Electrical Contractor Pricing Guide: How Electricians Price Work in 2026

What a two-day panel job actually costs you

Electrical contractor pricing starts here. Two electricians, two days, one panel swap and a pair of new circuits. That is 32 hours. Payroll alone on those hours runs about $1,400, before wire, truck, or permit. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts employer compensation for full-time construction workers at $51.96 per hour worked in March 2026: $35.94 in wages and $16.02 in benefits. Apply that split to the $30.38 median electrician wage and one hour of payroll costs about $44.

Electricians rarely lose money on the wire. They lose it on the unpriced trip, the undercharged diagnostic, and the markup they left on the table.

Electrical contractor pricing in 6 steps

1. Pick the model that fits the job

   Hourly, or time and materials, fits diagnostics and open-ended work where nobody knows what is behind the wall. Flat rate quotes one price for a defined task: a fixture, an added circuit, a panel swap. Per device charges a set amount per outlet, which is how repeat rough-in gets bid.

2. Build a loaded labor rate off the published wage

   The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a $30.38 median hourly wage for electricians, $20.50 at the 10th percentile and $52.17 at the 90th. That is what the worker is paid, not what you bill. Load it with payroll taxes, workers comp, liability, truck, tools, and office hours, divided by the hours you sold.

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3. Set a service call charge before the truck rolls

   A trip charge covers drive time, fuel, scheduling, and the first window of troubleshooting. At the $44 payroll figure, an hour of round-trip driving plus a half hour of diagnosis is about $66 in payroll alone. That is the floor, not the price, and many shops credit it toward the repair when the work is approved.

4. Price materials off the invoice, not a habit

   Start from the current supply house invoice, decide the gross margin that line has to earn, then divide the cost by 1 minus that margin. Read the dollars next to the percentage: a markup that adds pennies on a receptacle adds real money on a panel.

5. Pass the permit fee through and bill the time

   Permit fees are published. Portland, Oregon charges $21 for each additional branch circuit and $212 for a 200 amp service or feeder. Seattle charges $26.28 for a branch circuit up to 25 amperes and $292 for a 150 to 200 amp service, plus a $55.48 administrative fee. Pass the fee through at cost, bill the hours to pull it and meet the inspector, and treat a flagged correction as a change order.

6. Put overhead and profit on the sheet

   Overhead is what you pay whether the truck moves: office, software, insurance, owner time. Profit only shows up if you write it down. Divide direct cost, materials plus loaded labor, by 1 minus your combined overhead and margin rate. On $2,400 of direct cost at a combined 37 percent, the total is $3,810. Anything unnamed comes out of profit.

What moves the price on common electrical jobs

No agency publishes a price list for residential electrical work. What is knowable is which variable moves each job.

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