Pricing by neighborhood — Electrician · Boston, MA
| Neighborhood | Low | High | Why the price moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beacon Hill / Back Bay | $115 | $175 | 1800s brownstones, original wiring, narrow service drops, Boston Landmarks review on visible exterior work |
| South End / Roxbury | $100 | $150 | Italianate row houses and 1900s triple-deckers; knob-and-tube and BX cable remediation common |
| South Boston | $95 | $140 | Italianate row and triple-decker mix, shared service drops on brick rows, older 60-amp panels |
| Dorchester / Jamaica Plain | $90 | $135 | Triple-decker capital; knob-and-tube still active in 30-40% of attic and wall runs |
| Cambridge / Somerville | $95 | $145 | Mix of pre-war multi-family and modern condos; separate municipal permitting outside Boston ISD |
| Newton / Brookline / Wellesley | $100 | $155 | Suburban single-family with 1960s-70s aluminum branch wiring; Mass Save panel-upgrade demand |
| Allston / Brighton | $85 | $125 | Heavy student-rental stock with deferred maintenance; competitive pricing on routine work |
| Charlestown / East Boston | $90 | $135 | Coastal salt-air corrosion on service entrances; older row-house wiring |
Electrician hourly rate by neighborhood in Boston, MA. Ranges reflect typical contractor pricing including travel time, building-type access, and local labor density.
How much does an electrician cost in Boston?
Boston electricians charge $82-$137 per hour for scheduled work, with an average of $109/hr. Emergency calls (nights, weekends, holidays) run $165-$220/hr plus a $125-$200 trip charge. Neighborhood matters: Beacon Hill and Back Bay sit at the top of the range because of 1800s wiring, narrow service drops, and Boston Landmarks Commission review on any visible exterior work. Allston, Brighton, and outer Dorchester sit at the bottom.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the median hourly wage for electricians in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro at $54.60. The gap between that and the $109/hr you actually pay is real and explainable, and the rest of this article walks through where every dollar goes, what permits you actually need, and what to ask when comparing quotes.
Boston Electrician Rates by Neighborhood
The Boston market is not one market. A Beacon Hill brownstone with 1880s knob-and-tube and a Landmarks file is a different job than a Newton split-level with 1970s aluminum branch wiring, and a Dorchester triple-decker is different from both. The full per-neighborhood breakdown sits at the top of this page; this section explains the why.
The premium for Beacon Hill, Back Bay, and the South End is structural. A typical service call in Boston’s pre-war core includes 30-45 minutes of parking and resident-permit hassle, a building check-in if it is a converted multi-unit, narrow service-alley access for any work that touches the service drop, and code-compliant disposal of mixed-era cable. Triple-decker work in Dorchester and JP carries its own friction: shared service drops, three-tenant coordination on panel work, and active knob-and-tube in the walls and attics that insurance carriers no longer tolerate.
Comparable cities for cross-reference:
- New York electrician costs — $85-$145/hr
- Chicago electrician costs — $70-$120/hr
- Philadelphia electrician costs — $65-$110/hr
- Washington DC electrician costs — $80-$130/hr
Boston sits roughly 15-25% above the Northeast metro average, mostly explained by Beacon Hill and Back Bay overhead, the IBEW Local 103 union-shop wage floor, and the regional shortage of Master Electricians willing to take on knob-and-tube remediation work.
Boston Electrician Pricing by Building Type
Neighborhood is one axis. Building type is the other, and it often matters more than the zip code. A Beacon Hill brownstone with mixed knob-and-tube and BX costs noticeably more to work on than a 2015 Seaport condo on the same street, because the work is slower, the cable systems are non-standard, and the building rules are stricter.
| Building type | Hourly rate | Why the price moves |
|---|---|---|
| Beacon Hill / Back Bay brownstone (pre-1900) | $130-$180 | 1880s knob-and-tube, BX cable, narrow service drops, Boston Landmarks review on any exterior work |
| Triple-decker (Dorchester, JP, Roxbury, Southie) | $105-$155 | Shared service drop, three-tenant coordination, active knob-and-tube in attic and wall runs, undersized 60-100A panels |
| Italianate / South End row house | $110-$160 | Mixed BX and knob-and-tube, party-wall complications, BLC review in South End historic district |
| Cambridge / Somerville Victorian | $100-$145 | Mixed 1920s-1980s wiring, separate municipal permitting (Cambridge ISD, Somerville Inspectional Services) |
| Suburban single-family with aluminum branch (Brookline, Newton, 1965-1975) | $100-$150 | Aluminum-to-copper pigtailing or COPALUM crimping required at every device for insurance |
| Modern condo (Seaport, South End new construction) | $90-$130 | Code-current copper, AFCI/GFCI throughout, no remediation work but condo association rules apply |
The knob-and-tube callout matters. Boston has thousands of 1890s-1920s triple-deckers and Victorians in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, the South End, Somerville, and inner Cambridge with knob-and-tube still active in attic, wall, and ceiling runs. Massachusetts allows knob-and-tube to remain in place if it is undisturbed and not in contact with insulation, but most homeowner-insurance carriers no longer write or renew policies on properties with active knob-and-tube in occupied spaces. Remediation is the dominant residential electrical job in those neighborhoods, and any electrician working there should have done one in the last 12 months.
What Your Billed Hour Actually Covers
The $54.60 BLS wage is take-home pay for the electrician, not what the customer pays. The customer rate of $82-$137/hr covers everything the business needs to legally operate in Massachusetts.
Roughly: 50% labor, 12% commercial liability and bonding insurance ($14,000-$24,000/yr per crew in Boston because electrical work carries higher claim rates for fire and shock), 11% vehicle and specialty tools (knob-and-tube tester, megohmmeter, thermal-imaging camera, conduit bender), 10% Massachusetts-specific licensing and overhead (Board of State Examiners A and B license renewals, Boston resident-permit parking, dispatch), and 17% contractor profit margin. Strip any of those out and the business cannot stay open.
This is why the cheapest quote is not always the right one. An electrician bidding $55/hr is either operating without insurance (your homeowner’s policy will not cover the resulting fire or shock damage), without a current Massachusetts license (Boston ISD will not sign off on the work), or losing money and about to disappear mid-project.
Boston Electrician Permits and What They Cost
The Boston Inspectional Services Department (ISD) sits on top of every meaningful electrical job inside city limits. Brookline, Newton, Cambridge, and Somerville run their own permit offices and file separately. Boston Landmarks Commission review layers on top in historic districts. Skipping the permit step is the most common way Boston homeowners turn a $2,000 job into an $8,000 problem when the next buyer’s inspector flags unpermitted work.
| Work | Permit | Typical cost | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlet, switch, or fixture replacement | None (like-for-like) | $0 | Same day |
| New circuits, panel upgrade, EV charger | Boston ISD Electrical Permit | $75-$400 | 5-10 business days |
| Service-drop change or meter relocation | + Eversource coordination | + $200-$600 | + 1-3 weeks |
| Whole-home rewire or knob-and-tube remediation | ISD Electrical + Building Permit | $300-$800 | 2-4 weeks |
| Visible exterior electrical in historic district | + Boston Landmarks Commission review | + $100-$400 | + 4-8 weeks |
Your electrician files the ISD permit on your behalf and the fee gets added to the invoice. Brookline, Newton, and Cambridge file with their own municipal building departments, which adds 1-3 weeks of lead time but uses the same Massachusetts Master Electrician (A) license. Eversource coordination on service-drop work is a separate timeline; the electrician schedules the disconnect and reconnect with Eversource and stages the job around their crew slot.
For larger renovations involving multiple trades, expect to coordinate the electrical permit with a Boston general contractor who pulls all permits as one filing, which is cheaper than filing each trade separately.
Common Electrician Job Pricing in Boston
These are typical all-in prices, including labor, parts, ISD or municipal permit fees where applicable, and 1-year workmanship warranty. Beacon Hill, Back Bay, and the suburban single-family belt sit at the high end of each range; Allston, Brighton, and outer Dorchester at the low end.
| Job | Total cost | Labor hours | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlet or switch replacement | $150-$300 | 1-1.5 | Minimum-call applies; older boxes may need cut-in (+$50-$100) |
| New 15/20A circuit run | $350-$750 | 3-5 | Wall fishing in plaster lath at the top of range |
| Ceiling-fixture or recessed-light install | $225-$500 | 2-3 | Existing junction box at the low end; new cut-in at the high end |
| 200-amp panel upgrade (straight swap) | $3,200-$5,500 | 8-12 | Eversource disconnect/reconnect; ISD permit $100-$300 |
| 200-amp service + meter pan + grounding | $6,500-$9,500 | 14-20 | Full service entrance; common in 1900s triple-deckers |
| Level 2 EV charger (panel has capacity) | $1,400-$2,800 | 4-7 | 240V circuit, 40-50A breaker, Eversource make-ready rebate |
| Knob-and-tube remediation (per unit) | $8,000-$18,000 | 40-90 | Triple-decker single unit; insurance-driven |
| Whole-home rewire | $14,000-$30,000 | 80-160 | Mixed knob-and-tube and BX out, copper Romex in, plaster patching extra |
| Aluminum-to-COPALUM remediation | $2,500-$6,000 | 12-24 | Per single-family; every device crimped or replaced |
The knob-and-tube remediation deserves a callout. The job is usually triggered by an insurance non-renewal letter from Liberty Mutual, MAPFRE, Plymouth Rock, or one of the other Massachusetts homeowner carriers that no longer write active knob-and-tube. The carrier typically gives 30-60 days to remediate or move policies. That timeline puts homeowners in a bad negotiating position, and the cheapest quote is often the one that does selective remediation (active circuits only) rather than a full removal. Selective remediation passes the insurance inspection but leaves dormant knob-and-tube in the building, which becomes a problem at the next home sale when the buyer’s inspector flags it.
How to Get and Compare Boston Electrician Quotes
Three things separate a useful quote from a useless one in Boston, and they all come down to specificity.
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Tell the electrician the building age, type, and current panel size. “1905 Dorchester triple-decker, second-floor unit, 100A federal pacific panel, knob-and-tube visible in attic” gets a different number than “1995 Cambridge condo, modern panel, no remediation.” Electricians price the job partly off the remediation surface area and the service-drop complexity, so generic “I need an EV charger” estimates are worth less than a more detailed brief.
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Ask for an itemized written estimate that breaks out labor hours, materials with brand names, ISD permit fees, Eversource coordination fees if applicable, and any Mass Save or Eversource rebate filings. Verbal estimates are not enforceable and tend to grow on the day. Reputable Boston electrical companies email itemized PDFs within 24-48 hours of the site visit. If an electrician will not put it in writing, walk.
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Verify the license and insurance before you book. Pull the Master Electrician (A) license number from the Massachusetts Board of State Examiners of Electricians license search and request a current Certificate of Insurance showing $1M general liability minimum. Both checks take five minutes and rule out the contractors who later become problems.
How We Calculated These Prices
The Boston electrician hourly rate of $82-$137 starts with the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics mean hourly wage for electricians in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metropolitan statistical area: $54.60 as of May 2024. We apply a 1.5x-2.5x consumer multiplier covering business overhead, insurance, licensing, vehicle costs, employer-paid taxes, and contractor profit margin, calibrated against current market quotes from Massachusetts-licensed Master Electricians.
Neighborhood-level adjustments reflect access logistics (parking, narrow service alleys, service-drop sharing in triple-deckers), building-stock differences (1880s knob-and-tube vs. 1970s aluminum branch vs. modern copper Romex), and Boston-specific overhead (ISD permit handling, Boston Landmarks Commission review in historic districts, Eversource coordination on service work, IBEW Local 103 union scale where applicable). The full formula and source list lives on our methodology page.
Other Boston Service Costs You Might Need
Electrical work rarely happens in isolation. A kitchen renovation or heat-pump conversion typically pulls in 3-4 trades, and getting quotes from all of them at the same time is faster than serial calls.
- Boston plumber costs — for water-heater conversions and any work that touches gas lines
- Boston HVAC technician costs — for heat-pump installs that drive Mass Save panel upgrades
- Boston carpenter costs — for wall opening, fishing access, and plaster patching after a rewire
- Boston handyman costs — for sub-Master-Electrician-license tasks like fixture swaps
- Boston general contractor costs — when the project crosses 3+ trades and needs a single ISD filing