IBEW Local 3 pay scale (New York City)
Journeyman inside wiremen under IBEW Local 3 in New York City, NY are paid $64.00 an hour in base wages plus $65.24 an hour in employer-paid fringe, a total package of $129.24, under the NYC Comptroller section 220 schedule 2026-2027, Electrician 'A' effective July 1, 2026. The apprenticeship runs 6 years over 6 pay periods, starting at 30.1% of journeyman base.
Key figures
- Journeyman base
- $64.00 an hour [NYC Comptroller]
- Employer fringe
- $65.24 an hour [same record]
- Total package
- $129.24 an hour
- Annual base at 2,000 hours
- $128,000 ($258,476 with package) [2,000 hours is an assumption]
- Agreement in effect
- July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 [NYC Comptroller section 220 schedule 2026-2027, Electrician 'A']
- Apprentice ladder
- 6 periods, 66 months (6 years) [wage sheet]
- License
- No journeyman license in this jurisdiction [nyc.gov]
Journeyman wage
| Local | Base | Fringe | Package | Annual base (2,000 hrs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBEW Local 3 New York City, NY | $64.00 | $65.24 | $129.24 | $128,000 |
NYC Comptroller, NYC Comptroller section 220 prevailing wage schedule 2026-2027 (effective 2026-07-01), Electrician 'A' (Regular Day), base wage $64.00/hr. Fringe from the same record.
Apprentice pay ladder
| Period | Months | Percent of base | Hourly | Full year at this step |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBEW Local 3 period 1 | 12 | 30.1% | $19.25 | $38,500 |
| IBEW Local 3 period 2 | 12 | 33.2% | $21.25 | $42,500 |
| IBEW Local 3 period 3 | 12 | 36.3% | $23.25 | $46,500 |
| IBEW Local 3 period 4 | 12 | 41% | $26.25 | $52,500 |
| IBEW Local 3 period 5 | 12 | 43% | $27.50 | $55,000 |
| IBEW Local 3 period 6 | 6 | 52.3% | $33.50 | $67,000 |
wage sheet, apprentice wage schedule, effective July 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 3 apprentice year 1 | 30.1% | $38,500 |
| IBEW Local 3 apprentice year 2 | 33.2% | $42,500 |
| IBEW Local 3 apprentice year 3 | 36.3% | $46,500 |
| IBEW Local 3 apprentice year 4 | 41% | $52,500 |
| IBEW Local 3 apprentice year 5 | 43% | $55,000 |
| IBEW Local 3 apprentice year 6 | 52.3% | $67,000 |
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 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA metro area reports these hourly percentiles, union and open-shop combined.
| Percentile | Hourly | Annual (2,000 hrs) |
|---|---|---|
| New York City electricians, 10th percentile | $22.20 | $44,400 |
| New York City electricians, 25th percentile | $29.81 | $59,620 |
| New York City electricians, 50th (median) percentile | $37.99 | $75,980 |
| New York City electricians, 75th percentile | $60.59 | $121,180 |
| New York City electricians, 90th percentile | $63.54 | $127,080 |
BLS OEWS 2025, via the public data API.
License and time to journeyman
There is no state or city journeyman license on this path; you complete the apprenticeship and work under a licensed contractor.
NYC is structurally different: New York State issues no statewide electrician license and NYC issues no journeyman credential, so the union journeyman path carries $0 licensing cost - you complete the ~5.5-year Local 3 apprenticeship and work under a licensed contractor. Becoming a Master or Special Electrician is a separate later business/contractor license: roughly 7 years of experience (>=2 in NYC), a written exam ($585) + practical ($530) + $310 license + $50 seal (about $1,475 to first license, ~$90/yr renewal), and you must be an officer/owner of an NYC electrical business. That is the ownership path, not a wage-worker milestone. Source: https://www.nyc.gov/site/buildings/industry/master-electricians-special-electricians.page
What the switch costs in New York City, 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 103 pay scale (Boston) $66.86 base, $112.61 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 3 make?
- About $38,500 in cash wages over the first year, blended across the 30.1% and 33.2% steps, at 2,000 paid hours. Health coverage starts on day one; the local pension ramps in later.
- How much does a IBEW Local 3 journeyman make a year?
- $128,000 in base wages at 2,000 hours, or $258,476 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 3 apprenticeship?
- 66 months across 6 pay periods, which is 6 years at full-time hours. There is no state or city journeyman license on this path; you complete the apprenticeship and work under a licensed contractor.
- Is it worth switching from a $110,000 desk job to an electrician in New York City?
- With a six-month wait to get in and 3% raises at the desk job, the switch is -$570,381 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.