Last updated October 31, 2026

How much to charge for electrical work in 2026

The hourly rate a one-truck electrician needs to charge, built from what electricians actually earn, a price list for 12 common jobs with the arithmetic shown, what moves the number, and the mistakes that cost the most.

Short answer: a one-truck electrical business that pays its owner what the median electrician earns, carries normal overhead, and keeps a 20 percent margin needs about $85 an hour. To pay yourself like the top quarter of electricians, charge about $100. Top ten percent, $115. Below $75 you are subsidizing the customer with your own wages. Every number on this page is built from published wage data and a model you can see, and the price list further down uses the $100 rate.

Electrical is a licensed trade with a real barrier to entry, and that shows up in the wage data: the top quarter of electricians earn over $40 an hour as employees, and the top ten percent over $52. The contractor rate has to sit above that, because the licensed electrician who goes out on their own is giving up a wage near the top of the trades and taking on the liability that comes with being the name on the permit.

Electrical pricing splits into two kinds of work that should never share a rate. Service calls, where a customer has a dead circuit or wants a fan hung, are short, interrupt the day, and are priced by the task with a trip fee. Project work, panels, rewires, EV chargers, additions, is scoped and priced as a job with a permit and an inspection, and the schedule depends on the inspector. The mistake new contractors make is pricing project work at the service-call rate, or giving service calls away to win projects.

What electricians earn, and what that means for your rate

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 757,220 people working as electricians in its May 2025 survey and published what they are paid. That is the wage an employer pays an employee, which is the floor for what an owner-operator should pay themselves. A rate is built on top of it: the hidden cost of an hour of labor, the overhead of running a truck, the hours you cannot bill, and a margin. The model here uses a 22% labor load for payroll taxes, workers comp and the liability share, $32,000 a year of overhead for the truck, insurance, phone, software, tools and licenses, 1,100 billable hours a year, and a 20% margin. Change any input and the rate moves; the hourly rate calculator runs it with your numbers.

If you pay yourself like the	BLS wage	Loaded	Overhead per hour	Rate to charge
Bottom quarter	$24	$29	$29	$75
Median	$30	$37	$29	$85
Top quarter	$40	$49	$29	$100
Top ten percent	$52	$64	$29	$115

Rate = (wage × 1.22 + $32,000 ÷ 1,100) ÷ (1 − 0.2), rounded to $5. Wages: BLS OEWS May 2025, electricians, national.

The $32,000 overhead covers a van, liability insurance, the master license and continuing education, test equipment, and a stocked inventory of devices and wire that ties up cash. Electricians in strict-license states price well above the median row because the licensed supply is small. The rate here is for scheduled work; service calls carry a trip or diagnostic fee on top.

A electrical price list, with the math

Flat prices for the jobs electricians quote most, built the same way every time: hours at the $100 rate, plus materials at cost with a 30 percent markup, rounded to $5. The hours and material costs are example inputs for a typical job in a typical market, stated so you can swap in your own. A job with a crew of two doubles the labor line. Device and fixture jobs assume existing boxes and wiring in good condition. Old wiring, missing grounds and aluminum branch circuits are priced after you open the box.

Job	Labor	Materials at cost	Price	What it assumes
Replace a standard outlet or switch	0.75 h	$8	$85	Existing box, grounded circuit
Install a GFCI outlet	1 h	$25	$135	Existing box
Add a new 20A circuit and outlet	3 h	$90	$415	Panel space available, under 50 ft run, unfinished path
Hang a ceiling fan, box rated for fan exists	1.5 h	$20	$175	Customer-supplied fan
Install a fan-rated box and ceiling fan	3 h	$45	$360	Attic access
Replace a light fixture	1 h	$10	$115	Customer-supplied fixture
Install recessed lights, six cans	6 h	$240	$910	Attic access, existing switch
Install a 240V dryer or range outlet	3 h	$110	$445	Panel within 30 ft
Install a Level 2 EV charger, 50A	5 h	$420	$1,045	Panel within 30 ft; charger customer-supplied; permit extra
Replace a breaker	1 h	$45	$160	Standard breaker
Panel upgrade, 100A to 200A	10 h	$1,300	$2,690	Overhead service, same location; permit and utility coordination extra
Whole-house surge protector	1.5 h	$130	$320	Panel space for a 2-pole breaker

Price = hours × $100 + materials × 1.3. Trip or diagnostic fees, permits and disposal are extra lines.

This is a sample. The free price book builder prices the full electrical book, 45 jobs, with your own wage, overhead and margin, and gives you the PDF for the truck and the spreadsheet that keeps the formulas.

What moves the price

Panel capacity. Half the "add a circuit" calls become "the panel is full." Look before you quote, and price the subpanel or the tandem breakers as a separate line.
The path. Fishing wire through a finished wall is two to three times the hours of running it through an attic or an open basement. The route sets the price more than the device does.
Permit and inspection. Panels, new circuits and EV chargers need them almost everywhere. The permit is a line; the inspection day is a line on the timeline so the customer knows the power schedule.
Old wiring. Knob-and-tube, aluminum branch circuits and ungrounded systems change the job. Say in the bid what you will do if you find them, and at what rate.
Utility work. Service upgrades depend on the utility's schedule for the disconnect and reconnect. The wait is not your fault but it is on your timeline, so write it there.

Hourly, flat rate, or by the unit

Flat rate for service work: outlets, switches, fans, fixtures, breakers. Customers compare these prices by phone, and a quick, firm number wins the call. Add a trip fee, commonly $75 to $125, that covers the drive and the first look and is credited if they go ahead.

Scoped job price for project work: panels, circuits, recessed lighting, chargers. Build it from hours and materials, add the permit as a line, and give one number. Hourly only for troubleshooting, with the first hour priced as a diagnostic, because a dead circuit can be a loose wire nut or a buried junction box.

A worked electrical bid

A panel upgrade from 100A to 200A, overhead service, same location. Ten hours of labor at the top-quarter rate from the table, which includes the utility coordination and the inspection visit. Materials at cost around $1,300: the panel, breakers, meter base, service entrance cable, grounding, marked up 30 percent. Permit on its own line at your jurisdiction's fee. Give the customer the total and the two dates that matter: the day the power is off and the inspection.

That lands in the $3,500 to $4,500 range most markets see for a straightforward upgrade. The sample panel upgrade estimate shows how the bid reads when it is written to be signed.

The pricing mistakes that cost the most

Quoting an EV charger without opening the panel. The customer heard "$600 installed" on a forum; your job is to show them the subpanel line before you both commit.
No trip fee on service calls, so three "quick looks" a week cost you a full day a month.
Pricing the fish job at the attic-run price. Finished walls are where the hours hide.
Forgetting that copper moved. Price wire from today's cost, not the roll you bought in the spring.

Writing the price into a bid that gets signed

The number is half the job. The other half is a bid the customer can say yes to from their phone: the scope in lines, one price, the deposit and payment terms, the warranty, a date it expires, and a signature. The free electrical estimate template is laid out that way in PDF, Word and Excel, and How to bid electrical jobs covers the scope lines that keep you out of arguments. If you want the typing done for you, BidWriter Pro turns your notes into a clean bid your customer signs on their phone, with the deposit paid by card. $29 a month, 30 days free.

Sources and method

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Electricians, national percentile hourly wages and employment.
Rate model: labor load 1.22, overhead $32,000 a year, 1,100 billable hours, 20% margin. Hours and material costs in the price list are example inputs, not survey data. Prices are examples, not advice for your market.

Questions contractors ask

How much do electricians charge per hour in 2026?

Built from BLS wages, a one-truck electrician paying themselves the median wage needs about $85 an hour and $100 to earn like the top quarter of the trade, plus a trip fee on service calls. Shops in strict-license states and metro areas commonly bill above that.

How much should I charge to install an EV charger?

About five hours at your rate plus the materials at cost with markup, plus the permit, when the panel is close and has room. That lands between $900 and $1,600 for labor and parts in most markets, before a subpanel if one is needed.

What is a fair trip fee for an electrician?

$75 to $125 is common, credited against the job if the customer proceeds. It pays for the drive and the diagnosis.

Should electricians charge hourly or flat rate?

Flat rate for devices and fixtures, a scoped job price for panels and circuits, hourly only for troubleshooting with the first hour priced as a diagnostic.

How do I price a panel upgrade?

Hours including the inspection and utility coordination, the panel and service materials at cost with markup, and the permit on its own line. Say in the bid which day the power is off.

Write a electrical bid from your notes

Type the job the way you would text it. It comes back as a finished estimate in about five seconds, in your words. No account.

Type a job the way you would text it

Only what you type goes on the estimate. Nothing gets added.

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Free, no account: estimate checker, job price calculator, markup vs margin, hourly rate, and 84 sample estimates.