Do linemen make more in Madison or Milwaukee?

Milwaukee pays more: the median is $104,220 in Madison and $109,000 in Milwaukee, a 4% difference.

Lineman salary in Madison, WI

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Linemen in the Madison, WI area earn a median of $104,220 a year, or $50.11 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $121,000. That's 2% less than the Wisconsin median of $105,820.

Median yearly pay$104,220

Bottom 10% under$47,600Top 10% over$121,000

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $22.89/hr
Jobs in this area: 360
After cost of living: $107,130
Median hourly pay: $50.11/hr
vs U.S. median: +9%
vs Wisconsin median: −2%
Mean (average) pay: $94,710 a year · $45.53 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 31540, Madison, 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 Madison, 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	$22.89	$47,600
25th percentile	$36.85	$76,640
Median (50th)	$50.11	$104,220
75th percentile	$56.90	$118,340
90th percentile	$58.18	$121,000

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

How Madison, WI compares

Madison ranks 7th of 11 Wisconsin metro areas for lineman pay.
Linemen hold about the same share of jobs in the Madison area as nationally: 0.9 of every 1,000 jobs.

Other Wisconsin metro areas

Other trades in Madison, WI

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

Questions

Do linemen make more in Madison or Milwaukee?: Milwaukee pays more: the median is $104,220 in Madison and $109,000 in Milwaukee, a 4% 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 31540 (Madison, 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 (97.3, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures