From duct pulls to route work: cable installer pay
$69,500estimated top of the range · middle $42,000 / yr
AI augments this role
Cable Installers in the United States earn a median of $42,000 a year. Pay starts near $28,000. The top of the range is estimated at $69,500. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate wage series for this exact title, so this figure is derived from the closest occupation it does track and is labelled an estimate.
Source: PayCrunch estimate. Last checked 9 September 2026.
Entry level
$28,000
Top-end estimate
$69,500
Education
High school diploma + training
Wages — PayCrunch estimate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate wage series for Cable Installer; figures are derived from the closest occupation it does track and are labelled as estimates. AI-impact rating is PayCrunch's editorial assessment. Updated September 2026.
🆕 New & Trending AI Tools for Cable InstallerReviewed September 2026
We track new AI-tool launches every week and refresh this list — here’s what’s gaining traction for Cable Installer work right now.
Housecall Pro AINEWPaid / see site
Field-service software with AI inbox, review timing, and estimate assist used by residential service shops.
How a Cable Installer uses it: draft customer replies, build a line-item quote, and keep the book of service calls moving
Workiz AINEWPaid / see site
Field-service software with an AI receptionist that answers and books calls.
How a Cable Installer uses it: never miss a job call — AI answers, quotes, and schedules while you are on site
HandoffNEWPaid / see site
AI estimating that turns a scope into a priced proposal.
How a Cable Installer uses it: turn an install or replacement scope into a priced proposal in minutes
NotebookLMNEWFree / $7.99 mo
Google tool that answers questions grounded only in the documents you give it — with citations.
How a Cable Installer uses it: load your own manuals, policies, or PDFs and ask questions that stay accurate to the source
ChatGPTFree / $20 mo
AI assistant for work orders, specs, and field troubleshooting in plain language.
How a Cable Installer uses it: draft a work order, price a service call, or reason through a diagnosis from a photo — then confirm on site
ServiceTitan Titan IntelligenceQuote-based
AI across dispatch, flat-rate pricebook, and follow-up for home-service trades.
How a Cable Installer uses it: route jobs, price from a service pricebook, and follow up automatically
JobberPaid / see site
Field-service platform with AI assist for quoting, scheduling, and invoicing mobile jobs.
How a Cable Installer uses it: price and schedule a mobile install or repair and send a clean invoice from the truck
ClaudeFree / $20 mo
AI assistant known for careful writing, long-document analysis, and coding.
How a Cable Installer uses it: analyze big reports or spreadsheets and turn messy notes into clean, finished writing
Google GeminiFree / $20 mo
Google's AI assistant, built into Gmail, Docs, and Search.
How a Cable Installer uses it: draft and reply inside Google Workspace and research without leaving the page
The pathway is crowded, the pull is long, and the jack on the wall plate still has to test clean before you leave the floor. You pull and terminate low-voltage cable in buildings: data, voice, and the other limited-energy runs that let a workplace, a school, a clinic, or a shop actually function. The cable is the easy part to point at. The job is getting it from the rack to the right plate without destroying it, labeling it so the next person can trust it, and leaving a test result that matches the drop on the print.
You work in new construction, where the walls are open and the general contractor owns the schedule, and in occupied buildings, where people are trying to hold meetings while you are above the tile grid. You coordinate with electricians so your pathway and theirs do not fight, with the IT or security lead who cares what lands in the closet, and with a foreman who wants the floor done when the lift is still on site. Your decisions are practical: which path the pull can survive, how hard is too hard, when a run has to be replaced instead of "made to work," and whether the label in the closet matches the label at the desk.
Pulling a run that will still test tomorrow
You read the print before you pull. Device locations, closet locations, cable type, and the pathway the estimator assumed all need a look in the real building. A corridor that was supposed to have a clear tray may already be full. A wall that was supposed to be hollow may be a shear panel. You tell the lead what you found before you invent a path that kinks the cable or shares a route it should not. Then you set up the pull: a reel that pays off cleanly, a string or a vacuum where the conduit is empty, lubricant when the conduit is long, and enough people that nobody is yanking to make up for a bad setup.
The manners of the pull are the craft. You do not exceed what the cable can tolerate. You keep the radius gentle. You support the run in the pathway the job specified, whether that is conduit, tray, or J-hooks spaced so the cable stays supported instead of drooping into a mess the inspector will reject. Above the tile grid you watch where you step and what you disturb. In a plenum you use the cable the spec called for. You label both ends before you lose the memory of which reel was which. A pull that finishes fast and unlabeled is a closet full of anonymous pairs and a Saturday callback.
Termination is the second half, and it is where helpers become installers. Jacks, patch panels, blocks, connectors for cameras or access control: each has a way it wants to be punched or crimped, and a way it fails a test while looking fine. You keep the pair twist as intact as the method allows, you seat the conductors fully, and you dress the closet so the next technician can move a patch without unbuilding your work. Then you test. A tester that shows a clean link is the receipt. You save the result the way the lead asked, and you fix the failures before you pull the ladders. "It should be fine" leaves you with a hope. A stored test with the drop ID is a result.
Documentation closes the day. As-built marks when the path changed, a faceplate schedule that matches the patch panel, and photos if the contractor wants them. You leave the site cleaner than a low-voltage crew is famous for leaving it. Scraps, abandoned string, and a faceplate with no label are how a good pull gets a bad reputation. The general contractor remembers the crew that can be left alone on an occupied floor. That memory is how your company gets the next building.
Working under the contractor's licence
Many states license the low-voltage or limited-energy contractor, the company that pulls the permit and is responsible for the work. On most crews you work under that contractor's licence. The firm holds the credential. You pull, terminate, and test as its technician. Your name may not be the one on the licence, and the quality of your terminations is still what the licence holder has to stand behind if an inspector or a customer opens the closet. Know whose licence you are working under. Ask the lead what that state expects on site: a permit on the wall, a journeyman ratio, a registration for individuals, or simply the contractor's credential and your employer's training. The answer changes by state. Memorize the answer for the state you are standing in, and ask again if the next job crosses a line on the map.
This is different from a universal personal licence that every cable installer in the country must carry. The common legal structure is the contractor's licence, with you practicing under it. Some jurisdictions add a card or a registration for the person. Your employer should know. If they shrug, that is a fact about the employer. You can still learn the trade there, and you should keep your own notes on what each city asked for when you pulled a permit with them. When you become a lead, that knowledge is part of why a company trusts you with a floor.
Credentials from BICSI are known in the trade. They tell a contractor that you have gone through that body's program for the kind of installation or design work BICSI covers. They do not replace the contractor's licence, and they do not replace a closet full of clean tests. People prepare by doing the pulls and the terminations, and by studying the material BICSI publishes for the credential they want. If you hold one, put it on the resume next to buildings you can describe. If you are early, a helper reputation for careful pulls will get you on better crews faster than a credential you cannot yet connect to a floor you finished.
Licence on the firm, craft on you
In many states the low-voltage or limited-energy contractor holds the licence, and you work under it. BICSI credentials are a known mark of training in the trade. The daily proof is still a labeled drop that tests clean and a pathway the next crew can follow.
Getting on a crew
Contractors hire helpers who will show up, carry a ladder safely, and listen when a lead says the pull is about to go wrong. A background in electrical helper work, alarm installation, or any job that already put you in a building under construction is useful. So is simple reliability: a driver's licence if the crew moves between sites, boots, and the patience to label the same way on the last drop of the day as on the first. You do not need a closet full of your own certs to start. You need to be someone a lead will trust near an open wall and an occupied office.
The interview is often a conversation on a job or in a shop, not a panel. Be ready to describe a pull you helped with, what cable you have terminated, and a mistake you fixed before the test failed in front of the customer. If you have not terminated yet, say so and talk about how you support a pull and how you keep track of labels. Bring up safety without a speech: ladders, occupied spaces, and knowing when a pathway belongs to the electrician. Ask what kinds of buildings the company does. A crew that only does new-construction data is a different education from a crew that does cameras, access control, and retrofit work in hospitals. Both can teach you. You want to know which one you are joining.
Once you are hired, the first months are repetition with rising stakes. You learn the company's labeling, the tester, the brands of jack they stock, and the way they want a closet dressed. You learn to tell a lead early when a pathway is blocked. Hiding a bad pull under the tile is a firing story in this trade, because the failure shows up later and costs a second mobilization. The installers who become leads are the ones whose floors test clean the first time and whose as-builts match the building.
Helper, installer, lead
Helper means you make the pull possible. You manage reels, you feed cable, you set ladders, you label under direction, and you start to terminate the easy ends while someone checks you. You learn the building. You learn not to be the person who steps through a tile or leaves scrap in a hallway. Promotion begins when a lead can send you to a room and believe the faceplates will match the print.
Installer means you own drops. You pull, you terminate, you test, you fix, and you document. You can dress a closet. You can talk to a site superintendent about a pathway conflict without turning it into a feud. You notice when the spec and the reel on the truck disagree, and you stop. The company bills your time as someone who finishes a floor, not as someone who must be watched on every jack.
Lead means you run the crew for the job or the floor. You sequence the work against the construction schedule, you check tests before you say the floor is done, you train helpers, and you are the voice on the phone when the print is wrong. Some leads later run work for the contractor or move toward design, where BICSI's design-side credentials are especially recognized. The path that earns that choice is helper, then installer, then lead. Skipping to the clipboard before your own terminations are trustworthy is how crews end up re-pulling what you waved through.
Estimated pay, said as estimates
On this page the entry pay, the median, and the high end are estimates. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not keep a separate wage series for this exact title, so the three figures are built from the closest occupation the page can track. Say that in the negotiation. These dollars are a guide with no state attached. Treating them as a city wage would pretend the Bureau had published a cable-installer series for that place. A May 2025 employment count of 97,720 is already published for the series this page uses. That count is a headcount for the series, separate from the estimated pay, and it tells you the work sits inside a real employed group even while the wage title is estimated.
The estimated start is $28,000. The estimated median is $42,000. The gap between them is $14,000. A helper seat, still feeding pulls and learning to terminate, is a conversation about the starting figure. An installer who owns drops, tests them, and leaves labels that match belongs nearer $42,000. You can put the gap in plain language: the estimated middle is $42,000, the offer is near $28,000, and the duties are an installer's. Ask whether clean test results, a BICSI credential you already hold, or time under a licensed low-voltage contractor would move the offer across that $14,000. Because the figures are estimates, invite the contractor to set them beside what this company actually pays its own installers. You are using a guide, and you should sound like you know that.
The estimated high end is $69,500. Climbing from the median to the estimated high end covers $27,500. That stretch fits a lead who runs floors, keeps the tests honest, and carries the relationship with the general contractor. It is a weak opener for a helper. Quoting $69,500 over a first-month offer tells the owner you treated an estimate of the top as a typical wage. Quoting it when you already lead crews, and labeling it an estimate in the same sentence, is a fair benchmark for a top package. There is no state median on this page to swap in for a move. If a recruiter quotes a state figure, ask which occupation that figure belongs to, and keep your own anchors at $28,000, $42,000, and $69,500.
Match one estimated figure to the rung, say that the Bureau has no separate series for the exact title, and then talk about the last floor you finished. Helper pay at the start, installer pay at the median, lead pay toward the high end. The licence structure matters in the same conversation: you are often worth more to a contractor when your work protects the licence they hold. Let them answer with the crew, the buildings, and the rate they pay people whose tests come back clean.
The top of Cable Installer pay — and how to get there with AI
$69,500top-end estimate for Cable Installer
PayCrunch estimate - derived from the closest occupation BLS tracks (Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers, 49-9052). This figure is PayCrunch’s estimate, not a Bureau of Labor Statistics published wage for this exact title.
And the role it leads to — Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers — reaches $167,090 in California.
$28,000entry$42,000middle$69,500top end
Pay climbs in this trade when a supervisor can look at your week — ducts pulled, splices closed, signal readings logged, nothing bounced back — and start handing you the routes the rest of the crew cannot finish.
Every installer thinks they are quick. Almost none can show it. Pulling cable through duct with a winch, digging and restoring trench, splicing with epoxy and hand tools, measuring signal strength at the pole and setting up service at the premises are all countable, and a crew that counts nothing pays everyone the same. The installers who move up keep their own record, then use it to ask for the harder scope rather than more of the same tickets. Turning a day of scribbled notes into a clean record is the part a model handles well, which removes the usual excuse for not keeping one.
Your playbook, by where you are now
Just startingCount your own week honestly
Keep a running sheet in Microsoft Excel: jobs closed, splices made, metres of duct pulled, and any return visit with its cause.
Write down the signal strength reading you measured at each pole and at the premises, not just whether it passed.
Photograph each finished termination and cabinet before you leave, and send it through Slack the same day so the office has a record.
Get properly quick at the boring things: winch setup, tension on a strung line, tool and test-set maintenance, ladder and bucket-truck routine.
Dictate the day's work into your phone on the drive back and have Claude turn the transcript into structured job notes you review before submitting.
What proves it: A personal week-by-week record of completed work and return visits over six months.
Realistic span: the first year
A few years inTake the routes other people avoid
Volunteer for underground work and difficult trench routes, which are where estimating errors and delays concentrate.
Keep the plant records in Mapcom systems M4 genuinely accurate, since a crew that can trust the records loses fewer hours per job than one that cannot.
Redraw changed routes in Autodesk AutoCAD so the as-built matches the ground instead of the plan.
Learn enough Cisco IOS to configure and verify equipment at the customer premises rather than handing the ticket back.
Volunteer for the survey visits nobody wants, because whoever walks the route first shapes the job.
What proves it: A stretch of plant you surveyed, installed and documented that later crews work from without questions.
Realistic span: years two through five
ExperiencedAsk with the record in your hand
Take your throughput and return-visit figures into the scope conversation, and ask for splicing lead, survey work or crew responsibility by name.
Move toward higher-voltage line work, where the climbing and rigging you already do is paid at a different rate and the qualification requirements are the barrier.
Train apprentices on tension, splice quality and the safety routine around trenches and energised plant, so your standard outlives your own tickets.
Look at markets that pay this occupation best, New York among them, where dense underground plant and long build programmes keep the skilled work steady.
What proves it: A named role beyond the ticket queue — lead splicer, surveyor, crew lead — with the record that got you it.
Realistic span: year six onward
The next 90 days
Start a sheet tomorrow and keep it for ninety days. One line per job: what it was, how long it took, the readings you took, whether anyone had to come back, and why. Nobody has to see it. At the end of three months compare your first fortnight to your last and look at the return visits specifically, because that is the number a supervisor already feels but cannot prove. Then pick the job type where you are strongest and ask for more of it plus the survey work that goes with it. A request backed by your own record lands differently from a request for a rise, and it points at scope, which is where this trade actually pays.
Wage figures: PayCrunch estimate. The playbook is PayCrunch editorial guidance, not a guarantee of pay or placement.
Every figure is the national median from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS) shown on that role’s own page.
Never used AI before? Start here (2 minutes).
Open ChatGPT or Perplexity and turn it into your signal-troubleshooting partner. Describe the symptoms — dB levels, packet loss, error codes, a flapping connection — and it walks you through the diagnostic tree faster than trial and error. Fewer repeat truck rolls means more completed jobs per day, which is exactly what gets a cable tech noticed and promoted.
For growth, Perplexity, ChatGPT, and NotebookLM are free ways to learn the standards that separate a residential installer from a commercial one — TIA-568 cabling, fiber specs, BICSI practices — and to study for the certs that unlock higher pay. Use AI for the logic and the learning; keep your hands on the ladder and off anything hot.
The one rule, forever: AI is useless for the two things that hurt cable techs: electricity and heights. Never trust AI near power — follow OSHA, grounding/bonding, and ladder rules, and confirm any work close to electrical with a licensed electrician. Always call 811 before you dig, follow laser-safety rules on fiber, and treat AI as help for signal logic only, never for physical safety.
The plays — exact steps, exact prompts
Do these in order. Each one is copy-paste ready. You do not need to know anything about AI going in.
1
Diagnose signal and network faults fast
Why this pays: Every repeat truck roll for the same fault is lost productivity and a ding on your metrics. Nailing the diagnosis the first time raises your completed-jobs count — the number that drives raises and the pick of the best routes.
ChatGPTPerplexityGoogle Gemini
1
Describe the fault in detail to ChatGPT and get a ranked diagnostic path.
Copy-paste this prompt
I'm a cable/internet installer. A customer has [intermittent internet dropping every few minutes]. The modem shows [downstream power +12 dBmV, upstream 48 dBmV, T3 timeouts in the log]. Walk me through the most likely causes in order — from the drop to the modem — and the exact checks and fixes for each. Note which ones point to a plant or line issue I should escalate.
Feed in the real signal readings. AI narrows the cause; your meter and your eyes confirm it before you sign off.
2
Photograph a confusing modem log or connector with Gemini and ask what it indicates.
3
Keep a running note of AI-suggested fixes that actually worked on your plant so your diagnoses get sharper over time.
What you'll haveFaster, first-visit fixes — higher completion rates and the metrics that earn better pay and routes.
2
Move into fiber and commercial structured cabling
Why this pays: Fiber and commercial low-voltage work pays meaningfully more than residential coax drops. AI lets you learn TIA-568 standards, fiber handling, and testing on your own time — the skills that move you into the higher-paying tier.
PerplexityNotebookLMChatGPT
1
Load standards docs and manuals into NotebookLM and ask it to explain and quiz you on them.
2
Get a plain-English breakdown of a standard.
Copy-paste this prompt
Explain the TIA-568 structured cabling standard to me like a working installer moving from residential coax to commercial data cabling. Cover cable categories, the difference between T568A and T568B, testing and certification requirements, bend-radius and pull-tension limits, and the common mistakes that fail a certification test.
Use this to learn the concepts, then get hands-on training and read the real spec before you certify a commercial job.
3
Use Perplexity to look up specific fiber connector types, splice specs, and OTDR trace basics as they come up on the job.
What you'll haveThe fiber and commercial-cabling knowledge that qualifies you for higher-paying work.
3
Upsell smart-home and whole-home networking
Why this pays: Basic installs are low-ticket. Designing and quoting a mesh network, cameras, or structured wiring for a whole home turns a service call into a much larger job — and those bigger tickets are how a tech's earnings climb.
ChatGPTPerplexityCanva
1
Turn a customer's complaint about dead spots into a designed solution.
Copy-paste this prompt
A customer in a [2-story, 2,800 sq ft home with plaster walls] has Wi-Fi dead spots upstairs. Design 2-3 options to fix it — mesh vs. wired access points — with the equipment list, rough materials cost, and a plain-English pitch explaining the benefit of each. Give me a good/better/best framing I can present.
Recommend only what the home actually needs. Confirm equipment compatibility and pricing before you quote.
2
Use Perplexity to compare current mesh systems, cameras, or access points so you recommend gear that works.
3
Present the options as a clean one-pager built in Canva — a professional pitch closes upsells.
What you'll haveBigger-ticket networking and smart-home jobs on top of your standard installs.
4
Pass BICSI and fiber certifications with an AI tutor
Why this pays: Certifications like BICSI Installer or a fiber-optic cert are documented proof you can do commercial work, and they come with pay bumps and access to better contracts. AI makes passing them while working full-time realistic.
ChatGPTNotebookLMPerplexity
1
Build an exam plan and drill the material.
Copy-paste this prompt
I'm studying for the [BICSI Installer 1] certification while working full time. Build me a 6-week study plan, explain the toughest topics (grounding and bonding, cable support, firestopping) simply, and generate practice questions with explanations after each topic. Track my weak areas and re-quiz them.
Pair this with the official BICSI curriculum and hands-on practice — AI drills the knowledge, but certification requires the real coursework.
2
Turn your study notes into audio Q&A with NotebookLM for review in the truck between jobs.
3
Stack certs over time; each one is leverage for a raise or a move to a commercial contractor.
What you'll haveIndustry certifications that unlock commercial pay tiers and better contracts.
5
Launch a low-voltage side business
Why this pays: Structured cabling, camera installs, and networking for small businesses are jobs you can do independently on the side. Quoted and run with AI, they become direct income — and can grow into a full low-voltage company well past $60,000.
JobberChatGPTQuickBooks
1
Set up quoting, scheduling, and invoicing in Jobber so you can run side jobs like a real business.
2
Write a professional proposal for a small-business job.
Copy-paste this prompt
Write a proposal for cabling a [small office: 12 data drops, Cat6, one rack, patch panel, and terminations]. Include a scope of work, materials list, labor estimate, a price of [$X], timeline, and terms. Professional tone for a business owner. Then give me 5 questions to ask on the site walk before I finalize the quote.
Confirm any work near electrical or in a top end plenum meets code — plenum-rated cable and licensed-electrician boundaries are non-negotiable.
3
Track income and expenses in QuickBooks so the side business is real and tax-ready.
What you'll haveAn independent low-voltage income stream with room to grow into a full company.
Your 12-month sequence to the top of the range
How the plays above stack into a path from median pay toward the $60,000 tier.
Month 1
Use ChatGPT/Perplexity to speed up every diagnosis; track which fixes work on your plant and raise your first-visit completion rate.
Months 2-3
Start learning fiber and TIA-568 structured cabling with NotebookLM and Perplexity.
Months 3-6
Study for and pass a BICSI or fiber certification with an AI tutor.
Months 6-12
Start upselling whole-home networking, or launch a low-voltage side business quoted and run with Jobber.
Gear for this job
As an Amazon Associate, PayCrunch earns from qualifying purchases. Links to books and tools are for the job on this page; we only recommend what we’d use in the work.
Same live current-year QBO desk book already on accountant / bookkeeper / door-installer / garage-door-technician. This page names QuickBooks as a play tool and step 3 is Track income and expenses in QuickBooks so the side business is real and tax-ready. Not leftover NEC as a dump (that is electrician / alarm-technician) and not leftover 94 CFP.
Next steps for a Cable Installer
Some links below are affiliate or partner links. PayCrunch may earn a commission if you enroll or subscribe through them, at no extra cost to you. Wage figures on this page still come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not from these programs.
Cable Installer work is specific enough that a stamped 'check out these courses' block would be noise. BLS files this work as Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers (SOC 49-9052). O*NET Job Zone 2 is typical: a high-school diploma plus short vocational training, so the honest next credential is a short certificate or vocational program — not a random catalog dump.
The occupation's listed knowledge area is Telecommunications, which is what the course searches below actually query.
Cable Installers in this dataset list Autodesk AutoCAD among the tools in use, so a program that names that stack is a better fit than a survey course.
Coursera search for telecommunications — a short certificate or vocational program that lines up with maintenance, not a generic professional-development aisle.
Write a Cable Installer resume, or one aimed at Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers, instead of a blank template. Resume Now is a resume builder; we are not claiming a counted template set for this SOC.
A Cable Installer resume that names the actual tasks on this page, or the step-up title Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers, beats a blank template when you apply.
What Cable Installers earn by state
This page does not show a state table, and the reason is worth stating: the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate wage series for this job title, so there are no official state figures to show. Scaling the national median by a cost-of-living index would produce a number for every state, but it would be an estimate of living costs wearing a wage’s clothes, and PayCrunch would rather show you nothing than that.
What the national figures say: pay starts near $28,000, the median is $42,000, and the top of the range is $69,500. Those national figures are a PayCrunch estimate, not a Bureau of Labor Statistics published wage for this exact title.
No. Pulling cable, climbing the pole, terminating the connector, and being in the customer's home is physical work AI can't do. AI does change who gets ahead: the tech who uses it to diagnose faster and to learn fiber and commercial cabling moves up the pay ladder, while the one who stays a basic residential installer competes on volume alone.
Can I rely on AI to troubleshoot signal problems?
As a smart second opinion, not a replacement for your meter. AI is good at working through diagnostic logic from the readings you give it, but it can't see your plant or measure the line. Use it to narrow the cause, then confirm with your test gear before you close the ticket.
Is AI safe to use around the electrical and height hazards of this job?
AI has nothing to offer on physical safety — treat it as help for signal and network logic only. Follow OSHA, ladder, and grounding rules, call 811 before digging, and keep a licensed-electrician boundary around anything touching power. No AI answer overrides those.
How does AI increase a cable tech's pay?
By raising your job-completion rate now (faster diagnosis, fewer repeat visits) and by helping you move into higher-paying work — fiber, commercial structured cabling, smart-home integration — through self-study and certification. Bigger jobs and better certs are what move you from $42,000 toward the top of the band.
Which tool should a cable installer start with?
ChatGPT or Perplexity for troubleshooting — it pays off on your very next hard service call. Once that's a habit, use NotebookLM to start studying fiber and BICSI material, because moving beyond residential coax is where the real pay increase lives.
Methodology & sources
Salary (median, 10th, top of the range) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS.
By state — the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ own state medians, limited to states employing at least 500 people in the occupation. No cost-of-living arithmetic is applied to a wage anywhere on this page.
The plays — PayCrunch's own step-by-step guidance using publicly available AI tools. Tool names/URLs are real and current as of August 2026; prompts written to work as-is. Verify any professional output before relying on it.