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True Trade Path

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Trade Salary Calculator

Estimate earnings by trade, experience level, region and overtime.

Role

Journeyman scale is anchored to $29.61/hr, the national median for this trade.

Apprentice rates are a percentage of journeyman scale, as on a step schedule.

Location

Pittsburgh sits at 1.00× the national cost of labor. This is a planning approximation, not a local wage survey.

Hours and agreement
hrs

Paid at 1.5× base, averaged across 50 weeks of the year.

Journeyman, Pittsburgh

$72,693per year

$29.61/hr base.
Hourly rate100% of scale × 1.00 cost index
$29.61/hr
Annual base2,080 hours at straight time
$61,589
Overtime5 hrs/wk at $44.42/hr
$11,104
Position in the national rangeAcross the $38,150 to $104,180 band for electricians
52%

Where this lands against national pay for electricians

$38,15010th percentile$61,590Median$104,18090th percentile

$72,693 sits 52% of the way from the 10th percentile to the 90th for this trade nationally. The median is $61,590, marked in red.

Progression for electricians in Pittsburgh
LevelHourlyAnnual baseWith overtime
Apprentice, year 1$13.32/hr$27,715$32,712
Apprentice, year 2$16.29/hr$33,874$39,981
Apprentice, year 3$20.13/hr$41,880$49,431
Apprentice, year 4$24.28/hr$50,503$59,608
Journeyman (selected)$29.61/hr$61,589$72,693
Senior journeyman$34.05/hr$70,827$83,596
Foreman$39.09/hr$81,297$95,954
Master or owner-operator$47.38/hr$98,542$116,308

Check your local's wage sheet for a real number

Union scale, prevailing wage on public projects and metro-specific shortages move actual pay well outside these ranges — sometimes by a third or more in either direction. Every local publishes a wage sheet with the exact rate for every step, and state agencies publish prevailing wage determinations by county and classification. Those are the real numbers; this is a planning estimate built on national medians.

What this assumes

  • Base figures are BLS national medians by occupation; see the source note on each trade page.
  • Regional adjustment uses a cost-of-labor index and is an approximation, not a local wage survey.
  • Overtime is calculated at 1.5× base for hours beyond 40 per week.

Important

Union scale, prevailing wage projects and metro-specific shortages can move actual pay well outside these ranges. Check your local's wage sheet for a real number.

Understanding the result

Medians hide the spread

The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile in most trades is more than double. What moves you up that distribution is licensing, specialization, willingness to travel, and eventually ownership — not years alone.

Apprentice pay steps up on a schedule

Apprentices typically start near 40–50% of journeyman scale and receive scheduled increases every six to twelve months as hours and classroom credits accumulate. By the final year most are at 80–90% of scale.

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