City guides

Ten metros, not fifty states. Each page is an insurance-letter guide: permit office, utility meter pull, contractor-published prices, and shops that both advertise this job and print a license number.

Atlanta, GA
Metro Atlanta is a stack of permit offices. The same Federal Pacific panel in Buckhead and in unincorporated Gwinnett is not the same application.
$1,800–$3,000 for Federal Pacific / Zinsco replacement on one Atlanta contractor page
Chicago, IL
Chicago does not accept a statewide electrician card for a city electrical permit. The contractor who pulls the panel also has to be licensed by the City of Chicago.
$1,500–$3,000 is the published standard-replacement band from one Chicagoland shop
Dallas–Fort Worth, TX
Dallas–Fort Worth is one insurance letter and two different counters. Inside Dallas the permit runs through DallasNow. Oncor’s published book says a noticed, licensed electrician may pull a self-contained meter — then Oncor comes back to reseal it.
$2,750–$4,800 is the standard 200A DFW band on one local contractor page
Houston, TX
Houston’s advantage is a published utility rule that lets a noticed, licensed electrician pull a self-contained meter. The city’s rule is stricter: electrical permits go to registered master electricians.
$2,000–$4,500 for most Houston upgrades published by a local contractor
Los Angeles, CA
Mid-century Los Angeles housing still hides a lot of Stab-Lok and Zinsco equipment. The letter is usually about a closed permit, not a same-week emergency.
$3,400–$8,500 for most published residential upgrades
Northern New Jersey, NJ
New Jersey runs electrical permits at the town level and splits the north among PSE&G and JCP&L. The panel brand is the easy part of the letter.
$2,800–$4,500 for a typical 200-amp upgrade; $3,500–$5,500 for like-for-like FPE/Zinsco swaps
Orlando, FL
Orlando is two permit counters and two utilities. Inside the city limits the electrical permit is a City of Orlando ELE application. Unincorporated Orange County is Fast Track. OUC and Duke Energy Florida are not interchangeable.
$1,500–$3,000 is the published Orlando 200-amp band on one 2026 contractor page
Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix has two large electric utilities and a state contractor board that actually publishes license numbers. Use both facts before you sign a same-week quote.
$2,500–$3,500 is the published Phoenix 200-amp band from a panel specialist
San Francisco Bay / Marin, CA
The Bay Area job is usually a PG&E calendar problem as much as a panel problem. The city inspection and the utility reconnect are separate queues.
Published residential ranges run from about $3,500 to well above $8,500
Twin Cities, MN
Minnesota treats a service-panel change as state-permitted electrical work. Xcel pulls the meter; the inspector, not the utility, signs the code.
Published Twin Cities figures disagree — read the source, not an average