Minnesota · electrician licensing · verified July 2026
Minnesota electrician license requirements
The short answer
As of July 2026, Minnesota licenses electricians statewide through the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) under the Minnesota Electrical Act (Minn. Stat. 326B.31-.399). Unlicensed workers must register with DLI as 'registered unlicensed electricians' and work under direct supervision; a Class A journeyworker license requires at least 48 months of qualifying experience (Minn. R. 3800.3520) and a $50 written exam, and a Class A master requires 60 months of experience, one year as a licensed journeyworker, or an electrical engineering degree. Electrical contractor (business) licenses require a responsible master, a $25,000 bond, and a $188 annual fee.
Do you need a license to work as an electrician in Minnesota?
Minnesota licenses electricians statewide, so one credential is valid across the whole state.
Reciprocity per DLI's official Electrical License Examination Guide: journeyworker-level agreements with AK, AR, CO, IA, MT, NE, ND, SD, WY; master-level agreements with IA, ND, NE, SD only. Experience is measured in months (not hours) under Minn. R. Minnesota also issues power limited technician, maintenance electrician, lineman and installer licenses. Exams are administered by DLI itself, not an outside vendor.
What licenses does Minnesota issue?
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) - Electrical Licensing issues the credentials below for this trade. Boards often list further classes for specialties and business licenses; these are the ones this page covers.
Hours are what each class asks for on its own terms. Where a senior class shows fewer than a journeyman, the board is counting time served after the earlier license rather than from the start; the prerequisite column says which.
| License | On-the-job hours | Classroom hours | Exam |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered Unlicensed Electrician (registration) | not published | not published | No |
| Class A Journeyworker Electrician | not published | not published | Yes |
| Class A Master Electrician | not published | not published | Yes |
| Electrical Contractor (business license) | not published | not published | No |
Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) - Electrical Licensing (revisor.mn.gov). Verified July 2026.
What exam does Minnesota require?
Class A Journeyworker Electrician examination (80 questions, open book, 70% passing; based on 2023 NEC). Administered by Minnesota DLI (department-administered). Exam fee $50.
Class A Master Electrician examination (80 questions, 70% passing). Administered by Minnesota DLI (department-administered).
Source: examination page (dli.mn.gov). Verified July 2026.
How much does a Minnesota electrician license cost?
Getting a Class A Journeyworker Electrician license in Minnesota costs $252 in board fees, before any training. That is the application fee, the exam fee and the initial license fee charged once, with renewal charged separately below. No board publishes this total, so it is added up here from the schedule it does publish.
- Application fee$14
- Exam fee$50
- Initial license fee$188
- Renewal fee (recurring)$53
How often do you renew, and what continuing education is required?
Renewal period: Journeyworker: every 2 years at end of issuance month; Master: expires last day of February of odd-numbered years; Registered unlicensed electrician: annually
Continuing education: 16 hours of DLI-approved continuing education per 2-year renewal cycle for journeyworker and master (at least 12 hours must relate to the National Electrical Code); registered unlicensed electricians need 2 hours per annual renewal. CE rules at Minn. R. 3800.3600-3603.
How does the apprenticeship route work?
Minnesota's experience-credit pathway runs through the 'registered unlicensed electrician' registration: work performed in Minnesota after Jan. 1, 2009 only earns journeyworker credit if the individual was actively registered with DLI and employed by a licensed contractor or registered employer (hours are verified via work-experience forms filed with DLI and tracked in the iMS system). Completing a department-approved 2-year technical college program earns 12 months of the required 48 months. Verifiable out-of-state work for a licensed contractor also counts.
Which states does Minnesota have license reciprocity with?
Minnesota appears in 9 published reciprocal licensing agreements for this trade, covering Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming. Boards write these as agreements between two states rather than as a one-way list, and some publish the list while their counterpart does not, so this counts every agreement naming Minnesota from either side. Recognition is never automatic: the board you apply to decides, and most require the original license to have been earned by examination and to be in good standing.
How does Minnesota compare to neighboring states?
Requirements stop at the state line, which matters if you live near one or expect to move. Here is what the neighboring states ask of the same trade.
| State | Journeyman hours | Licensing model |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | not published | Statewide |
| Iowa | not published | Statewide |
| North Dakota | 8,000 | Statewide |
| South Dakota | 8,000 | Statewide |
| Wisconsin | 8,000 | Statewide |
Source: state licensing boards. Verified July 2026.
Sources and verification
Every fact on this page traces to one of these
- Electrical licensing basics | Minnesota DLI
- Electrical license examination guide | Minnesota DLI
- Minn. Stat. 326B.33 Licenses (Office of the Revisor of Statutes)
- Minn. R. 3800.3520 Experience requirements (Office of the Revisor of Statutes)
- Electrical contractor licensing basics | Minnesota DLI
Last verified July 2026. Found an error? Report it and it will be corrected and logged on the corrections page.
Other states with published requirements for this trade: Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire.
Price the whole path with the license cost estimator, or weigh earning against paying for school with the apprenticeship comparison. Back to electricians overview.
Licensing requirements change between our verification sweeps. This page is informational only, so confirm current requirements with Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) - Electrical Licensing before making decisions. Not legal advice.