Electrician salary UK 2026: average pay, hourly rate and take-home
The average electrician salary is £41,190. Compare gross and estimated after-tax monthly pay, rough employee hourly-rate equivalents, and employed versus self-employed earnings.
How to read the official electrician salary figure
Electrician pay is often quoted in ways that mix salaries, day rates and business income. This page keeps those things separate. The ONS figure covers full-time employee jobs in the Electricians and electrical fitters group. It does not measure a self-employed electrician's turnover, profit or expenses, and it does not include every contractor arrangement.
That makes the figures most useful for comparing a permanent job, a payslip or an employed role. Typical pay sits close to the typical full-time UK pay, but the published range is wide. Experience, specialist work, overtime, travel and the type of employer can move an individual salary well away from the middle. The figures below show the national employee picture without pretending that one number fits the whole trade.
Which electrician jobs this figure fits
The ONS group covers employed electricians and electrical fitters. It is a salary guide for employee jobs, not a comparison with business turnover or a contractor invoice.
Good fit for this page
- Employed installation electricians
- Electrical fitters and maintenance electricians
- Permanent domestic, commercial or industrial electrical roles
Use a different comparison for
- Self-employed turnover before tools, van, insurance and downtime
- Electrical engineers in a different professional occupation group
- An apprentice wage before full qualification
Lower, typical and higher electrician pay
Only £3,066 separates the median from the published 60th percentile. A quick glance cannot show where your own pay sits inside that band or how close you are to the next salary point.
- Lower pay10th percentile£24,538
- Lower-middle pay25th percentile£32,287
- Typical payMedian£39,647
- Higher pay75th percentile£49,138
- Top 10% line90th percentile£57,786
Moving from the median to the published 60th percentile is £3,066 gross a year, or about £184 more a month after standard tax and employee National Insurance.
Compare your employed salary with the official electrician range, then add take-home pay and the real value of travel, overtime and work costs.
From the median to the published 60th percentile is £3,066 gross a year, worth about £184 more a month after standard tax and employee National Insurance.
Every published electrician salary point
See every published salary point
| Pay point | Annual salary | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | £24,538 | Below the occupation midpoint |
| 20th percentile | £29,952 | Below the occupation midpoint |
| 25th percentile | £32,287 | Below the occupation midpoint |
| 30th percentile | £33,973 | Below the occupation midpoint |
| 40th percentile | £36,922 | Below the occupation midpoint |
| Median | £39,647 | The published midpoint |
| 60th percentile | £42,713 | Above the occupation midpoint |
| 70th percentile | £46,387 | Above the occupation midpoint |
| 75th percentile | £49,138 | Above the occupation midpoint |
| 80th percentile | £51,921 | Above the occupation midpoint |
| 90th percentile | £57,786 | Above the occupation midpoint |
The paid report estimates a position between two published points. It does not claim an exact ranking of every worker.
Electrician salary per month and after tax
At the average electrician salary of £41,190, gross pay is about £3,432 a month. A standard 2026/27 estimate gives electrician take-home pay of about £2,765 a month after tax and employee National Insurance. The ONS median remains £39,647 and is shown in the detailed pay range below.
The estimate uses the standard Personal Allowance, Income Tax bands for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and employee National Insurance. It does not include pension, student loan, salary sacrifice or a different tax code. Scottish Income Tax is different.
Average electrician salary and the wider pay range
The lower published point is £24,538, the typical salary is £39,647, and the top 10% line is £57,786.
The gap between lower and higher employee pay is large. That fits a trade where qualifications, industrial work, maintenance duties, call-outs and overtime can differ sharply. Self-employed earnings need a separate comparison because revenue is not the same as personal pay after costs.
Electrician hourly rates, starting pay and self-employed earnings
Annual employee pay, an hourly wage and a self-employed charge-out rate are not the same measure. Keeping them separate avoids making an electrician salary look higher or lower than it really is.
Electrician hourly rate
Dividing the £39,647 median by a full working year gives a rough employee equivalent of £20.33 an hour at 37.5 hours a week, or £19.06 at 40 hours. This is not the hourly rate a business charges a customer.
Starting and qualified electrician salary
The £24,538 10th-percentile point shows the lower end of full-time employee pay, but it is not an official apprentice or starting salary. Qualification, sign-off, work setting, travel, call-outs and overtime all affect the comparison.
Self-employed electrician salary
There is no directly comparable self-employed electrician salary in this employee table. Turnover and quoted hourly rates must first cover materials, vehicle costs, insurance, unpaid time, tax and other business expenses before they become personal income.
Useful next step: convert a salary into an employee hourly rate, then compare it with your true cost of working.
What usually changes electrician pay
The median is close to typical full-time UK pay, but the occupation includes very different kinds of work. A domestic installer, an industrial maintenance electrician and a specialist controls technician may share a broad title while carrying different risk and responsibility.
Qualification and sign-off
The ability to complete and certify work independently changes the level of role an employer can offer. Check the required qualification and the work you will be authorised to do.
Work setting
Domestic installation, commercial projects, industrial maintenance and control-panel work have different working patterns and levels of specialist responsibility.
Call-outs, travel and overtime
Emergency work, nights, weekends and travel can lift total earnings. Compare the base salary first, then value the variable additions separately.
Low-carbon specialisms
Solar, electric vehicle charging, smart controls and low-carbon heating systems can widen the work available to an experienced electrician.
Qualifications, day-to-day work and progression
The National Careers Service describes electricians as installing power, lighting and renewable technology, as well as testing and repairing electrical systems and machinery. The job can be based in homes, businesses, construction sites or industrial settings, sometimes in cramped spaces or at height.
Entry normally involves structured training, often through an apprenticeship. An experienced worker without the usual Level 3 route may be able to have existing skills assessed. Some sites and employers also expect proof of qualifications through the Electrotechnical Certification Scheme.
Progression can move towards supervision, project work, specialist maintenance or low-carbon installation. Those changes often matter more to pay than the word electrician on its own, which is why the ONS range is more useful than one advertised average.
What to check in an electrician offer
Keep the employed package separate from contractor or self-employed rates.
- What qualification, grading and sign-off responsibility does the job require?
- Are call-outs, overtime and travel paid separately from the base salary?
- Who pays for the van, fuel, tools, testing equipment, training and certification?
- Does the role include holiday pay, pension and paid downtime between jobs?
Where the salary and industry information comes from
The pay figures are from the Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14, 2025 provisional edition. They cover full-time employee jobs, and annual figures normally relate to people who have been in the same job for more than one year. They do not cover self-employed people.
| Official job group | Electricians and electrical fitters |
|---|---|
| Quality | ONS rates this estimate precise (CV of 5% or less). The published median CV is 2.7%. In plain English, this is one of the more dependable ONS estimates for the occupation. |
| Jobs in the estimate | About 91,000 employee jobs |
| Career and role source | National Careers Service: Electrician Role scope, working environment, qualifications, low-carbon work and progression. View source |
The page stops at the published 90th percentile. It does not turn that point into a claim about the maximum salary.
View the ONS salary tableCheck the 2026/27 tax and NI figures
Electrician salary questions
What is the average electrician salary in the UK?
The simple average electrician salary is £41,190. The ONS full-time median is £39,647, which is usually the better starting point for typical employee pay.
What is an electrician hourly rate?
The £39,647 median is roughly £20.33 an hour on a 37.5-hour week or £19.06 on a 40-hour week. These are salary equivalents before tax, not self-employed customer charge-out rates.
How much is an electrician salary per month after tax?
The median is about £3,304 gross per month. A standard 2026/27 estimate gives take-home pay of about £2,672 a month after Income Tax and employee National Insurance, before pension or student loan deductions.
What is a starting or qualified electrician salary?
ONS does not publish a fixed starting rate here. The 10th-percentile figure is £24,538, but apprentice pay, newly qualified pay and experienced qualified pay should be checked against the actual role and working pattern.
How much can a self-employed electrician earn?
This ONS page covers employee pay, not self-employed profit. A self-employed electrician may quote a higher hourly or daily rate, but materials, travel, insurance, tools, unpaid admin and tax must be deducted before comparing it with salary.
Is £39,647 a good salary for an electrician?
It is the official middle salary for full-time electricians and electrical fitters and is 2% higher than the UK full-time median of £39,039.
What do higher-paid electricians earn?
The published 90th percentile is £57,786. That is the line where the top 10% begins, not a maximum salary.