Assertion Supported AI assessment confidence: 92% certainty 4/5 debate potential 2/5

Electricians Can Earn as Much as Engineers and Outearn Teachers

Boren Reyes · The great electrician shortage · Jan 11, 2023 · at 22:43

Electrical contractor Boren Reyes explains why showing strong earning potential is the key to recruiting new electricians to address the skilled trades shortage.

0:00 / 0:22exact quote · 22.9s

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“Showing showing how much money they can make, that, that is just the key. Because they can make just as much as, you know, an engineer. They can make more, you know, than a teacher. They can make more than You know, a person that will spend their time, you know, three to four years in college, and then they don't see that, they don't show you that.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

The claim, plainly

Electricians can earn as much as engineers and more than teachers or graduates of four-year college programs.

a quote alone can be ambiguous, so this restates it with the references and context of the conversation around it resolved. AI-written; the tape below the player is the source.

Assessment

The claim asserts a capability ('can earn' / 'can make') rather than asserting that the median electrician outearns the median engineer or college graduate. According to May 2022 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) and Current Population Survey (CPS) data published in 2023: (1) Upper-tier electricians (75th percentile at $78,210 and 90th percentile at $102,300) earned as much as or more than lower-to-mid-tier engineers (mechanical engineer 10th percentile at $61,990, 25th percentile at $76,980) and approached median engineering earnings ($96,310–$103,320); (2) Upper-tier electricians exceeded median elementary and secondary school teacher wages ($61,690–$62,360) and matched or exceeded 75th-percentile teachers ($78,860–$79,520); (3) Electricians in the 75th percentile and above outearned the median full-time worker with a bachelor's degree ($74,464 annualized). Because all three comparison legs hold under standard wage distribution percentiles, the claim is resolved as true.

BLS OEWS May 2022 data shows electricians earned a median of $60,240, with 75th percentile at $78,210 and 90th percentile at $102,300.
BLS OEWS May 2022 data shows mechanical engineers at the 10th percentile earned $61,990 and at the 25th percentile earned $76,980.
BLS OEWS May 2022 data shows elementary school teacher median earnings were $61,690 and secondary school teacher median earnings were $62,360.
BLS CPS 'Education pays, 2022' data indicates median annual earnings for full-time bachelor's degree holders were approximately $74,464.

Checked against

[1] bls.gov [2] tradecertinfo.com [3] bls.gov [4] upjohn.org [5] idaho.gov [6] research.com [7] bls.gov [8] bls.gov

"25-2031" "Secondary School Teachers" "May 2022" "median" "annual" bls BLS OEWS May 2022 Engineers median 90th percentile wage BLS OEWS May 2022 Electricians median 75th 90th percentile wage "17-2071" "Electrical Engineers" "May 2022" "median" "annual" bls BLS OEWS May 2022 Teachers median wage BLS median weekly earnings bachelors degree 2022 2023 "17-0000" "Architecture and Engineering Occupations" "May 2022" "median" "annual" bls

assessed as of 2026-09-02

This assessment is an AI reading of a public statement, made against the cited references with the confidence shown. It can be wrong. The quote, the tape and the references are all on this page; if something is off, use report an error below. full disclaimer →

Mentioned

electricians engineer teachers

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