Home / California / Orange County / Electrician
Orange County · Electrician
Electrician prevailing wage in Orange County, California
$90.26an hour, total · Inside Wireman, Technician
$62.76 wage + $27.50 employer payments
On California public works in Orange County, an electrician working as inside wireman, technician must be paid at least $90.26 an hour in total: $62.76 in wages plus $27.50 in employer payments to health, pension, training and other funds. Daily overtime is $122.58 and Sunday and holiday work is $154.91.
DIR general determination 061-441-1, issued August 22, 2026. Expires December 27, 2026. Checked against dir.ca.gov on October 24, 2026.
DIR lists 7 electrician rates for Orange County, from $61.09 to $93.24 an hour. See all of them.
Base wage and fringe: $62.76 + $27.50
The basic hourly rate is the taxable wage. The other lines, usually called fringe benefits, are what DIR expects the employer to pay into health, pension and other plans for each hour worked. An employer can pay part of that as extra wages instead, as long as the total per hour stays at $90.26 or more.
| Basic hourly rate (taxable wage) | $62.76 |
| Health and welfare | $12.02 |
| Pension | $12.38 |
| Training | $0.95 |
| Other payments | $0.27 |
| Added to the total by footnote M | $1.88 |
| Total straight-time hourly rate | $90.26 |
Vacation and holiday is $0.00 in DIR's table. Footnote N says where that money is counted.
Straight time covers an 8-hour day.
Davis-Bacon electrician rate in Orange County
Federally funded or assisted construction here uses the U.S. Department of Labor's wage determinations. When a California awarding body runs a federally funded or assisted project, DIR's rates must be paid where they are higher than the Davis-Bacon rates (DIR public works FAQ).
We don't put a federal figure next to DIR's here, because this page leads with a classification the federal determinations don't list one to one. The federal rows for this trade are below; match the classification to the work.
| Construction | Federal classification | Base + fringe | Base | WD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building, Highway, Heavy | ELECTRICIANELEC0441-001 | $88.10 | $61.10 | CA20260024 Mod 4 |
| Building, Highway, Heavy | ELECTRICIAN: TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, TRAFFIC SIGNALS & STREET LIGHTING: CABLE SPLICER/FIBER OPTIC SPLICER SCOPE OF WORK: ELECTRICAL WORK ON PUBLIC STREETS, …ELEC0441-004 | $85.54 | $60.82 | CA20260024 Mod 4 |
| Building, Highway, Heavy | ELECTRICIAN: TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, TRAFFIC SIGNALS & STREET LIGHTING: ELECTRICIAN SCOPE OF WORK: ELECTRICAL WORK ON PUBLIC STREETS, FREEWAYS, TOLL-WAYS, ETC, …ELEC0441-004 | $84.93 | $60.22 | CA20260024 Mod 4 |
| Building, Highway, Heavy | ELECTRICIAN: TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, TRAFFIC SIGNALS & STREET LIGHTING: TECHNICIAN SCOPE OF WORK: ELECTRICAL WORK ON PUBLIC STREETS, FREEWAYS, TOLL-WAYS, ETC, …ELEC0441-004 | $69.43 | $45.17 | CA20260024 Mod 4 |
| Residential | ELECTRICIAN: DOES NOT INCLUDE FIRE ALARM, HOLD-UP ALARM, BURGLAR ALARM AND SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS LOS ANGELESELEC0011-003 | $46.04 | $37.63 | CA20260017 Mod 5 |
| Residential | ELECTRICIAN (ORANGE)ELEC0441-002 | $47.92 | $36.66 | CA20260017 Mod 5 |
Davis-Bacon rates from SAM.gov, read October 25, 2026. Our federal totals are base plus fringe; DOL prints no total. California Davis-Bacon changes
Scheduled increases
DIR has already set these increases. Work on or after each date is paid the higher rate. DIR often leaves part of an increase "to be allocated to wages and/or employer payments" and confirms the split when it comes due, and it can reduce a scheduled increase in a later notice, so check DIR's increase page before you pay it.
| Takes effect | Increase per hour | Total after increase |
|---|---|---|
| December 28, 2026 | +$2.35 | $92.61 |
| May 31, 2027 | +$1.90 | $94.51 |
| December 27, 2027 | +$2.30 | $96.81 |
| May 29, 2028 | +$2.20 | $99.01 |
| January 1, 2029 | +$2.50 | $101.51 |
The double asterisk after DIR's expiration date means the next rate is already set. If the work runs past that date you have to pay the new rate, and DIR says to build it into contracts signed now (DIR FAQ, Q8).
Rate history since 2024
Total hourly rate for this classification in each DIR release. The chart under Scheduled increases above draws the same figures with the increases that follow.
| Release | Total | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-2 | $83.67 | |
| 2025-1 | $85.20 | +$1.53 |
| 2025-2 | $86.85 | +$1.65 |
| 2026-1 | $88.37 | +$1.52 |
| 2026-2 | $90.26 | +$1.89 |
Every electrician rate in Orange County
As DIR lists them. The highlighted row is the one this page leads with.
- Cable Splicer$93.24
- Transportation Systems Electrician (Cable Splicing, Welding and Fiber Optic Splicing)$90.88
- Inside Wireman, Technician$90.26
- Transportation Systems Electrician$90.26
- Transportation Systems Technician$74.10
- Sound Installer$70.77
- Maintenance Electrician$61.09
| Classification | Total | Base | Employer payments | Daily OT | Determination |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cable Splicer | $93.24 | $65.65 | $27.59 | $127.05 | 061-441-1 |
| Inside Wireman, Technician | $90.26 | $62.76 | $27.50 | $122.58 | 061-441-1 |
| Maintenance Electrician | $61.09 | $34.44 | $26.65 | $78.83 | 061-441-1 |
| Electrician: Sound Installer | $70.77 | $51.16 | $19.61 | $97.25 | 061-441-4 |
| Transportation Systems Electrician | $90.26 | $62.76 | $27.50 | $122.58 | 061-441-1 |
| Transportation Systems Electrician (Cable Splicing, Welding and Fiber Optic Splicing) | $90.88 | $63.36 | $27.52 | $123.51 | 061-441-1 |
| Transportation Systems Technician | $74.10 | $47.07 | $27.03 | $98.34 | 061-441-1 |
How Orange County compares
The main electrician rate in every county that has one, and how the pay splits here and in the nearest counties. All bars use the same scale.
Every county in California
Wage and employer payments, nearby
- Orange Countybase $62.76$90.26
- Los Angeles Countybase $65.00$103.12
- San Diego Countybase $58.95$80.44
- Ventura Countybase $56.59$89.43
Electrician rates in nearby counties
Current DIR rates. You pay the rate for the county where the work is done, even if your shop is somewhere else.
| County | Classification | Total | Base | vs Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County | Inside Wireman, Radio Monitor Technician | $103.12 | $65.00 | +$12.86 |
| Riverside County | Inside Wireman, Technician | $90.66 | $57.26 | +$0.40 |
| Orange County | Inside Wireman, Technician | $90.26 | $62.76 | |
| San Bernardino County | Inside Wireman (Zone A) | $90.26 | $57.00 | same |
| Ventura County | Inside Wireman | $89.43 | $56.59 | −$0.83 |
| Kern County | Inside Wireman, Technician | $82.01 | $58.65 | −$8.25 |
| San Diego County | Inside Wireman, Technician | $80.44 | $58.95 | −$9.82 |
California electrician prevailing wage by county, with a map
Footnotes on this rate
DIR's footnotes, in DIR's words. Several change the rate itself: zone pay, a percentage added to the total, or which overtime hours get which rate.
- M In addition, an amount equal to 3% of the basic hourly rate is added to the total hourly rate and overtime hourly rates for the National Employees Benefit Board.
- N Included in straight-time hourly rate.
- O Rate applies to the first 4 daily overtime hours and the first 8 hours worked on Saturday. All other time is paid at the Sunday and holiday overtime rate.
DIR's other marks: # means an apprenticeable craft, * means in effect until superseded, ** means the next rate is already set.
More from DIR on this rate
- Holidays (DIR PDF)
- Scope of work: which tasks this rate covers
- Travel and subsistence
- Apprentice rates: DIR publishes these separately, by program. Look them up on DIR.
Are you being paid this rate?
Add your hourly wage to what your employer pays into health, pension and other plans for you, and compare it with $90.26. Plan payments only count if the money goes into the plan; your pay stub won't show them, but plan statements will. The training amount goes to the California Apprenticeship Council or an apprenticeship program, not to you. Check a week of pay.
Contractors on most public works jobs file certified payroll with the state, and anyone can look it up in DIR's CPR public search. If your total comes up short, you can file a public works complaint with the California Labor Commissioner.
Source
California Department of Industrial Relations, general prevailing wage determination 061-441-1: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/ORA.html
Each figure is copied from DIR's file and checked by a second, separate reader. How we check · How to read a determination · Download Orange County as CSV · Report an error