Electrician Near Me: $50 to $130 an Hour + Repair Costs

Most calls are small. Angi's survey of more than 30,000 customers puts minor electrical jobs at $150 to $600 and complex ones at $2,000 to $10,000. What decides where yours lands is the repair itself, the hourly rate where you live, and whether the call comes at night or on a weekend.

How much does electrical repair cost

These are the published prices for the repairs people call an electrician about most often. Where two guides disagree, both are shown.

Installed prices as each guide publishes them, 2024 to 2026. Your area, access to the wiring and any permit change the quote.

Outlets are the most common small job. Angi's national average is $130 to repair one, but a single outlet on outdated wiring can reach $1,500 because the problem is behind the wall, not in the receptacle. HomeGuide notes that a tripped outlet that only needs a reset costs nothing, so check for a GFCI button before you book.

Do this now: sparks, smoke, a downed line or a dead circuit

Work down this list in order; the first two are not jobs for an electrician.

1. Sparks, smoke or a burning smell: get everyone out and call 911 from outside. Do not stay to open the panel or look for the source.
2. A downed power line: stay far away, treat every wire as live and call 911, as FPL's power line safety guidance says; then report it to the electric utility.
3. Water near outlets or the panel: shut off the breaker only if you can reach the panel from a dry spot. If you cannot, stay out of the room.
4. One circuit dead: unplug everything on it and reset the breaker one time. If it trips again, stop; breaker keeps tripping explains why.
5. Then call an electrician and ask for the service call fee before anyone is sent.

Electrician cost per hour

Billed hourly rates. This Old House puts most electricians at $40 to $120 an hour, and HomeAdvisor at $50 to $130.

Expect a minimum. HomeGuide says a service call runs $100 to $200 including the first hour, some companies add a separate $40 to $100 trip fee that does not count toward labor, and most have a one to two hour minimum. Angi says minimums of one to four hours of labor are common, and that urban rates often run $100 an hour or more while rural rates sit near $50.

The billed rate is what the company charges, not what the electrician takes home. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median electrician wage at $30.38 an hour as of May 2025.

Warning signs you need an electrician

The Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) lists these as signs to get a qualified electrician in right away:

• Lights that flicker or dim.
• A burning smell from an outlet, a switch or the panel.
• Switches or wall plates that are discolored or warm to the touch.
• A mild shock or tingle from an appliance or a switch.
• Sizzling, buzzing or crackling from outlets or the panel.
• Breakers that trip again and again.

Smoke, fire or a burning smell that is getting stronger: leave the house and call 911. A downed power line belongs to the utility; stay away from it and call them. Water near outlets: shut off the power at the breaker only if you can reach the panel from a dry spot. The emergency electrician guide covers what to do first and what a night call costs, and breaker keeps tripping walks through a circuit that will not stay on.

These signs matter because of what follows them. Citing NFPA data, ESFI reports an average of 31,647 home fires a year from 2011 through 2023 caused by electrical distribution or lighting equipment, with about 425 deaths, 1,279 injuries and $1.6 billion in direct property loss.

GFCI outlet installation: where you need one and what it costs

A GFCI outlet compares the current going out with the current coming back and cuts power on even a slight imbalance. ESFI says the National Electrical Code requires GFCI protection in kitchens, bathrooms, garages and outdoors, and that GFCIs helped cut home electrocutions in half. HomeGuide prices GFCI outlet installation at $90 to $200, and This Old House at $120 to $200.

If an older house has plain two-prong or ungrounded outlets in those rooms, adding GFCIs is one of the cheaper safety fixes on this page. This Old House puts grounding an outlet at $50 to $100.

Old wiring: aluminum and knob and tube

The Consumer Product Safety Commission found that homes built before 1972 with aluminum branch wiring are 55 times more likely than copper-wired homes to have at least one outlet connection reach fire hazard conditions. CPSC accepts three permanent repairs: a full copper rewire (best, but often impractical), COPALUM crimp pigtails installed by electricians trained by the manufacturer (its preferred repair), or AlumiConn connectors as an alternative with a shorter track record. Twist-on connectors and CO/ALR devices are not acceptable permanent repairs.

None of the major cost guides publish a price for COPALUM or AlumiConn work, so get it quoted in writing and ask whether the electrician is trained on the method. If you are buying a house with aluminum wiring, call your insurer before closing.

Knob and tube wiring is priced as a replacement job. Angi puts replacement at $10 to $20 per sq ft, or $16,000 to $32,000 for 1,600 sq ft. HomeGuide puts it at $8 to $17 per sq ft and an inspection at $100 to $200. For a full rewire, HomeGuide's range is $10,000 to $20,000 when the electrician can work from the attic and basement, and $20,000 to $30,000 or more when walls have to be opened.

Whole house surge protector cost

A whole house surge protector is installed at the electrical service rather than at one outlet. HomeGuide puts one at $200 to $800 installed (Type 1 at $250 to $800, Type 2 at $200 to $450), and HomeAdvisor's average is $300, with most jobs taking a couple of hours. It is a small add-on when an electrician is already at the panel for other work.

Panels, EV chargers, generators and solar wiring

Bigger jobs have their own pages. A panel that is full, on the problem list, or too small for new loads is covered in electrical panel upgrade cost. A garage charger is in EV charger installation. Backup power is in generator installation, whole house generator cost and generator repair.

If the problem is the wiring of a rooftop solar system (an inverter fault, a tripped solar breaker, a damaged conduit run), see solar technician or electrician. Solar work needs someone who knows the equipment as well as the electrical code.

Licensed electrician near me: rules in six states

The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that most states require electricians to be licensed. In Texas, Florida, Arizona, California, Nevada and Colorado, this is who licenses the work and what to check before you book.

From TDLR, Florida Statutes 489.505, the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, NAC 624.200, the Colorado Electrical Board and Mike Holt's state license summaries.

Ask for the license number on the phone and look it up on the state board's site before the visit. Make sure the name on the license matches the company on the quote.

Residential electrician or electrical contractor: questions to ask

1. What is your service call fee, and does it count toward the first hour?
2. Is there a minimum charge, and what is the rate after the first hour?
3. Do you charge more outside business hours, and how much?
4. What is your license number, and is it the right class for this work in my state?
5. Will you pull the permit if the job needs one?
6. Can I get the price in writing, with parts and labor listed, before work starts?
7. For aluminum wiring: are your electricians trained to install COPALUM or AlumiConn connectors?
8. For a Federal Pacific or Zinsco panel: will you quote replacing the panel rather than swapping breakers?

Calls to the electrician line go to an independent company that serves your area and takes this kind of job. How calls work explains the rest.

Electricians by city

Local permits, utilities and outage history for ten cities: Electrician in Houston, Electrician in San Antonio, Electrician in Miami, Electrician in Tampa, Electrician in Orlando, Electrician in Los Angeles, Electrician in San Diego, Electrician in Phoenix, Electrician in Las Vegas, Electrician in Denver.

Every state's electrician license rule, with a lookup link, is in the electrician license by state table.

Two of the most common small jobs have their own guides: GFCI outlet installation and outlets that stop working, and light fixture, recessed and outdoor lighting installation.

Pricing a job? See how much electricians charge per hour and the cost to rewire a house.