Do electricians make more in Ames or Davenport?

Davenport pays more: the median is $63,320 in Ames and $76,950 in Davenport, a 18% difference.

Electrician salary in Ames, IA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Electricians in the Ames, IA area earn a median of $63,320 a year, or $30.44 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $89,990. Across all of Iowa, the median is $60,860, so Ames pays 4% more than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$63,320

Bottom 10% under$39,900Top 10% over$89,990

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $19.18/hr
Jobs in this area: 210
After cost of living: $71,280
Median hourly pay: $30.44/hr
vs U.S. median: 0%
vs Iowa median: +4%
Mean (average) pay: $66,460 a year · $31.95 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 11180, Ames, IA). Excludes self-employed electricians. Cost of living: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024. *Starting pay is estimated from the 10th percentile; BLS does not report pay by license level.

Pay by percentile

What electricians in Ames, IA earn at each point of the pay range, May 2025: 10% earn less than the 10th percentile, half earn less than the median, and 10% earn more than the 90th.

Percentile	Hourly	Yearly
10th percentile	$19.18	$39,900
25th percentile	$23.08	$48,000
Median (50th)	$30.44	$63,320
75th percentile	$38.00	$79,030
90th percentile	$43.27	$89,990

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.

How Ames, IA compares

Ames ranks 4th of 9 Iowa metro areas for electrician pay.
Electricians are less concentrated in the Ames area than nationally: 3.7 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.77 times the U.S. share.

Other Iowa metro areas

Other trades in Ames, IA

HVAC technician Welder Plumber Diesel mechanic Carpenter Heavy equipment operator Auto mechanic

Questions

Do electricians make more in Ames or Davenport?: Davenport pays more: the median is $63,320 in Ames and $76,950 in Davenport, a 18% difference.

About this data

Wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, occupation 47-2111 (Electricians), area code 11180 (Ames, IA). BLS counts wage and salary workers only, so self-employed electricians and business owners aren't included. The cost-of-living figure divides the median by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for 2024 (88.8, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures