Calculator · state boards, verified July 2026
What a license costs in your state
Itemized fees straight from state board fee schedules, plus the experience hours behind them. Where a state doesn't license the trade, we say that instead of inventing a number.
What every state charges an electrician
All fifty states regulate electrical work, but only 38 issue the license at state level; the rest split it with cities or leave it to them entirely. A separate question is which credential a state charges for, and the two partitions do not line up: 38 states have a journey-level license an individual holds, while in the others the credential a fee attaches to is a contractor, master or certification class instead. Some of those are still held by an individual rather than a business, so the table names the exact credential behind every figure rather than sorting them into two buckets.
A published figure needs more than a published schedule: a board that sets fees per license class without naming one leaves no single number to quote. Of the 38 journey-level states, 24 resolve to one amount. Across those, the median one-time cost is $113, from $19 in Maryland to $346 in Hawaii. Each figure adds the one-time fees that board publishes as numbers, and renewals are excluded. Most boards do not price the exam themselves, since a testing vendor bills it separately, so a total covers the exam only where the board sets that fee. The state page linked from each row itemises what went into it.
| State | Credential priced | One-time cost | Journeyman hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada | C-2 Electrical Contracting license | $900 | — |
| South Carolina | Mechanical Contractor - Electrical classification (Contractor's Licensing Board) | $350 | — |
| Hawaii | Journey Worker Electrician (EJ) | $346 | 10,000 |
| Virginia | Journeyman Electrical Tradesman (ELE) | $272 | — |
| Minnesota | Class A Journeyworker Electrician | $252 | — |
| Alaska | Electrician Journeyman Certificate of Fitness | $250 | 8,000 |
| Vermont | Journeyman Electrician | $195 | — |
| Montana | Journeyman Electrician | $190 | 8,000 |
| Maine | Journeyman electrician | $171 | 8,000 |
| Nebraska | Journeyman Electrician | $165 | 8,000 |
| Alabama | Journeyman Electrician | $150 | 8,000 |
| Rhode Island | Journeyperson Electrician (Class B) | $147 | — |
| South Dakota | Journeyman Electrician | $140 | 8,000 |
| Utah | Journeyman Electrician | $116 | 8,000 |
| Georgia | Electrical Contractor Class I (Restricted) | $110 | — |
| New Hampshire | Journeyman Electrician | $110 | 8,000 |
| Delaware | Journeyperson Electrician | $105 | 8,000 |
| New Jersey | Qualified Journeyman Electrician (registration) | $100 | — |
| Oregon | General Journeyman Electrician (J) | $100 | 8,000 |
| Wyoming | Journeyman Electrician | $100 | 8,000 |
| Connecticut | E-2 Unlimited Electrical Journeyperson | $90 | 8,000 |
| Iowa | Journeyman Electrician, Class A | $75 | — |
| New Mexico | Journeyman Electrician EE-98J (residential and commercial electrical) | $75 | 8,000 |
| West Virginia | Journeyman Electrician | $75 | — |
| Idaho | Journeyman Electrician | $70 | 8,000 |
| Texas | Journeyman Electrician | $60 | 8,000 |
| Maryland | Journeyperson electrician | $19 | — |
| Arizona | R-11 Electrical (Specialty Residential contractor) | set per class | — |
| Arkansas | Journeyman Electrician | under revision | — |
| California | General Electrician (certification) | set per class | — |
| Colorado | Journeyman Electrician | not published | 8,000 |
| Florida | Journeyman / Master Electrician (LOCAL - not state) | set per class | — |
| Illinois | Supervising Electrician License (City of Chicago - municipal example) | set per class | — |
| Indiana | Master Electrical - Unrestricted (Indianapolis/Marion County - municipal example) | not published | — |
| Kansas | Journeyman electrician (city/county certificate) | not published | — |
| Kentucky | Electrician (journeyman-level) | set per class | 8,000 |
| Louisiana | Commercial license - Electrical Work classification | not published | — |
| Massachusetts | Journeyman Electrician (Class B) | set per class | 8,000 |
| Michigan | Electrical Journeyman | set per class | 8,000 |
| Mississippi | Journeyman/Master Electrician (municipal level only) | set per class | — |
| Missouri | Journeyman / Master Electrician / local electrical contractor (municipal or county level) | set per class | — |
| New York | NYC Master Electrician (New York City Department of Buildings) | set per class | — |
| North Carolina | Limited (L) electrical contractor | set per class | — |
| North Dakota | Journeyman electrician | not published | 8,000 |
| Ohio | Journeyman / master / residential electrician (NOT state-licensed) | set per class | — |
| Oklahoma | Unlimited Electrical Journeyman | not published | 8,000 |
| Pennsylvania | Philadelphia Electrical Contractor License (municipal) | not published | — |
| Tennessee | Contractor - CE Electrical classification (electrical contractor) | set per class | — |
| Washington | General Journey Level Electrician (01) | not published | 8,000 |
| Wisconsin | Journeyman Electrician | not published | 8,000 |
Source: state licensing board fee schedules, each linked on that state's page. A figure appears only where the board's published schedule resolves to one amount for the named credential; where a board sets fees per license class without naming one, the row says so rather than showing an average. Renewal fees are charged on a cycle and are excluded from these one-time totals. Verified July 2026.
Comparing several states at once? See journeyman hour requirements for electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians in every state.
Worked example with the full path, exams and renewal cycle: the Texas electrician license.
Fees change, and some states publish them only inside application portals. Items we cannot verify numerically are listed without amounts. Always confirm with the state board before budgeting. Informational only, not legal advice.