Hourly rates in this trade generally run $80–$180. We price by the job instead, and the reason is simple: with hourly billing, the slower the work goes, the more the contractor makes.
Across the country in 2026, residential electricians generally bill somewhere between $80 and $180 an hour, with licensed journeyman work clustering around $100 to $130 and master electrician work higher. A service call that includes the first hour commonly runs $100 to $200. Those are real numbers and they are a reasonable thing to expect if you ring around.
We do not bill that way, and it is worth explaining why rather than just asserting it.
The problem with hourly billing
Under an hourly model, the longer a job takes, the more the contractor earns. Nobody sets out to work slowly, but the incentive points the wrong way, and the customer carries all of the risk of an estimate being wrong. You also cannot approve the cost in advance, because nobody knows what it will be — including the electrician.
Flat-rate pricing inverts that. We look at the job, tell you what it costs, and you decide before anything starts. If it takes longer than we expected, that is our problem rather than yours. If we find something genuinely different once the wall is open, we stop and requote rather than letting the meter run.
What actually drives the price
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Scope | Replacing a receptacle and tracing an intermittent fault across a circuit are not the same job, even though both start as 'an outlet problem'. |
| Access | A panel in an open garage wall costs less to work on than one boxed in behind finished storage. |
| Age and wiring type | Aluminum branch wiring needs connectors rated for it. Ungrounded circuits and cloth-insulated wiring change the scope. |
| Permit and inspection | Service and panel work is permitted and inspected. Requirements and fees differ by city across DFW. |
| Utility coordination | A service upgrade needs the utility to disconnect and release the meter. That is scheduling, not just labour. |
| Urgency | Same-day and after-hours work carries a different rate than planned work booked ahead. |
Reference points for common work
Every job gets its own written quote, but two figures we publish on this site give a sense of range: whole-home surge protection generally runs $350 to $850 installed for a UL 1449-listed device at the service entrance, and standby generators run roughly $8,000 to $20,000 turnkey depending on sizing and transfer switch. Panel and service upgrades vary too widely with access, permit and utility coordination to give a single honest number without seeing the panel.
Questions worth asking any electrician
- Are you a licensed Texas electrical contractor, and what is the TECL number? Ours is 40628 and you can verify it with TDLR.
- Is the quote flat-rate or hourly, and what happens if it takes longer than expected?
- Who pulls the permit and schedules the inspection?
- Does the price include utility coordination on a service upgrade?
- What is the workmanship warranty?
The licence question matters more than people expect. Texas licenses electrical contractors through TDLR, and the number should be given without hesitation and be verifiable.
Want a number before anyone starts?
Written flat-rate quotes on every job. Licensed Texas Electrical Contractor TECL #40628, Master Electrician #214180. Veteran-owned since 1982.
Pricing questions
Most residential electricians bill roughly $80 to $180 an hour in 2026, with licensed journeyman work commonly $100 to $130 and master electrician work higher. A service call including the first hour typically runs $100 to $200. Clements Electric quotes flat rates by the job instead, so you approve the price before work starts.
Not inherently, and it removes the risk of an underestimate landing on you. What it buys is certainty: you approve a number before anything starts, and if the work takes longer than expected the contractor carries that rather than the customer.
Diagnostics are quoted up front like anything else, so you know the figure before we come out. What you get is a written flat-rate quote for the actual repair, not an open-ended clock.
Yes, on larger projects such as panel upgrades, generators and rewires. Flexible payment plans are available with quick approval and no prepayment penalty.
