Can the shop add the right licensed capacity at a cost the current backlog and pricing can support?
—The May 2025 DFW electrician employee-wage estimate has a $28.37 hourly median across electrician work types. It excludes employer burden and self-employed workers. Use the historical wage table as context, then calculate the paid time, productive time, burden, vehicle, tools, and supervision costs of the particular role you need.
DFW electrician wages: May 2025 estimates
These percentiles describe the occupation as a whole, not license-specific pay bands. The guide was revised in September 2026; the wage measurement period remains May 2025.
Editable planning tool
What does one productive hour cost your shop?
These starting values are a hypothetical example, not DFW pay recommendations. Replace them with your own costs. Inputs stay in this page.
Formula and worked example
Weekly cost = wage × paid hours × (1 + burden ÷ 100) + other weekly costs. Cost per productive hour = weekly cost ÷ productive hours.
Example: $30 × 40 × 1.25 + $300 = $1,800 per week. At 30 productive hours, that is $60 per productive hour. This is a cost estimate, not a selling price; materials, company overhead, contingency, and profit still need consideration.
Weekly cost = wage × paid hours × (1 + burden ÷ 100) + other weekly costs. Divide weekly cost by productive hours. Example: $30 × 40 × 1.25 + $300 = $1,800; $1,800 ÷ 30 = $60 per productive hour. This cost estimate is not a selling price; consider materials, company overhead, contingency and profit separately.
Download a blank cost worksheet (CSV)Build the loaded cost of the exact seat you need.
Do not begin with a metro average. Begin with the work the person must perform and the license, experience, schedule, and supervision it requires.
Define the seat · apprentice, journeyman, master, service, commercial, industrial, estimator, or supervisor.
Add wages, payroll taxes, benefits, overtime, truck, tools, travel, recruiting, and expected callbacks.
Estimate productive hours after drive time, training, meetings, rework, and paid time off.
Add the supervision load and confirm the shop has the required license coverage.
Compare the loaded weekly cost with backlog, expected gross profit, and the cost of leaving work unserved.
Decide whether to hire qualified capacity now or build it under supervision.
TDLR lists 8,000 supervised hours for journeyman licensure; applicants can test after 7,000. Master eligibility requires 12,000 hours plus at least two years holding a journeyman license. Growing licensed capacity internally takes years and consumes supervision today.
Hire now when current qualified applicants, backlog, pricing, and supervision support the loaded cost.
Develop apprentices when the shop can provide consistent supervised hours and absorb the near-term training load.
Use overtime cautiously when it protects a short backlog spike without creating callbacks, burnout, or permanent premium labor cost.
Decline or delay work when the required license mix, supervision, or margin is not available.
An apprentice can start quickly; independent licensed capacity cannot.
Texas allows apprentice entry without prior experience or an exam. Journeyman licensure requires 8,000 supervised on-the-job hours, while master eligibility requires 12,000 hours and at least two years as a journeyman.
That makes supervision a current capacity decision, not overhead to ignore. Before adding apprentices, confirm who will supervise them and which existing work will absorb the training time.
Qualified capacity takes supervised time to build
Texas progression rules define exam and license eligibility; current entrants, completions, availability, and supervision remain shop questions.
| Stage | Published requirement | Shop record needed |
|---|---|---|
| Apprentice | No experience or exam; supervised work | Entrants, retention, productive hours |
| Journeyman | Exam application after 7,000 supervised hours; 8,000 for licensure | Completions, applicants, accepted offers |
| Master | 12,000 hours + 2 years as journeyman | Master coverage and supervision load |
| IEC Dallas program | 4 years; 8,000 OJT; 576 class hours | Enrollment, attrition, placements, graduates |
Tie the hiring decision to backlog, supervision, and gross profit.
Approve the seat only when the shop can name the work it will serve, the loaded weekly cost, the supervision it will consume, and the gross profit expected from the added capacity. Then track vacancy days, accepted offers, productive hours, overtime, callbacks, retention, and realized margin.
Put the findings to work
Use the crew-planning worksheet, after-hours response checklist, or estimate follow-up workflow to test the next step in your shop.
Get help connecting intake, estimates, and operating reports →Build a current role-specific loaded-cost model before changing pay, hiring spend, crew plans, or customer pricing.
Read the methodology →What supports this report
Employee occupation survey estimate; excludes self-employed workers and is not a loaded labor-cost model.
Source ↗Regulatory progression and contractor requirements, not evidence of current labor scarcity.
Source ↗Provider-published program design; no current enrollment, completion, placement, or graduate-wage figures.
Source ↗