A compiled reference of 40 verified statistics on electrical repair in rental property, spanning what individual jobs cost from an outlet to a full rewire, what electricians charge by the hour and by credential, the share of the trade's calls that arrive as emergencies, how many US homes are carrying exposed wiring, and the annual toll of home electrical fires. Every figure is drawn from a named public source, including Angi, the National Fire Protection Association, the US Census Bureau's American Housing Survey, the National Association of Home Builders and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and independently checked against the original before publishing.
Key statistics
6 highlights from this report
Key statistics
Key takeaways
Electrical is the trade where the repair is cheap and the failure is not. An outlet is $200 to $300 and the average visit $351, but more than a third of the trade's outlet-and-switch calls arrive as emergencies, and the reason is in the fire data: electrical distribution equipment starts 32,620 home fires a year, kills 430 people and does $1.3 billion in damage, with wiring behind two-thirds of it. For a rental, the operational fact is that a burning smell from an outlet is a call that cannot wait until Monday.
Hiring an electrician costs $351 on average, in a normal range of $163 to $538
36.4% of electrical switch, outlet and fixture jobs are emergencies
32,620 home electrical fires a year cause 430 deaths and $1.3 billion in damage
3.7 million US homes had exposed wiring in 2023
Wiring accounts for 68% of home electrical fires and 60% of the damage
An emergency visit doubles the hourly rate and adds a $100 to $200 call-out fee
The annual toll of home electrical fires
Every other trade on this site is priced by inconvenience. Electrical is priced by risk, and the risk is measured. According to the National Fire Protection Association (nfpa.org), analysing US fire department responses from 2015 to 2019, home fires involving electrical distribution and lighting equipment averaged, each year:
Source: National Fire Protection Association, home fires involving electrical distribution and lighting equipment, 2015 to 2019 annual averages.
How we built this report
Every figure below was compiled in August 2026 from named public sources and checked against the original document before publishing.
- Compiled from primary sources
A published contractor pricing guide, the national fire-protection body's fact sheet on electrical fires, federal housing survey data, an industry analysis of that survey, and federal housing regulation.
- Only explicitly stated figures
We include only numbers a named source states directly, and attribute each one inline where it appears. Where we do arithmetic on top of a cited figure it is labelled as a worked example with the inputs shown.
- Vintage stated
The fire data covers 2015 to 2019, the most recent five-year analysis in the association's fact sheet; the housing survey is 2023; the pricing guide was updated August 2026. Each is labelled.
- Independent review
Written by one co-founder, reviewed by the other before publishing.
Scope caveat: contractor cost figures are guide-level national ranges, not an audited survey, and vary by market and access. Fire and housing data cover the whole US housing stock; short-term rentals are not separately identified. State smoke-detector, carbon-monoxide and extinguisher requirements are covered in our safety-device research and state compliance guides, not here.
Rental electrical, by the numbers
All 40 figures, grouped by theme, each from a named public source and independently verified against the original.
What electrical jobs cost
According to Angi (angi.com), whose electrician cost guide was updated in August 2026, hiring an electrician costs $351 on average, in a normal range of $163 to $538 and a total range of $85 to $1,150. A minor job runs $150 to $600 and a complex one $2,000 to $10,000. The everyday rental calls sit at the bottom: an outlet is $200 to $300, a light switch $85 to $200, a ceiling fan $140 to $350. The panel is where it gets expensive: replacing a breaker panel is $520 to $2,120 and rewiring a house $1,500 to $10,000.
Statistic 1
Hiring an electrician costs $351 on average, with a low of $85 and a high of $1,150.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 2
The normal US range for hiring an electrician is $163 to $538.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 3
A minor electrical job costs $150 to $600; a complex job $2,000 to $10,000.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 4
Installing an outlet costs $200 to $300; an outdoor outlet $150 to $260; a light switch $85 to $200.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 5
Installing a light fixture costs $155 to $955; light fixtures overall range from $150 to $6,000.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 6
Installing a ceiling fan costs $140 to $350; an attic fan $370 to $915.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 7
A breaker box costs $500 to $1,800; replacing a breaker panel $520 to $2,120; upgrading a panel $1,200 to $2,000; moving a panel $1,500 to $4,000.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 8
Rewiring a house costs $1,500 to $10,000.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 9
A transfer switch costs $200 to $400 and a generator transfer switch $400 to $2,500; a whole-house generator $1,540 to $8,740.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 10
Smart fixtures cost $200 to $300 and home automation installation $200 to $1,660.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 11
An electrical home inspection costs $280 to $420.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 12
A building permit for electrical work costs $75 to $150, a safety inspection $100 to $125, and permits for rewiring an old home $200 to $900.
Angi (2026)
Worked example
Angi's outlet at $200 to $300 and its one-to-four-hour minimum together explain the trade's economics: replacing three outlets in one visit is $600 to $900, but so is replacing one outlet on three separate visits at the $100 to $200 first-hour rate plus a minimum, per RapidEye Research. Batching is not a saving on parts, it is a saving on minimums.
What this means: the outlet, switch and fixture calls a rental generates most sit at the cheap end, and the price of each is dominated by the visit rather than the part. Angi's own advice, wrap as many electrical jobs into one visit as possible, is the operating rule for a portfolio: a punch list of small electrical faults collected at turnover is worth more than any single repair.
What an electrician charges
According to Angi (angi.com), electrician hourly rates run $50 to $130, and the first hour costs more, about $150 on average, because most electricians charge a service call fee of $100 to $200. Rates tier by credential: $40 to $60 an hour for an apprentice, $60 to $90 for a journeyperson and $90 to $120 for a master electrician. Urban electricians usually charge $100 or more an hour and rural ones around $50, and most charge a minimum of one to four hours regardless of how long the job takes.
Statistic 13
Electrician hourly rates range from $50 to $130.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 14
A service call fee of $100 to $200 covers the first hour, which averages about $150.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 15
By credential: an apprentice charges $40 to $60 an hour, a journeyperson $60 to $90, a master electrician $90 to $120.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 16
Urban electricians usually charge $100 or more per hour; rural electricians around $50, often with a travel fee.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 17
Electricians charge a minimum of one to four hours of labor regardless of how long the job takes.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 18
Hiring a qualified electrician costs $50 to $100 per hour for standard work.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 19
Hard-to-reach panels, wiring or fixtures raise labor fees because the job takes longer.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 20
Self-employed electricians show a wider price range; large franchises price more uniformly, with regional competition keeping the two close.
Angi (2026)
What this means: the master-electrician premium is real but modest, roughly double the apprentice rate, and the bigger swing is geography and minimums. For a rental portfolio in a metro market, the effective floor for any electrical visit is the $100 to $200 first hour, and the effective ceiling for a small job is set by the minimum, not the work.
How much of the trade is urgent
This is the figure that makes electrical different. According to Angi (angi.com), citing its own customer data, 36.4 percent of electrical switch, outlet and fixture jobs are emergencies requiring immediate service, against 63.6 percent non-emergency work. An emergency visit tends to double the hourly rate to $100 to $200, and electricians add a $100 to $200 fee for night and weekend call-outs. Angi names the true emergencies: burning smells from outlets or appliances, a hot electrical panel, and frequent power outages. Its full list of signs that warrant a call runs from flickering lights and tripping breakers to outlets that feel hot.
Statistic 21
36.4 percent of electrical switch, outlet and fixture jobs are emergencies requiring immediate service.
Angi customer data (2026)
Statistic 22
63.6 percent of electrical jobs are non-emergency work.
Angi customer data (2026)
Statistic 23
An emergency electrician visit tends to double the hourly rate, to $100 to $200 per hour.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 24
Electricians add a $100 to $200 fee on top of regular rates for emergency call-outs during nights and weekends.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 25
True electrical emergencies include burning smells from outlets or appliances, a hot electrical panel, and frequent power outages.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 26
Warning signs that warrant an electrician include flickering lights, blown fuses, buzzing outlets, a breaker that keeps tripping, two-prong outlets, sparking appliances, hot outlets and heavy extension-cord use.
Angi (2026)
Statistic 27
Emergency electrician rates by city run from $95 to $190 per hour in Houston up to $210 to $430 in New York City.
Angi city cost guides (2026)
Worked example
A two-hour electrical call at Angi's standard $50 to $130 is $100 to $260 in labor. The same call as a night or weekend emergency, at the doubled $100 to $200 rate plus a $100 to $200 fee, is $300 to $600, per RapidEye Research. On Angi's 36.4 percent emergency share, more than one outlet-and-switch call in three is priced this way.
What this means: the fraction of the trade that arrives urgent is not a rental quirk, it is baked into how electrical faults present: a hot outlet or a burning smell is not something a homeowner defers either. What a rental adds is that the person smelling it is a guest, so the emergency rate applies more often and the report comes with a review attached. Our cross-trade emergency comparison puts this premium alongside plumbing and HVAC.
Home electrical fires
According to the National Fire Protection Association (nfpa.org), analysing 2015 to 2019, US fire departments responded to an estimated average of 32,620 home fires involving electrical distribution and lighting equipment per year, causing 430 civilian deaths, 1,070 civilian injuries and $1.3 billion in direct property damage annually. Wiring and related equipment accounted for just over two-thirds, 68 percent, of those fires, 60 percent of the property damage, 42 percent of the deaths and 53 percent of the injuries. The fires most often started in a bedroom (16 percent), an attic or ceiling (11 percent) or a wall assembly or concealed space (8 percent). About a quarter, 23 percent, occurred between midnight and 8 a.m., but those accounted for just over half, 52 percent, of the deaths.
Statistic 28
US fire departments responded to an estimated average of 32,620 home fires involving electrical distribution and lighting equipment per year in 2015 to 2019.
National Fire Protection Association (2015 to 2019)
Statistic 29
Those fires caused an estimated 430 civilian deaths and 1,070 civilian injuries per year.
National Fire Protection Association (2015 to 2019)
Statistic 30
They caused an estimated $1.3 billion in direct property damage each year.
National Fire Protection Association (2015 to 2019)
Statistic 31
Wiring and related equipment accounted for 68 percent of these fires and 60 percent of the direct property damage.
National Fire Protection Association (2015 to 2019)
Statistic 32
Wiring and related equipment accounted for 42 percent of the civilian deaths and 53 percent of the injuries.
National Fire Protection Association (2015 to 2019)
Statistic 33
These fires most often originated in a bedroom (16 percent), an attic or ceiling (11 percent) or a wall assembly or concealed space (8 percent).
National Fire Protection Association (2015 to 2019)
Statistic 34
23 percent of these fires occurred between midnight and 8 a.m., but they accounted for 52 percent of the deaths.
National Fire Protection Association (2015 to 2019)
Statistic 35
Faulty wiring in concealed spaces such as attics or behind walls can start fires that burn for a prolonged period before detection.
National Fire Protection Association (2015 to 2019)
Statistic 36
The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that home aluminum wiring be replaced or repaired by a qualified electrician because its connections deteriorate and overheat.
National Fire Protection Association, citing the CPSC
Worked example
$1.3 billion in annual damage across 32,620 fires is roughly $39,900 of direct property damage per electrical fire, per RapidEye Research. Angi's $520 to $2,120 breaker panel replacement and $1,500 to $10,000 rewire are both a small fraction of that single-incident figure, before any injury, liability or lost bookings.
What this means: the fire data reframes the repair data. A rewire is expensive relative to an outlet and cheap relative to one fire, and the two places fires start most, bedrooms and concealed wiring, are exactly the places a guest sleeps and a turnover inspection cannot see. The midnight-to-8 a.m. figure is the sharpest point for lodging: a quarter of the fires but half the deaths, in the hours when every unit is occupied and asleep.
Exposed wiring in the housing stock, and the long-term rental floor
According to the US Census Bureau (census.gov), reporting its 2023 American Housing Survey of 133.2 million occupied units, 3.7 million homes had exposed wiring. According to the National Association of Home Builders (nahb.org), analysing the same survey, exposed wiring and lack of electricity are among the deficiencies that define severely inadequate housing, of which there were 1.65 million units, and renters occupy 3.5 million of the 6.45 million inadequate homes against 2.8 million owned. According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (hud.gov), 24 CFR 5.703, the national standard for the condition of HUD housing, names electrical systems among unit components that must be "functionally adequate, operable, and in good repair" and lists electrical hazards among the health and safety concerns a unit must be free of.
Statistic 37
3.7 million US housing units had exposed wiring in 2023.
US Census Bureau, American Housing Survey (2023)
Statistic 38
Exposed wiring and lack of electricity are among the deficiencies that define severely inadequate housing, of which there were 1.65 million US units in 2023.
National Association of Home Builders, analysing the 2023 American Housing Survey (2025)
Statistic 39
Renters occupy 3.5 million of the 6.45 million inadequate US homes; owners occupy 2.8 million.
National Association of Home Builders (2025)
Statistic 40
Federal standards require a unit's electrical systems to be functionally adequate, operable, and in good repair, and the unit to be free of electrical hazards.
24 CFR 5.703
Worked example
3.7 million homes with exposed wiring against 133.2 million occupied units is about one home in 36, per RapidEye Research. Set against NFPA's finding that wiring drives 68 percent of home electrical fires, exposed wiring is both the most visible electrical deficiency in the survey and the one most directly tied to the fire data.
What this means: exposed wiring is the one electrical fault a turnover inspection can actually see, and it is the one the federal survey counts, the industry analysis uses to define severe inadequacy, and the federal standard names as a hazard. It is also, per the fire data, the failure mode behind two-thirds of electrical fires. On every axis this page measures, it is the finding to catch first. The same tenure skew that runs through our plumbing and HVAC research applies here too.
Cite this study
Academic or press use: copy a ready-made reference. RapidEye is the publisher.
Quick FAQ
How much does it cost to hire an electrician?
Hiring an electrician costs $351 on average, in a normal range of $163 to $538, with a low of $85 and a high of $1,150, according to Angi's 2026 cost guide. Hourly rates run $50 to $130, and the first hour costs more, about $150 on average, because most electricians charge a service call fee of $100 to $200. A minor job runs $150 to $600 and a complex one $2,000 to $10,000.
What do common electrical repairs cost?
An outlet costs $200 to $300, a light switch $85 to $200, a ceiling fan $140 to $350, a light fixture $155 to $955, a breaker box $500 to $1,800, replacing a breaker panel $520 to $2,120, upgrading a panel $1,200 to $2,000, and rewiring a house $1,500 to $10,000, according to Angi.
What share of electrical jobs are emergencies?
36.4 percent of electrical switch, outlet and fixture jobs are emergencies requiring immediate service, and 63.6 percent are non-emergency work, according to Angi customer data. An emergency visit tends to double the hourly rate to $100 to $200, and electricians add a $100 to $200 fee for night and weekend call-outs. True emergencies include a burning smell from an outlet, a hot electrical panel and frequent outages.
How many home fires are electrical?
US fire departments responded to an estimated average of 32,620 home fires involving electrical distribution and lighting equipment per year in 2015 to 2019, causing 430 civilian deaths, 1,070 injuries and $1.3 billion in direct property damage annually, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Wiring and related equipment accounted for 68 percent of those fires and 60 percent of the property damage.
How many US homes have exposed wiring?
3.7 million of the 133.2 million occupied US housing units had exposed wiring in 2023, according to the US Census Bureau's American Housing Survey, roughly one home in 36. Exposed wiring is one of the deficiencies that define severely inadequate housing in the National Association of Home Builders' analysis of the same survey.
How much does an electrician charge per hour?
$50 to $130 per hour, according to Angi, tiered by credential: $40 to $60 for an apprentice, $60 to $90 for a journeyperson and $90 to $120 for a master electrician. Urban electricians usually charge $100 or more per hour and rural ones around $50, and most charge a one-to-four-hour minimum regardless of job length.
Data sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these named public sources, each checked against the original document before publishing.
AngiElectrician cost guide, national and by city (2026)angi.com
National Fire Protection AssociationFact sheet on home fires involving electrical distribution and lighting equipment, 2015 to 2019nfpa.org
US Census BureauAmerican Housing Survey, 2023 housing quality releasecensus.gov
National Association of Home BuildersHousing inadequacy analysis of the 2023 American Housing Surveynahb.org
US Department of Housing and Urban Development24 CFR 5.703, national standards for the condition of HUD housinghud.gov