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Cook County · Electrician
Electrician prevailing wage in Cook County, Illinois
$107.71an hour, base + fringes
$63.15 wage + $44.56 fringe benefits
On Illinois public works in Cook County, an electrician must be paid at least $107.71 an hour: a $63.15 base wage plus $44.56 in fringe benefits for health and welfare, pension, vacation, training and other insurance. IDOL lists each part but prints no total, so $107.71 is our sum of its columns. Overtime after 8 hours a day, Monday to Friday, is 1.5 times the base wage.
IDOL's Cook County schedule, posted October 19, 2026, for work performed on or after October 19, 2026. Checked against labor.illinois.gov on October 24, 2026.
Base wage and fringe: $63.15 + $44.56
The base wage is the taxable hourly wage. The other lines are the fringe benefits IDOL lists for each hour: health and welfare, pension, vacation, training, and "other insurance", which IDOL's legend defines as the "employer hourly cost for any other type(s) of insurance".
| Base wage (taxable) | $63.15 |
| Health and welfare | $20.35 |
| Pension | $22.14 |
| Training | $1.97 |
| Other insurance | $0.10 |
| Base + fringes (our sum; IDOL prints no total) | $107.71 |
Foreman base wage: $69.47 an hour, with the same fringe benefits.
Davis-Bacon electrician rate in Cook County
Federally funded or assisted construction here uses the U.S. Department of Labor's wage determinations. When a contract requires both the state rate and the Davis-Bacon rate, paying the higher of the two meets both. The contract documents say which apply.
For building, highway and heavy work, the matching Davis-Bacon classification is ELECTRICIAN at $100.64 ($57.75 base + $42.89 fringe), from IL20260009 modification 3, published October 22, 2026, rate ELEC0134-001. Against IDOL's $107.71: IDOL's rate is $7.07 an hour higher.
| Construction | Federal classification | Base + fringe | Base | WD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building, Residential, Highway, Heavy | ELECTRICIANELEC0134-001 | $100.64 | $57.75 | IL20260009 Mod 3 |
| Building, Residential, Highway, Heavy | ELECTRICIAN:ELECTRICAL TECHNICIAN: THE WORK SHALL CONSIST OF THE INSTALLATION, OPERATION, INSPECTION, MAINTENANCE, REPAIR AND SERVICE OF RADIO, TELEVISION, …ELEC0134-003 | $81.69 | $51.14 | IL20260009 Mod 3 |
Davis-Bacon rates from SAM.gov, read October 25, 2026. Our federal totals are base plus fringe; DOL prints no total. Illinois Davis-Bacon changes
Holidays
IDOL's Cook County schedule: “The following list is considered as those days for which holiday rates of wages for work performed apply: New Years Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Veterans Day in some classifications/counties. Generally, any of these holidays which fall on a Sunday is celebrated on the following Monday. This then makes work performed on that Monday payable at the appropriate overtime rate for holiday pay. Common practice in a given local may alter certain days of celebration. If in doubt, please check with IDOL.”
Holiday work is paid at the holiday multiple in the overtime table (2.0× the base wage for this row).
When this rate changes
- Illinois rates don't lock at bid. When IDOL revises a rate, “the revised rate shall apply to such contract” from its effective date, including jobs already under way (820 ILCS 130/4(l)).
- A missing notice is no excuse. A public body's failure to send the new rates “does not relieve the contractor of the duty to comply”, or of paying back wages (820 ILCS 130/4(g), (j)).
- IDOL surveys in June and must publish the year's schedule by July 15 (820 ILCS 130/9), then posts revisions through the year. In 2026 its postings took effect on Jan 15, Mar 2, Apr 15, May 21, Jul 15, Aug 15, Sep 21 and Oct 19, 2026. Each posting replaces all 102 county schedules.
- This page uses the posting for work performed on or after October 19, 2026 (IDOL current rates; older postings are on IDOL's historical rates page).
What each class covers
IDOL's explanation of classes for Cook County, copied as printed. The class number on a row decides its rate.
COMMUNICATIONS ELECTRICIAN
Installation, operation, inspection, maintenance, repair and service of radio, television, recording, voice sound vision production and reproduction, telephone and telephone interconnect, facsimile, data apparatus, coaxial, fibre optic and wireless equipment, appliances and systems used for the transmission and reception of signals of any nature, business, domestic, commercial, education, entertainment, and residential purposes, including but not limited to, communication and telephone, electronic and sound equipment, fibre optic and data communication systems, and the performance of any task directly related to such installation or service whether at new or existing sites, such tasks to include the placing of wire and cable and electrical power conduit or other raceway work within the equipment room and pulling wire and/or cable through conduit and the installation of any incidental conduit, such that the employees covered hereby can complete any job in full.
How Cook 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 Illinois
Wage and fringe benefits, nearby
- Cook Countybase $63.15$107.71
- DuPage Countybase $52.49$107.74
- Will Countybase $61.00$110.26
- Kane Countybase $64.16$108.92
Electrician rates in nearby counties
Current IDOL rates. You pay the rate for the county where the work is done. The Act defines “locality” as the county of the physical work, with narrow exceptions (820 ILCS 130/2).
| County | Classification | Base + fringes | Base | vs Cook County |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Will County | Electrician (building) | $110.26 | $61.00 | +$2.55 |
| Kane County | Electrician (building) | $108.92 | $64.16 | +$1.21 |
| Kendall County | Electrician (building) | $108.92 | $64.16 | +$1.21 |
| Lake County | Electrician (building) | $108.64 | $56.15 | +$0.93 |
| DuPage County | Electrician (building) | $107.74 | $52.49 | +$0.03 |
| Cook County | Electrician | $107.71 | $63.15 | |
| McHenry County | Electrician | $106.69 | $62.22 | −$1.02 |
More from IDOL on this rate
- Cook County schedule (IDOL PDF, page 1)
- Work that no listed trade covers: IDOL names a neighboring county's classification to use. Call 217-782-1710.
- Apprentices: IDOL's county schedules list journeyworker and foreman rates only.
Are you being paid this rate?
Add your base wage to what your employer pays into health, pension and other plans for you, and compare it with $107.71. Your contractor has to post the rates on the job site or give you written notice of them (820 ILCS 130/4(n)), and file a certified payroll with IDOL by the 15th of each month for the month before (820 ILCS 130/5).
A worker paid less than the prevailing rate can sue for the difference (820 ILCS 130/4(g)).
Source
Illinois Department of Labor, prevailing wage rates for Cook County, posted October 19, 2026, page 1: labor.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idol/laws-rules/conmed/documents/fy27/20261019/Cook.pdf
Each figure is read from IDOL's PDF and checked by a second, separate reader. IDOL prints no total; ours is re-added independently. How we check · Download Cook County as CSV · Report an error