IBEW Local 103 pay scale (Boston)
Journeyman inside wiremen under IBEW Local 103 in Greater Boston, MA are paid $66.86 an hour in base wages plus $45.75 an hour in employer-paid fringe, a total package of $112.61, under the Principal Inside Agreement wage rate memorandum (IBEW 103 / Boston NECA) effective March 1, 2026. The apprenticeship runs 5 years over 10 pay periods, starting at 40% of journeyman base.
Key figures
- Journeyman base
- $66.86 an hour [IBEW Local 103 + Boston Chapter NECA]
- Employer fringe
- $45.75 an hour [IBEW Local 103 + Boston Chapter NECA]
- Total package
- $112.61 an hour
- Annual base at 2,000 hours
- $133,720 ($225,220 with package) [2,000 hours is an assumption]
- Agreement in effect
- March 1, 2026 to August 31, 2026 [Principal Inside Agreement wage rate memorandum (IBEW 103 / Boston NECA)]
- Apprentice ladder
- 10 periods, 60 months (5 years) [IBEW Local 103 + Boston Chapter NECA]
- License
- 8,000 hours, $226 in fees (MA) [mass.gov]
Journeyman wage
| Local | Base | Fringe | Package | Annual base (2,000 hrs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBEW Local 103 Greater Boston, MA | $66.86 | $45.75 | $112.61 | $133,720 |
IBEW Local 103 + Boston Chapter NECA, BASE wage only, $66.86/hr. IBEW Local 103 + Boston Chapter NECA, Principal Inside Agreement wage rate memorandum, EFFECTIVE MARCH 1 2026 .... Fringe from the same record.
Apprentice pay ladder
| Period | Months | Percent of base | Hourly | Full year at this step |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBEW Local 103 period 1 | 6 | 40% | $26.74 | $53,488 |
| IBEW Local 103 period 2 | 6 | 40% | $26.74 | $53,488 |
| IBEW Local 103 period 3 | 6 | 45% | $30.09 | $60,174 |
| IBEW Local 103 period 4 | 6 | 45% | $30.09 | $60,174 |
| IBEW Local 103 period 5 | 6 | 50% | $33.43 | $66,860 |
| IBEW Local 103 period 6 | 6 | 55% | $36.77 | $73,546 |
| IBEW Local 103 period 7 | 6 | 60% | $40.12 | $80,232 |
| IBEW Local 103 period 8 | 6 | 65% | $43.46 | $86,918 |
| IBEW Local 103 period 9 | 6 | 70% | $46.80 | $93,604 |
| IBEW Local 103 period 10 | 6 | 75% | $50.15 | $100,290 |
IBEW Local 103 + Boston Chapter NECA, apprentice wage schedule, effective March 1, 2026.
Pay by apprentice year
A year that straddles two periods is blended by the month, so this is what a first-year or third-year apprentice banks before overtime. The rate at any single step is in the ladder above.
| Apprentice year | Blended percent of base | Cash wages |
|---|---|---|
| IBEW Local 103 apprentice year 1 | 40% | $53,488 |
| IBEW Local 103 apprentice year 2 | 45% | $60,174 |
| IBEW Local 103 apprentice year 3 | 52.5% | $70,203 |
| IBEW Local 103 apprentice year 4 | 62.5% | $83,575 |
| IBEW Local 103 apprentice year 5 | 72.5% | $96,947 |
Non-union market range
The union figure above is a contract rate. For contrast, the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 survey of all electrician employers in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area reports these hourly percentiles, union and open-shop combined.
| Percentile | Hourly | Annual (2,000 hrs) |
|---|---|---|
| Boston electricians, 10th percentile | $22.71 | $45,420 |
| Boston electricians, 25th percentile | $28.03 | $56,060 |
| Boston electricians, 50th (median) percentile | $38.42 | $76,840 |
| Boston electricians, 75th percentile | $49.11 | $98,220 |
| Boston electricians, 90th percentile | $62.17 | $124,340 |
BLS OEWS 2025, via the public data API.
License and time to journeyman
The state requires 8,000 supervised hours before the journeyman exam, and the exam and application fees total $226. The apprenticeship itself sets the clock here: the ladder runs 60 months, longer than the 8,000 hours the license asks for.
MA Journeyman Electrician (Class B), Board of State Examiners of Electricians: 8,000 hours of work over at least 4 years under a licensed Massachusetts Journeyman, plus 600 hours of Board-approved education and a 15-hour Code-Update class. Exam cost $226 (application $60 + trade portion $80 + business/practical portion $55 + MA application $31); $195 with the MA fee waived for veterans and active military. Re-exam $135 both portions. All applications go online through PSI as of 2025-06-01. Note the honest mismatch: the licence minimum is 8,000 hrs over 4 years, but the Local 103 apprenticeship runs 10,000 hrs over 5 years, so the ladder rather than the licence sets time to journeyman.
What the switch costs in Boston, from a desk job
Enter your current salary. The table shows cash wages only, year by year, against staying put. Benefits are listed separately and never enter break-even, and the business-ownership line is a scenario range, so neither can hide the real cash hole.
- Deepest hole
- cumulative cash, by year
- Break-even
- on cash wages against staying put
- Journeyman base
The line items break-even leaves out
| Licensing and exam fees (year 1, counted in break-even) | |
| Benefits against your current coverage (per year; outside break-even); ; | |
| Year | Stay | Switch (cash) | Costs | Difference | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Break-even and the hole ride cash wages plus one-time licensing only. Union rates are prevailing-wage or wage-sheet figures at 2,000 paid hours a year, which is an assumption; actual hours vary. See the methodology page for the per-number audit trail. Methodology.
Related
- IBEW Local 595 pay scale (Bay Area) $76.00 base, $126.52 package
- IBEW Local 3 pay scale (New York City) $64.00 base, $129.24 package
- IBEW Local 46 pay scale (Seattle) $76.95 base, $111.96 package
- Electrician apprentice pay by year all four ladders side by side
- Journeyman electrician salary by metro base, fringe and package compared
- How long it takes to become an electrician ladder and license timelines
- Methodology where each number comes from
Questions people ask
- What does a first-year apprentice at IBEW Local 103 make?
- About $53,488 in cash wages over the first year, blended across the 40% and 40% steps, at 2,000 paid hours. Health coverage starts on day one; the local pension ramps in later.
- How much does a IBEW Local 103 journeyman make a year?
- $133,720 in base wages at 2,000 hours, or $225,220 counting the employer-paid package. Overtime, foreman rates and travel are on top and are not in that figure.
- How long is the IBEW Local 103 apprenticeship?
- 60 months across 10 pay periods, which is 5 years at full-time hours. The state requires 8,000 supervised hours before the journeyman exam, and the exam and application fees total $226. The apprenticeship itself sets the clock here: the ladder runs 60 months, longer than the 8,000 hours the license asks for.
- Is it worth switching from a $110,000 desk job to an electrician in Boston?
- With a six-month wait to get in and 3% raises at the desk job, the switch is -$356,380 behind on cash wages by year 15 and does not break even inside 15 years at the conservative anchor, before benefits and before any overtime. That is a valid result. Run your own salary in the calculator above.