Telecom Equipment Installers in the Altoona area earn a median of $62,460 a year, 0% above the typical U.S. metro. That ranks #155 of 320 metros for telecom equipment installers nationwide.
Within driving distance, the same work pays more in State College and Harrisburg, but less in Johnstown.
It's one of 14 Pennsylvania metros with published pay for this trade; see telecom equipment installer pay in Pennsylvania.
Telecom Equipment Installer pay in Altoona at a glance
- Telecom equipment installers in the Altoona, PA metro earn a median $62,460 a year ($30.03 an hour), #155 of 320 U.S. metros (BLS, May 2025).
- The middle 80% earn between $41,130 and $86,400.
- After local prices, that median buys what $69,782 would in a typical U.S. place (BEA, 2024).
- A typical 1-bedroom rents for $959 a month, 18% of the median pay (HUD, FY2027).
Check your pay here
Enter a rate to see where it falls among telecom equipment installers in Altoona.
Comparing two real offers with overtime and commutes? Use the job offer checker.
What this means Our calculation
Pay for telecom equipment installers here is about average compared with other U.S. metros, and above average once local prices are factored in. For the wider job market, unemployment is about the same as in most metros (4.1%) and the population is shrinking (-2.5% since 2020).
Altoona scorecard for telecom equipment installers Our calculation
Grades compare Altoona with every other U.S. metro for this trade (A = top 20%).
Pay Government data
Pay range
Shaded: the middle half of workers. Grey line: typical U.S. metro ($62,240).
Pay over time
The median pay for telecom equipment installers in the Altoona area went from $73,100 in 2020 to $62,460 in 2025, down 14.6%. Prices rose 25% over the same period, so after inflation that's -31.9% — a real pay cut.
BLS OEWS, May 2020–May 2025; inflation: CPI-U (May to May). Year-to-year changes can include survey noise.
Compared with nearby metros
What the pay is really worth in Altoona Our calculation
Prices in Altoona run 10% below the U.S. average. Adjusted for that, a median paycheck here buys what $69,782 would in a typical place, ranking #103 of 319 on real pay.
Real pay or rent burden?
Real pay already accounts for housing, because the price index includes rent. Rent burden shows what share of pay a typical 1-bedroom takes. Use either one, not both together.
Want the full picture? Build a cost-of-living budget for Altoona from this pay, local rent and prices.
What telecom equipment installers do
Install, set up, rearrange, or remove switching, distribution, routing, and dialing equipment used in central offices or headends. Service or repair telephone, cable television, Internet, and other communications equipment on customers' property. May install communications equipment or communications wiring in buildings.
Most important day-to-day tasks
- Note differences in wire and cable colors so that work can be performed correctly.
- Test circuits and components of malfunctioning telecommunications equipment to isolate sources of malfunctions, using test meters, circuit diagrams, polarity probes, and other hand tools.
- Drive crew trucks to and from work areas.
- Assemble and install communication equipment such as data and telephone communication lines, wiring, switching equipment, wiring frames, power apparatus, computer systems, and networks.
- Inspect equipment on a regular basis to ensure proper functioning.
Outlook & getting started
Nationally, telecom equipment installer jobs are projected to shrink 3.3% from 2025 to 2035 (all jobs: 3.5%), with about 11,300 openings a year. About 1% are self-employed.
What the work is like Government data
How often telecom equipment installers deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes medium preparation (vocational training or an apprenticeship, often 1–2+ years).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Licensing in Pennsylvania Official source
The main state licensing office in Pennsylvania is the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. Home improvement contractors register with the state; most trades are licensed locally. It can point you to the right license for telecom equipment installers.
Official Pennsylvania licensing site ↗
Requirements for telecom equipment installers vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
On-the-job safety Government data
Nationally, telecom equipment installers have 168 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 1.9× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is overexertion and repetitive strain.
BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, 2023–2024 (national, cases with days away from work).
Highest-paying PA metros for telecom equipment installers
| Metro | Median | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| AllentownPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $77,800 | $77,825 | 360 |
| PhiladelphiaPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $75,290 | $73,415 | 2,020 |
| ReadingPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $70,630 | $72,769 | 120 |
| PittsburghPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $70,590 | $74,563 | 810 |
| HarrisburgPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $69,220 | $70,167 | 210 |
| ScrantonPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $68,730 | $73,464 | 210 |
| YorkPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $67,820 | $70,646 | 100 |
| State CollegePENNSYLVANIA · PA | $65,820 | $68,023 | 30 |
| WilliamsportPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $63,050 | $68,273 | 40 |
| LancasterPENNSYLVANIA · PA | $62,700 | $63,812 | 160 |
See every metro in Pennsylvania.
How much work is there? Government data
Local job market
The Altoona area's unemployment rate was 4.1% in 2025 (all workers, not just telecom equipment installers), equal to the typical U.S. metro's 4.1%. It was 5.8% in 2021.
BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics, annual averages 2021–2025 (2025 preliminary).
Getting to work
The average commute in the Altoona area is 20 minutes each way, shorter than the typical metro (24 min). 7% of commuters spend 45 minutes or more. 78% drive alone, 0% take transit and 9% work from home (all workers, not just trades).
Census American Community Survey, 2024 1-year estimates (table S0801).
Population
The Altoona area's population shrank 2.5% from 2020 to 2025 (122,667 → 119,541), ranking #371 of 387 metros for growth (typical metro +2.5%). More people moved out than in (net -112).
Census Bureau population estimates, July 1 of each year, 2020–2025.
New construction
New-home permits in Altoona are down 9% from 2021 to 2025 (94 → 86).
In 2025 the Altoona area approved permits for 86 new homes (66 single-family), or 0.7 per 1,000 residents, ranking #375 of 393 metros.
Employee vs. working for yourself Your scenario
A model, not a market rate. It shows the break-even rate to match a $62,460 employee salary once you cover what an employer normally pays for (including the employer half of Social Security and Medicare, 7.65%), then adds your profit margin. Change any number.
Break-even rate
With your profit margin
How this calculator works. Weighing a contractor job against a W-2 one? Try the 1099 vs. W-2 comparison. Billable hours are hours you can charge a customer. Driving, quoting, paperwork and slow weeks aren't billable, which is why 1,400 is a common starting point versus 2,080 paid hours as an employee.
Get telecom equipment installer pricing & estimate templates →Compare Altoona with another city →
Keep exploring
Could this trade pay more somewhere else?
ToolBest cities for telecom equipment installersRank every metro on pay, buying power, rent and jobs.Is a job offer here any good?
ToolCheck an offer in AltoonaSee where it falls among local telecom equipment installers, after the commute.Could you afford to live here?
ToolAltoona budgetMonthly take-home, HUD rent and local prices on this pay.About this data
Local to the Altoona metro: pay (BLS, May 2025) and pay over time (2020–2025, CPI-adjusted), prices (BEA, 2024), rent (HUD, FY2027), new construction, housing, population and commuting (Census), unemployment (BLS) and business counts (Census, by industry). National: job outlook and training (BLS projections), injury rates (BLS) and duties (O*NET). Jobs are employment estimates, not open positions; grades rank Altoona against every other metro for telecom equipment installers. Every source, year and formula is on our data page.
Report a data issue on this page
The Census doesn't publish one-person business or competition figures for telecom equipment installers as a separate industry, so that section is left out.