2026 wage determinations

IUEC Pay Scales: Elevator Mechanic Rates by Local

✓ Written by a federally recognized pre-apprenticeship instructor✓ Updated October 2026✓ Verified against NEIEP’s official study guide

Journeyman mechanic base rate, fringe and total package for 21 IUEC locals, covering 26 of NEIEP's 82 recruitment areas. Median mechanic scale is $61.41 an hour — roughly $127,700 a year at full time. Open any local to see its apprentice ladder in dollars.

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Median mechanic

$61.41

base rate, per hour

Range

$51.11–$84.05

lowest to highest local

Top package

$122.59

wage + fringe

Locals rated

21/65

26 of 82 areas

Showing 21 of 21 locals with a citable union rate. Tap a row for its apprentice ladder in dollars.

LocalAreaMechanic
8San Francisco, CA +1$84.05
138Poughkeepsie, NY$76.12
1New York, NY$75.14
5Philadelphia, PA$71.85
2Chicago, IL$70.68
18Los Angeles/San Diego, CA +1$69.43
132Madison, WI$65.17
39Providence, RI$64.52
3Evansville, IN +1$62.73
44Toledo, OH$62.27
84Allentown, PA$61.41
34Indianapolis, IN$60.17
62Syracuse, NY$58.44
55Peoria, IL$57.99
35Albany, NY$57.73
11Cincinnati, OH$57.41
20Louisville, KY$56.57
33Des Moines, IA$56.30
93Nashville, TN$52.81
32Atlanta, GA +1$52.08
135Charlotte, NC +1$51.11

One national ladder, local dollar rates

The elevator trade is unusual: the apprentice wage ladder is set nationally, in the Standard Agreement between the IUEC and the National Elevator Bargaining Association. The same percentages apply at every local — 50% of the mechanic’s rate as a probationary apprentice, rising to 80% in the fourth year. Only the mechanic’s dollar rate is negotiated locally.

That is why opening a row above gives you a real number rather than an estimate: national percentages multiplied by that local’s actual determination rate. Full ladder and sourcing on the elevator apprentice pay page.

A useful cross-check. Comparing 6 locals’ own published 2020 mechanic rates against their 2026 federal determinations implies an annual increase of 3.27% with a standard deviation of just 0.05 percentage points. Two independent sources, six different locals, effectively the same escalation — which is what a single national agreement looks like from the outside.

Where these numbers come from

Each rate is a 2026 federal wage determination for a union elevator classification. When a determination covers a union classification, the rate in it is the local’s own negotiated rate for that county — the Department of Labor adopts the bargained rate wholesale. The determination identifier encodes the local number, which is how each rate is tied to a specific local rather than to a region. Every row links to its determination.

What is deliberately excluded:

  • Survey rates. Determinations in weakly-organised areas carry survey identifiers rather than union ones. Those are not union scale, which is why 44 locals carry no figure here.
  • Residential schedules, which sit below commercial mechanic scale.
  • Non-mechanic classifications. Some determinations list a low-voltage wiring scope for alarms and computers under an elevator local’s identifier — the local holds that work, but it is not the mechanic rate.

Where a local covers more than one recruitment area, the rate shown comes from the determination in the state named on the row, and every area it serves is listed when you open it. Rates move with each bargaining cycle, so the figures here are generated from the dataset rather than typed in — a refresh updates the tables and the summary numbers together.

Every determination cited on this page

The table above is interactive, which means its per-local source links only exist once you open a row — invisible to anything reading the page as plain HTML. So here they are server-rendered, one line per local, 21 in total.

LocalMechanic rateDetermination
Local 1 — New York, NY$75.14NY20260003
Local 2 — Chicago, IL$70.68IL20260008
Local 3 — Evansville, IN; St. Louis, MO$62.73IL20260001
Local 5 — Philadelphia, PA$71.85NJ20260041
Local 8 — San Francisco, CA; Northern Nevada$84.05CA20260018
Local 11 — Cincinnati, OH$57.41IN20260004
Local 18 — Los Angeles/San Diego, CA; Las Vegas, NV$69.43NV20260002
Local 20 — Louisville, KY$56.57IN20260004
Local 32 — Atlanta, GA; Savannah, GA$52.08GA20260084
Local 33 — Des Moines, IA$56.30IL20260001
Local 34 — Indianapolis, IN$60.17IN20260002
Local 35 — Albany, NY$57.73NY20260002
Local 39 — Providence, RI$64.52RI20260001
Local 44 — Toledo, OH$62.27IN20260002
Local 55 — Peoria, IL$57.99IL20260001
Local 62 — Syracuse, NY$58.44NY20260004
Local 84 — Allentown, PA$61.41NJ20260045
Local 93 — Nashville, TN$52.81GA20260104
Local 132 — Madison, WI$65.17IL20260001
Local 135 — Charlotte, NC; Myrtle Beach, SC$51.11GA20260104
Local 138 — Poughkeepsie, NY$76.12NY20260002

Keep going

Related Resources

Keep going

Union pay in other trades

Sources: 2026 federal wage determinations (US Department of Labor), linked per local above; 2022-2027 NEBA Agreement (IUEC / National Elevator Bargaining Association), Article V, Par. 5-6 (wages); Article XIX, Par. 2 (program length); and BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers (May 2025).

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Facts on this page trace to primary sources (NEIEP’s official study guide, BLS data) — see sources & methodology. Independent — not affiliated with or endorsed by the IUEC, NEIEP, or any union or testing organization.

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