Salary by Industry

• Local governments employed around 47 percent of all inspectors, at an annual mean salary of $54,730. The next-largest employer was architectural, engineering and related services at an annual mean of $52,770. The top-paying industries were electric power generation, transmission and distribution, at a mean of $69,580, and the federal executive branch, at $65,780.
  
  

Salary by State

• The states with the highest mean salaries were District of Columbia, $81,610; California, $70,260; Nevada, $70,120; Alaska, $64,040; and Washington, $63,420. The lowest-paying states had a mean salary between $30,320 and $43,580. These states were Indiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee and West Virginia.
  
  

Salary by Metropolitan Area

• The metropolitan areas with the highest mean salaries were San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California, $84,050; Napa, California, $75,800; and Santa Rosa-Petaluma, California, $75,600. The lowest-paying areas, which were scattered across the country, paid a mean salary between $29,010 and $40,960.
  
  

Considerations

• Most jurisdictions require electrical inspectors to be licensed, although requirements for licensing vary across the country. Electrical inspectors can also become certified through the International Association of Electrical Inspectors. The BLS expects jobs for construction and building inspectors to increase 17 percent from 2008 to 2018, driven by public safety concerns and the goal of improving the quality of construction.