ELElectrician
EL
Career

Electrician

By the numbers
Typical pay
$63,190 / yr
Education to start
High school diploma or equivalent
Future demand
+9.5% by 2034
People in this job
757K
Figures shown for ·1 O*NET occupation
The work
Watch · day in the life
A day, hour by hour
06:30
Site prep & review

Scan the day's blueprints, load the van, confirm which circuits get touched.

07:00
Rough-in wiring

Run wire through walls and conduit — the bulk of the morning's physical work.

09:15
Panel install

Mount the breaker panel and connect it to the incoming service lines.

10:30
Code check & judgment call

Spot sketchy old wiring — flag it to the client even though nobody asked.

11:00
Test & troubleshoot

Hit every circuit with a multimeter; chase down one dead outlet to its root cause.

12:30
Tight-space run

Crawl the crawlspace and climb the attic ladder to finish the last wire runs.

13:30
Inspection walkthrough

Walk the inspector through the work; confirm every connection meets code.

14:30
Punch-list & wrap

Fix the two items the inspector flagged, clean up, and close out the job.

Things you do
  • Run wire through walls, ceilings, and conduit to power a building.
  • Troubleshoot a dead outlet or tripped breaker and fix the root cause.
  • Read blueprints to figure out exactly where wiring and panels go.
  • Install circuit breaker panels and connect them to the electrical grid.
  • Test circuits with a multimeter to make sure everything is safe.
Decisions you’ll make
  • Is this wiring safe to work on, or do I need to shut the whole panel down first?
  • Is this a quick fix, or a sign of a deeper problem I need to trace?
  • Does this meet code, or do I need to redo it even though it works fine?
  • Should I flag this sketchy old wiring to the client, even if they didn't ask about it?
  • Can I finish this run the faster way, or will that create a hazard down the line?
Education Pathways · how you get there
5 in 100 went the college route · 95 in 100 found another way in None, typically
Education mapped from O*NET:Electricians · 98% related
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