--- title: "Lighting Technician" description: "Set up, maintain, and dismantle light fixtures, lighting control devices, and the associated lighting electrical and rigging equipment used for…" canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/lighting-technician" last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z" --- # Lighting Technician **Category:** Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media · **SOC code:** 27-4015 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 27-4015.00 Set up, maintain, and dismantle light fixtures, lighting control devices, and the associated lighting electrical and rigging equipment used for photography, television, film, video, and live productions. May focus or operate light fixtures, or attach color filters or other lighting accessories. ## At a glance - **Median annual wage:** $68,060 (BLS OEWS, May 2025) - **Median hourly wage:** $32.72/hr - **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $42,310 to $130,760, with the middle half between $52,770 and $95,640 - **Total US employment:** 8,900 - **Typical entry education:** Certificate - **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed" - **Projected growth:** -4.8% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035) - **Annual job openings:** 600 openings a year - **AI-resilience score:** not scored for this occupation ## Pay National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 8,900 US jobs. | Percentile | Annual wage | | --- | --- | | 10th | $42,310 | | 25th | $52,770 | | 50th (median) | $68,060 | | 75th | $95,640 | | 90th | $130,760 | | Mean (average) | $78,380 | ### Pay by state The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there. | State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | WA | $126,100 | $117,836 | 80 | | CA | $94,070 | $84,962 | 2,950 | | NJ | $87,550 | $80,465 | 340 | | NY | $78,000 | $72,275 | 780 | | CT | $72,450 | $69,926 | 80 | | GA | $70,150 | $72,851 | 260 | | OK | $67,110 | $76,398 | 60 | | LA | $66,840 | $75,776 | 40 | | FL | $62,190 | $60,137 | 600 | | NV | $61,250 | $61,263 | 390 | | TN | $60,870 | $66,257 | 280 | | VA | $60,340 | $59,681 | 190 | | MI | $60,210 | $62,577 | 230 | | MA | $60,110 | $56,838 | Not published by BLS | | OR | $57,900 | $56,017 | 180 | 13 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 28 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/lighting-technician/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/lighting-technician. ## Outlook BLS projects employment to move from 9,900 in the 2025–2035 base year to 9,400 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 500 jobs, or -4.8%. Declining: -4.8% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 600 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035. ## How to get in - **Typical entry education:** Postsecondary nondegree award (BLS Employment Projections). - **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed". - **Related work experience typically required:** None. - **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training. ## What the work involves - Assess safety of wiring or equipment set-up to determine the risk of fire or electrical shock. - Consult with lighting director or production staff to determine lighting requirements. - Disassemble and store equipment after performances. - Install color effects or image patterns, such as color filters, onto lighting fixtures. - Install electrical cables or wire fixtures. - Load, unload, or position lighting equipment. - Match light fixture settings, such as brightness and color, to lighting design plans. - Notify supervisors when major lighting equipment repairs are needed. ## Who it suits O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C). | Interest area | Score (1–7) | | --- | --- | | R — Realistic | 6.99 | | C — Conventional | 4.11 | | A — Artistic | 2.38 | | I — Investigative | 2.02 | | E — Enterprising | 1.95 | | S — Social | 1.24 | ### Personality fit These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job. | Type | Fit score (0–100) | | --- | --- | | ISTJ | 85.0 | | ISTP | 75.9 | | ISFJ | 70.1 | | ESTJ | 69.7 | | INTJ | 65.0 | Best-fitting types: ISTJ. ## Related occupations O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order. - [Electrician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrician) — median $63,190 - [Electrical and Electronics Installer and Repairer, Transportation Equipment](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-installer-and-repairer-transportation-equipment) — median $84,890 - [Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronic-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $78,190 - [Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assembler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronic-equipment-assembler) — median $45,930 - [Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Commercial and Industrial Equipment](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-commercial-and-industrial-equipment) — median $74,090 - [Helpers--Electrician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/helpers-electrician) — median $42,670 - [Avionics Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/avionics-technician) — median $82,280 - [Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-powerhouse-substation-and-relay) — median $103,020 - [Maintenance and Repair Worker, General](https://nuecareer.com/careers/maintenance-and-repair-worker-general) — median $49,590 - [Electronic Equipment Installer and Repairer, Motor Vehicles](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electronic-equipment-installer-and-repairer-motor-vehicles) — median $48,420 ## Sources - **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html - **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/ - **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/ - **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/ - **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area --- This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105). O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/lighting-technician