# Realistic Electrical Contractor Salary



## whatryou (May 18, 2014)

Realistically, in today's recovering economy, how much would a decent & recently certified contractor earn? Salary/monthly/hr? Thank you & have a great day.


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## NotApprvd4Electric (Jul 16, 2014)

Anywhere from $5,000/hour to $0/hour.


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## Bad Electrician (May 20, 2014)

NotApprvd4Electric said:


> Anywhere from $5,000/hour to $0/hour.


You may be off on the high end a bit I calculated $5,001.42

And did you use the slacker 40 HR. Work Week or the realistic 80 HR. Work Week?


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## whatryou (May 18, 2014)

Please no trolling. I'm serious about this...


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## Bad Electrician (May 20, 2014)

whatryou said:


> Please no trolling. I'm serious about this...


So am I, those numbers are realistic EXCEPT the low end could be a negative number and that really sucks.

I have friends making between 150k and 900k a year. IN MY AREA if you are not pulling in close to 150K a year you might as well work for someone. JUST MY OPINION


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## bobelectric (Feb 24, 2007)

I keep seeing a 1000 hr. work year. Times that by hourly wage = yearly earnings.


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## NotApprvd4Electric (Jul 16, 2014)

whatryou said:


> Please no trolling. I'm serious about this...


You are asking a seriously silly question. "_How much would a decent & recently certified contractor earn?_" The answer I gave is accurate.

A contractor could make his salary whatever he chooses. In the end, he could only pay himself if the company has money to do it with.


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## Bad Electrician (May 20, 2014)

Location makes a difference, 100K in Mississippi may seem decent while you would starve off that in NYC.

Residential loner or 30 men
doing custom homes or tract homes
Commercial
Federal jobs
Fire Alarm
Electrical Testing
Controls

High end, no bid work or competition bidding 

Just so many variables.


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

this is like asking the question "how much does a congressman make ?".

He makes what he can, depending on how much was handed to him, how much he wants to work, how much he wants to work the system, how much he wants to cheat the taxpayers, who his buddies are and how much he uses them to make money, etc etc. there is no easy answer to the question.

you can make a lot, you can put in <your whole life>, you can lose everything, etc etc. 

A short list of perhaps Better starting questions might be:

Do I have what is necessary to start up and run a successful electrical contracting business ?
Do I have the financial resources to start up and be successful in an electrical contracting business ?
Am I in a good time and place to start an electrical contracting business ?


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## Bad Electrician (May 20, 2014)

wildleg said:


> this is like asking the question "how much does a congressman make ?".
> 
> He makes what he can, depending on how much was handed to him, how ?


:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing: nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn


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## 220/221 (Sep 25, 2007)

whatryou said:


> Please no trolling. I'm serious about this...


Being a contractor isn't like being an employee with a set wage. 


And......their estimates were all wrong. 

They forgot that you can actually lose all your money, your house, wife, pick up truck, dog and possessions. 

Your individual expectations would be called projections. To arrive at these numbers, you need to know what YOU will be capable of doing.

If you have a pickup, hand tools and no accounts, you might start as a Craigslist electrician working cheap and sitting around waiting for the phone to ring and you might *gross* 500 bucks on a good week.

If your have more tools, equipment and experience in commercial, industrial, you may be able to go out, knock on some doors and find some accounts and start grossing 2K on a good week.

If you are a good troubleshooter AND salesman, you could realistically bring in an average of 200-300 per hour. Of course, the amount of hours you will be working depends on your skill set and how you approach the business.

In any scenario, how you manage whatever you bring in will be the key to upping your income. Do it right and you might earn a decent living. Do it extremely well and get really lucky and you could end up with a multi million dollar business.

Or....do it wrong, make a major mistake of stumble onto a really bad break and you are in debt, over your head.


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## Bad Electrician (May 20, 2014)

220/221 said:


> Being a contractor isn't like being an employee with a set wage.
> 
> 
> And......their estimates were all wrong.
> ...


 
I did mention negative income and the wife thing that might be seen by some as a positive!


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## JMV (Aug 10, 2013)

Because you have asked this question, you will be forever plagued with people asking your flat rate for work. :laughing:


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## robnj772 (Jan 15, 2008)

Bad Electrician said:


> I did mention negative income and the wife thing that might be seen by some as a positive!


I didn't know I could get rid of the wife, where do I sign up


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## Ultrafault (Dec 16, 2012)

If I make 40k in a year I am doing good here in rural missouru. I am not a good business person and would go get a job but I won't abandon my dad. I hate every minute of being in buisness.


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## guy2073 (May 4, 2011)

I make a good living, but i got sick and had 12 weeks off this winter. It doesn't take long to go in the hole, but it takes forever getting out of it.


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## Bad Electrician (May 20, 2014)

guy2073 are you a one man show?


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## dmxtothemax (Jun 15, 2010)

I am not sure about the USA,
but here in Australia you would need to clear about $1000 a week
to live a half decent life.
Most tradesmen would get that easily.


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## devosf (Jan 17, 2012)

whatryou said:


> Realistically, in today's recovering economy, how much would a decent & recently certified contractor earn? Salary/monthly/hr? Thank you & have a great day.


I appreciate your question and putting a dollar amount on the value of your services is entirely up to you. As a business owner, it is your goal to price your services so that your customers feel they are getting value for their money and you are making a profit after paying your job cost and overhead.


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## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

whatryou said:


> Realistically, in today's recovering economy, how much would a decent & recently certified contractor earn? Salary/monthly/hr? Thank you & have a great day.



A word about owner’s salary: Consider what you could be paid in a year if you worked for a reputable company, that pays what you are worth, as a tradesman and offers a bonus based on performance. It is not uncommon for some to earn upwards of 70-80,000/yr. or more. Do not sell yourself short, even in the first year of business. As a business owner you should pay yourself at least 80k/yr and more like 100k/yr. treat your salary as a business expense.


Go to the link and read the entire post..:thumbsup:


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