How to Become an Electrician: Certification, Licensing & Pay

Electricians install, maintain, and repair the electrical systems that power homes, businesses, and factories: wiring, lighting, control systems, and communications infrastructure. Most electricians enter the trade through a registered apprenticeship rather than a four-year degree — a paid path that combines on-the-job training with technical classroom instruction.

Apprenticeship Path

A typical electrician apprenticeship runs 4 to 5 years. Apprentices work under a licensed electrician and log roughly 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training per year, alongside technical instruction covering electrical theory, blueprint reading, the National Electrical Code, and safety practices. Some apprentices start with a technical school program first; that coursework can often count toward the apprenticeship.

Certification & Licensing

After finishing an apprenticeship, an electrician is considered a journey worker and can perform electrical work independently — but almost every state requires passing a licensing exam first, and many require additional hours or a separate exam to reach master electrician status.

Exact hour requirements, exam content, and reciprocity between states vary. Requirements vary by state — verify current licensing steps with your state's electrical licensing board before you rely on them.

Electrician Pay

The median electrician in the US earned $63,190 per year as of May 2025 — the middle 80% earned between $42,640 and $108,510.

Pay varies a lot by location. See the highest-paying states and highest-paying cities for electricians, both ranked from BLS OEWS data.

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), Electricians (SOC 47-2111), May 2025.

OEWS is published once a year, not continuously — "May 2025" is BLS's label for that annual release, not a live figure. See methodology.

Job Outlook

The BLS projects employment of electricians to grow 9% from 2024–34, much faster than the average for all occupations, with about 81,000 openings projected each year on average (most from workers transferring to other occupations or retiring, not net-new growth alone).

Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Electricians, 2024–34 projections.

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Sources & Last Updated

Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), Electricians (SOC 47-2111), May 2025.

Job outlook: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Electricians, 2024–34 projections.

Licensing and apprenticeship requirements vary by state — start with the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational license finder or apprenticeship.gov.

Full source list: methodology.

Last updated: May 2025.