,270 | +$490 |
| Miami, FL | $56,080 | $56,580 | -$500 |
| Charlotte, NC | $55,790 | $52,870 | +$2,920 |
| Raleigh, NC | $54,820 | $51,610 | +$3,210 |
| Tampa, FL | $53,790 | $48,770 | +$5,020 |
| San Antonio, TX | $52,650 | $54,830 | -$2,180 |
How These Numbers Are Calculated
All wage figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (2024) release at bls.gov/oes. National medians are the BLS-published median wages for the trade's Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code; metropolitan medians come from the same OEWS release at the metropolitan statistical area level. Five-year wage growth compares the current OEWS median to the same series five releases prior, expressed as a percent change. The Trade Pay Score weights raw pay (30%), wage growth (25%), employment depth (25%), and cost-of-living-adjusted purchasing power (20%) into a single 0-100 grade — read the full methodology.
Forward-looking employment projections through 2032 for both trades are published in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at bls.gov/ooh. Apprenticeship pathway detail comes from the U.S. Department of Labor's apprenticeship.gov registry. All three are public-domain federal data sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Electricians or Sheet Metal Workers make more money?
Electricians earn more on national median — $70,935 versus $67,236, a gap of $3,699 per 2024 BLS OEWS data. The full BLS dataset is published at https://www.bls.gov/oes/.
Which trade has stronger 5-year wage growth?
Electricians have posted faster wage growth at +11% versus +4% for Sheet Metal Workers. Sustained gaps in growth often compound meaningfully over a 20-30 year career.
How long is the apprenticeship for each trade?
Electricians typically complete a 4-year registered apprenticeship. Sheet Metal Workers typically complete a 4-year registered apprenticeship. Programs are listed at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/.
Which trade has better employment depth?
Electricians have 309,770 workers employed nationally; Sheet Metal Workers have 45,860. Larger employment bases generally translate into more job openings, easier mobility between employers, and lower volatility — useful when comparing the long-term resilience of two trade pathways.
Where can I find apprenticeships for either trade?
Registered apprenticeship programs for both Electrician and Sheet Metal Worker are listed on the U.S. Department of Labor's apprenticeship.gov site at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/, which lets you filter by trade, state, and city. Projected employment growth through 2032 for each occupation is published in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Electricians earn a national median of $70,935 versus $67,236 for Sheet Metal Workers, a gap of $3,699 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Electricians have posted +11% 5-year wage growth versus +4% for Sheet Metal Workers.
The side-by-side above pulls the the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey data for both Electrician and Sheet Metal Worker. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for Electrician versus Sheet Metal Worker, and which differences are large enough to influence a real decision.
Practical use of the comparison: read the data above, then drill into the individual Electrician and Sheet Metal Worker detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.