Summary
- Only 30 of 300 US electricians (10%) list a price online.
- 9 of those 30 show only a service call fee.
- Ask for a written total before work starts, not just a call fee.
US electricians that post a dispatch or diagnostic fee charge a median of $77 to come out. That figure rests on eight electricians. Five others charge $149 to $275 for a visit that includes troubleshooting or the first hour of work.
The figures come from the websites of 30 electricians in 25 US metros, checked in October 2026 for the US Home Services Price Transparency Report 2026. They're advertised prices, not quotes or final bills.
By Oscar Aston Brovall, Marketit.
Electrician prices at a glance
| Job | Electricians | Median | Range | "From" prices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dispatch or diagnostic fee | 8 | $77 | $40 to $150 | 0 of 8 |
| Service call with troubleshooting or first hour | 5 | $228 | $149 to $275 | 0 of 5 |
| Panel upgrade or replacement | 7 | $2,500 | $850 to $3,000 | 5 of 7 |
Each electrician counts once, with its lowest price for the job. Where an electrician gives a range, we used the low end. Call fees are regular weekday rates, not after-hours, weekend, emergency or commercial ones.
What it costs to have an electrician come out
Thirteen electricians post a fee for a call during normal hours, and they fall into two camps. Eight charge only for showing up and diagnosing the problem: $40 to $150, with a median of $77. Five charge $149 to $275 for a visit that includes troubleshooting or the first hour of work, with a median of $228. Two of those five are in Seattle.
HomeAdvisor's electrician guide gives $100 to $200 for a service call that covers the first hour. Three of the five first-hour charges in the study are above that.
At least 3 of the 16 electricians that list a call fee say they waive or credit it if the customer approves the repair. For 9 of the 30 electricians with a price, the call fee is the only price on the site.
Hourly rates
Only four electricians post an hourly rate for home work, from $125 to $227, and two of them are in Seattle. That's too few for a typical rate. HomeAdvisor's guide puts licensed electricians at $50 to $130 an hour.
Panel upgrade cost
Seven electricians post a price for upgrading or replacing an electrical panel. The lowest figures run from $850 to $3,000, with a median of $2,500. Five are "from" prices and two are ranges, so most real quotes will land higher. The jobs aren't identical: some figures are for a 200-amp service upgrade, others for any panel change between 100 and 400 amps.
HomeAdvisor's panel guide puts a panel replacement at $518 to $2,193, with an average of $1,347, and a 200-amp upgrade at $1,300 to $2,000.
EV charger installation cost
Four electricians post a starting price for installing a home EV charger, from $449 to $900. That's too few for a typical figure, and the pages don't always say whether the charger itself is included. HomeAdvisor's EV charger guide gives $554 to $1,380 for a professional Level 2 installation.
What the prices include
Of the 30 electricians with a price, 16 list a service call fee, 12 use "from" prices, 8 give a fixed price for a defined job and 7 an hourly rate. Some give more than one.
Three quote prices before sales tax, and the rest don't say. Two list a separate fee for emergency or weekend visits.
How many electricians post prices
30 of the 300 electricians in the study list a price, or 10%, below the 13.8% across all six trades. Only 21, or 7%, say what the work itself costs rather than just the call fee.
| Region | Electricians checked | With a price | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| West | 84 | 12 | 14.3% |
| Northeast | 36 | 4 | 11.1% |
| South | 132 | 12 | 9.1% |
| Midwest | 48 | 2 | 4.2% |
The regional groups are small, so read the order as a rough pattern.
How the figures were collected
The study checked 1,782 home service websites in 25 US metros in October 2026, 300 of them electricians, taken from the top Google Maps results for each trade and metro.