Foreman Electrician Pay in California

ElectricianDB tracks 6 active foreman electricians openings in California, 5 with disclosed pay. Median hourly pay is $48.80, with the middle 50% earning $38.97–$59.07.

Compared to the national median of $40.64/hr, California pays 20.08% above average.

About foreman electrician pay in California

Foreman pay sits one rung above journeyman scale: the premium compensates crew leadership, not just wrench time. In California, the typical path runs apprentice to journeyman to lead or crew lead to foreman, with each step adding supervisory scope rather than a new license.

The figures on this page come from 5 California postings naming foreman-tier roles. Because these are a slice of journeyman-tier openings, compare them against California journeyman pay to see the leadership premium directly.

The California electrician labor market

California pays electricians more than almost any state — and charges them more to live there, a tension that defines the market. High prevailing-wage coverage on public works, strong union density in the Bay Area and Los Angeles basins, and a chronic housing-driven construction backlog combine to push posted medians toward the top of national tables. The work mix is unusually diverse: Silicon Valley's data center and advanced-manufacturing builds (Santa Clara, Hillsboro-adjacent supply chains, and a steady pipeline of hyperscale retrofits), Los Angeles commercial and entertainment construction, San Diego's military and biotech facilities, and statewide utility hardening as PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E bury lines and build substations for wildfire mitigation — multi-billion-dollar programs that will employ linemen and substation electricians for a decade. Semiconductors are a second growth pillar, with applied-materials and fab-support ecosystems across the South Bay and an expanding Arizona-adjacent supply chain pulling traveling talent. Solar and battery storage — the state's signature energy bet — sustain a large residential and commercial solar workforce alongside utility-scale projects in the Central Valley and desert counties. Licensing runs through the CSLB (C-10 Electrical) with journeyman certification via the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, a stricter regime than most states that props up rates and makes California tickets portable nowhere else. Key IBEW locals include Local 11 (Los Angeles), Local 6 (San Francisco), Local 1245 (utility/lineman, Vacaville), Local 47 (Diamond Bar), and Local 595 (Oakland) — several among the highest-scale locals in the country, which shows up directly in posted wages. The catch is cost: Bay Area and coastal Southern California housing costs erase much of the nominal premium, which is why per-diem and travel packages for Central Valley, Inland Empire, and desert postings are disproportionately attractive — same California rates, half the rent. Workforce supply is tight at every tier, with retirements outpacing JATC graduations statewide.

Government data (BLS)

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports California Electricians wages (May 2025 OES): median $36.62, 75th percentile $49.52, 90th percentile $67.47.

Source: BLS OES California (May 2025 OES)

Our postings median ($53.94/hr) runs 47% above the BLS statewide median — posted openings skew toward higher-paying roles than the survey average.

Union data (IBEW)

Scales above are journeyman base rates; foreman rates run above journeyman base by a contractual premium.

and 15 more IBEW locals in California →

Pay comparison

Why the columns differ: our percentiles come from 5 live postings (median + middle 50%). The BLS column shows the three percentiles our dataset carries (median, 75th, 90th) — BLS publishes more than we import. IBEW figures are journeyman base rates (median across 20 in-state locals), not survey percentiles. How we calculate pay →

Pay by license tier in California

Tier medians come from posting classifications, not license verification.

Highest-paying foreman electricians openings in California

• Electrical Foreman — Power Design · $43.27–$84.13/hr
• Electrical Foreman — Power Design · $37.50–$60.10/hr
• Electrical Foreman — Rosendin Electric (Sacramento) · $59.07–$59.07/hr
• Electrical Worker Supervisor (Electrical Worker Foreman) — Bureau of Prisons/Federal Prison System (Mendota) · $35.97–$41.96/hr

Active projects driving demand

• Silicon Valley data center and advanced-manufacturing builds (data center)
• Utility wildfire hardening (PG&E, SCE, SDG&E undergrounding) (utility)
• Central Valley utility-scale solar and battery storage (industrial)

IBEW locals in California

Sample postings

Pay above is sourced from active postings including:

• Power Design – Electrician – $18 – $45/hr (CA) View posting →
• Power Design – Electrical Foreman – $37.50 – $60.10/hr (CA) View posting →
• Power Design – Electrical Foreman – $43.27 – $84.13/hr (CA) View posting →

Frequently asked questions

More on California

• View California prevailing wage rates →
• Browse California electrician jobs →
• How to become an electrician in California →
• IBEW locals in California →