Do linemen make more in Tulsa or Fort Smith?

Fort Smith pays more: the median is $80,880 in Tulsa and $94,800 in Fort Smith, a 15% difference.

Lineman salary in Tulsa, OK

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Linemen in the Tulsa, OK area earn a median of $80,880 a year, or $38.89 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $118,490. Across all of Oklahoma, the median is $76,010, so Tulsa pays 6% more than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$80,880

Bottom 10% under$49,020Top 10% over$118,490

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $23.57/hr
Jobs in this area: 740
After cost of living: $90,660
Median hourly pay: $38.89/hr
vs U.S. median: −15%
vs Oklahoma median: +6%
Mean (average) pay: $84,230 a year · $40.50 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 46140, Tulsa, OK). Excludes self-employed linemen. 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 linemen in Tulsa, OK 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	$23.57	$49,020
25th percentile	$30.26	$62,930
Median (50th)	$38.89	$80,880
75th percentile	$51.29	$106,680
90th percentile	$56.97	$118,490

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

How Tulsa, OK compares

Tulsa ranks 3rd of 4 Oklahoma metro areas for lineman pay.
Linemen are more concentrated in the Tulsa area than nationally: 1.6 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.9 times the U.S. share.

Other Oklahoma metro areas

Other trades in Tulsa, OK

Electrician HVAC technician Welder Plumber Diesel mechanic Carpenter Elevator mechanic Heavy equipment operator Auto mechanic Roofer Ironworker

Questions

Do linemen make more in Tulsa or Fort Smith?: Fort Smith pays more: the median is $80,880 in Tulsa and $94,800 in Fort Smith, a 15% difference.

About this data

Wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, occupation 49-9051 (Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers), area code 46140 (Tulsa, OK). BLS counts wage and salary workers only, so self-employed linemen 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 (89.2, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures