Do linemen make more in Spokane or Portland?

Portland pays more: the median is $127,490 in Spokane and $135,300 in Portland, a 6% difference.

Lineman salary in Spokane, WA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Linemen in the Spokane–Spokane Valley, WA area earn a median of $127,490 a year, or $61.29 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $135,450. That's 4% less than the Washington median of $133,060.

Median yearly pay$127,490

Bottom 10% under$88,130Top 10% over$135,450

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $42.37/hr
Jobs in this area: 210
After cost of living: $127,050
Median hourly pay: $61.29/hr
vs U.S. median: +34%
vs Washington median: −4%
Mean (average) pay: $120,500 a year · $57.93 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 44060, Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA). 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 Spokane, WA 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	$42.37	$88,130
25th percentile	$52.53	$109,260
Median (50th)	$61.29	$127,490
75th percentile	$64.16	$133,450
90th percentile	$65.12	$135,450

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

How Spokane, WA compares

Spokane ranks 4th of 9 Washington metro areas for lineman pay.
Linemen hold about the same share of jobs in the Spokane area as nationally: 0.8 of every 1,000 jobs.

Other Washington metro areas

Other trades in Spokane, WA

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

Questions

Do linemen make more in Spokane or Portland?: Portland pays more: the median is $127,490 in Spokane and $135,300 in Portland, a 6% 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 44060 (Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA). 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 (100.3, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures