Lineworker Salary: What US Line Workers Earn

US electrical power-line installers and repairers earned a median wage of $95,320 in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 survey, the most recent available. The spread is wide: $51,470 at the tenth percentile, $67,270 at the twenty-fifth, $109,740 at the seventy-fifth and $128,690 at the ninetieth. There were 131,070 people in the occupation, and BLS projects about 10,900 openings a year through 2035.

Those are national figures for the whole occupation, which mixes first-year apprentices with journeymen and foremen. The percentile spread is the useful part, because it shows roughly where a career goes rather than where it starts.

The national picture

Percentile	Annual wage
10th	$51,470
25th	$67,270
50th (median)	$95,320
75th	$109,740
90th	$128,690
Mean	$91,970

The mean sits below the median, which is unusual and tells you something: the distribution is weighted towards the upper end, with a long tail of lower-paid entry and apprentice positions pulling the average down rather than a small number of very high earners pulling it up.

Where the money is

Geography matters more in this trade than in most, and not in the direction you might expect from employment counts alone.

State	Employment	Median wage
Texas	17,280	$78,940
California	8,930	$129,040
Florida	6,420	$86,870
New York	5,840	$121,280
North Carolina	5,650	$77,270

Texas employs by far the most line workers and pays a median well below the national one. California employs about half as many and pays a median of $129,040 — above the ninetieth percentile nationally. Cost of living accounts for a good deal of that gap but not all of it, and it is worth weighing against the fact that the largest job markets are not the best-paying ones.

How related utility jobs compare

Occupation	Median	Employment
Nuclear power reactor operators	$122,890	5,150
Power distributors and dispatchers	$106,730	8,520
Powerhouse, substation and relay repairers	$103,020	20,720
Power plant operators	$102,040	29,320
Line installers and repairers	$95,320	131,070
Stationary engineers and boiler operators	$78,620	28,250

Line work is the largest of these occupations by a wide margin and sits in the middle on pay. The plant and control-center roles pay more per head but are far smaller, and several are projected to shrink — power plant operator employment is forecast to fall 5.1% through 2035 while line work grows 10.3%. If you are choosing between them, that difference in direction is at least as important as the difference in median.

Why the range is so wide

A gap of $77,000 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles is unusually large for a single occupation, and four things drive it. Time served is the biggest: apprentice rates step up through a multi-year program, so a first-year apprentice and a journeyman of fifteen years sit in the same OEWS row. Sector is next — utilities, contractors and local government all employ line workers on different pay structures. Geography moves the number by more than fifty percent between the largest-employing states. And role matters at the top end, where foremen, troubleshooters and transmission specialists sit well above the median. When someone quotes you a lineworker wage, the useful follow-up question is which of those four they are describing.

What the figures do not show

Three things worth holding in mind before you plan around a median.

Overtime and storm work. OEWS reports annual wages from employer-reported figures, but the earnings people actually talk about in this trade are heavily shaped by callouts and storm restoration, which vary by year, employer and region. A good storm season is not in the percentile table.

Progression. An apprentice does not earn the median. Apprentice rates are set as a percentage of the journeyman rate and step up through the program, so the early years sit near the bottom of that distribution by design.

Who you work for. Utilities, contractors and local government all employ line workers, and they do not pay alike. The national median blends all of them.

Getting to the point where the number applies to you

All of this is contingent on getting hired, and for most utility employers that runs through an aptitude battery before anyone discusses pay. For construction and skilled trades roles that is usually the CAST or CAST-R: 110 questions in 87 minutes across drawings, mechanics, reading and arithmetic, with the 44-question mechanical section the one that most often decides it.

Given the wage at stake, the preparation is the cheapest part of the process by a wide margin. Start with a free timed demo to see where you stand, and the full battery practice if you want the whole thing in order.

Frequently asked questions

How much do line workers make?

The May 2025 national median was $95,320 a year, with a tenth percentile of $51,470 and a ninetieth of $128,690. State medians range from about $77,000 in North Carolina to about $129,000 in California among the largest-employing states.

How much do apprentices earn?

Less than the median, by design — apprentice rates are typically a stepped percentage of the journeyman rate. BLS does not publish a separate apprentice wage, so the employer's or committee's own schedule is the source to use.

Is line work a growing job?

Yes. BLS projects 10.3% employment growth for line installers and repairers between 2025 and 2035, with about 10,900 openings a year, against declines in several plant operating occupations.

Which state pays line workers the most?

Among the largest-employing states, California, at a median of $129,040 — well above the national ninetieth percentile, though against a correspondingly high cost of living.