Do linemen make more in Appleton or Milwaukee?

Milwaukee pays more: the median is $107,370 in Appleton and $109,000 in Milwaukee, a 1% difference.

Lineman salary in Appleton, WI

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Linemen in the Appleton, WI area earn a median of $107,370 a year, or $51.62 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $115,490. Statewide, linemen earn a median of $105,820; Appleton is 1% above it.

Median yearly pay$107,370

Bottom 10% under$50,510Top 10% over$115,490

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $24.28/hr
Jobs in this area: 160
After cost of living: $116,180
Median hourly pay: $51.62/hr
vs U.S. median: +13%
vs Wisconsin median: +1%
Mean (average) pay: $94,860 a year · $45.61 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 11540, Appleton, WI). 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 Appleton, WI 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	$24.28	$50,510
25th percentile	$40.71	$84,690
Median (50th)	$51.62	$107,370
75th percentile	$51.89	$107,940
90th percentile	$55.53	$115,490

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

How Appleton, WI compares

Appleton ranks 4th of 11 Wisconsin metro areas for lineman pay.
Linemen are more concentrated in the Appleton area than nationally: 1.3 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.5 times the U.S. share.

Other Wisconsin metro areas

Other trades in Appleton, WI

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

Questions

Do linemen make more in Appleton or Milwaukee?: Milwaukee pays more: the median is $107,370 in Appleton and $109,000 in Milwaukee, a 1% 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 11540 (Appleton, WI). 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 (92.4, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures