Beginner
Considering the trade or in your first year. Read in order: How to Become an Electrician → Apprentice Electrician Guide → Types of Electricians → How to Read a Multimeter.
FRIENDLY GUIDES • ELECTRICIAN HUB • 14 MIN READ • UPDATED OCTOBER 2026
YOUR FRIENDLY GUIDE TO BECOMING AN ELECTRICIAN (AND EVERYTHING AFTER)
I buy copper from electricians every week here in Chicago, and I hear the same questions every time. This is the guide I wish someone had handed every new apprentice — the ladder, the money, the specialties, and the parts nobody tells you.
4 Career Levels7 Specialties11 Total GuidesFree Forever
The electrician career ladder: apprentice (years 1–4) → journeyman (years 5–8) → master (years 8–10) → electrical contractor.
THE SHORT VERSION
TL;DR
- An electrician career runs apprentice (4–5 years, supervised) → journeyman (independent) → master (signs off work) → contractor (runs the business).
- A typical apprenticeship is about 8,000 hours of on-the-job training plus 576–800 classroom hours, and you earn a paycheck the whole way.
- There is no national electrician license. Every state, and sometimes every city, sets its own rules — Chicago licenses its own electricians locally.
- The BLS puts median pay at $62,350 a year (May 2024), with real six-figure ceilings for masters and shop owners.
- Electricians generate copper cutoffs on every job. The bucket at the end of the day is worth real money — keep it.
PICK YOUR PATH
Start here.
Four reader levels, four reading orders. Find yours and read top to bottom.
THE LADDER
The ladder, rung by rung.
Electrician is one of the last true apprenticeship trades in America. Here is the whole climb in one place.
Licensed-pro framing: Electrical work at the service panel, meter, and service entrance is licensed-pro work — permitted, inspected, and done by licensed electricians. This hub explains the trade and the career; it does not replace training, an apprenticeship, or a license.
Apprentice — years 1–4, supervised only.
The apprentice does the trade's real work from day one, but only under the direct supervision of a journeyman or master. You run wire, set boxes, bend conduit, pull feeders, and learn the National Electrical Code (NEC — the national standard for safe electrical installation) in the classroom. The typical program is about 8,000 hours of on-the-job training plus 576–800 classroom hours over four to five years. Apprentices cannot work independently or pull permits. Pay starts at a fraction of journeyman wages and steps up each year — finish the program and the raise is built in.
Journeyman — years 5–8, independent.
Complete the apprenticeship, pass the licensing exam (electrical theory, NEC, safety), and you are a journeyman. Journeymen work independently, supervise apprentices, install, maintain, repair, and troubleshoot. In most places a journeyman still cannot pull permits for a business or operate as a contractor alone — that comes later. This is the backbone of the trade: the years you turn experience into judgment.
Master electrician — years 8–10+, plans and signs off.
After roughly 4,000 more hours (often about two years) as a journeyman, electricians can sit for the master exam — a harder test covering the full NEC. The master plans and lays out electrical work, supervises jobs, and signs off on them. In many states the master is the license holder legally responsible for the company's work. Masters also commonly qualify a business for its electrical contractor license.
Electrical contractor — the business license.
Contractor is a separate business license, not just another skill level. It requires the master license (or an equivalent qualifying electrician), insurance, bonding, and business registration. The contractor bids work, pulls permits, employs electricians, and carries the liability. Almost every state requires it to run an electrical business legally.
The whole ladder in one table.
Timelines vary by state and program — always check your local licensing board.
| Level | Typical path | Licensed to do | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apprentice | ~8,000 OJT hours + 576–800 classroom hours | Works only under direct supervision | 4–5 years |
| Journeyman | Completes apprenticeship + passes exam | Works independently, supervises apprentices | 5–8 career years |
| Master | ~4,000+ more hours + passes master exam | Plans, supervises, signs off, qualifies the business | 8–10+ career years |
| Contractor | Master + insurance + bonding + registration | Operates the company, bids, pulls permits | After master |
Read the full breakdown on each step in How to Become an Electrician, the year-by-year reality in the Apprentice Electrician Guide, and the honest pay numbers in the Electrician Salary Guide.
THE LICENSE MAP
No national license. Know your local rules.
The single most misunderstood fact in the trade: nobody at the federal level licenses electricians. The rules change at every border.
There is no national electrician license in the United States. Licensing is state-level in most states, and in some states it is purely local — handled by individual cities or counties. That means the exact license you need, the hours it takes, and the exam you sit all depend on where you plan to work.
States with no statewide license.
Several states leave licensing entirely to cities and counties, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. In these states there is no single "state journeyman exam" — each licensing city sets its own requirements. Reciprocity (one license counting in another state) exists in some places but is never automatic, so a license does not simply transfer across state lines.
What "check local amendments" really means.
The NEC is the national standard, but cities and states adopt it with their own amendments — local changes and additions. Two electricians an hour apart can work under meaningfully different rules. Every guide on this site cites the NEC by article and edition (2023 is current; the 2026 edition exists and adoption varies), and every one of them tells you to check your local amendments. That is not fine print. It is the rule.
Why this matters for your career planning.
Before you pick a program, find out which license you will actually test for. A union apprenticeship in one city and a non-union program across the county line can feed different exams. Call the licensing board or the local JATC (Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee — the joint union-employer body that runs IBEW apprenticeship programs) and ask which license their graduates sit for. Ten minutes on the phone now saves years of wrong-direction hours.
HOME TURF: CHICAGO
Why Chicago does it differently.
I buy here, I sell here, I know this code. Chicago is one of the toughest electrical cities in America — and that toughness is an advantage if you train in it.
Illinois has no statewide electrician license, so Chicago handles licensing itself through the Department of Buildings. To work as an electrician in Chicago, the city issues a Supervising Electrician License: you must be at least 21, have two years of verified electrical experience, and pass a written exam based on the Chicago Electrical Code. A business needs an Electrical Contractor License, and it must employ at least one licensed supervising electrician to qualify.
The conduit city.
Here is the part Chicago electricians are famous for. Inside Chicago city limits, buildings are wired in conduit — usually EMT (electrical metallic tubing, the thin-wall steel raceway you bend with a hand bender). Romex, the plastic-sheathed cable used in most of the country, is effectively not used in the city. That makes Chicago houses look a lot like commercial work, and it makes Chicago-trained apprentices some of the best conduit benders in the country. If you train here, the pipe work is your superpower anywhere else.
The Chicago Electrical Code.
Chicago writes its own electrical code rather than adopting the NEC straight. It is based on the NEC with extensive local amendments — historically around 150 pages of them — so "check your local amendments" is not a slogan here, it is survival. The Chicago code even carries quirks like an exception letting metal-conduit-enclosed branch circuits omit certain AFCI protection that the base NEC would require. Ask your inspector and your code book, not the internet.
What this means for you.
If you apprentice in Chicago, you graduate with conduit skills, a tough local exam, and a license respected far beyond the city. If you are coming from somewhere else, know that Chicago plays by its own book — study the Chicago Electrical Code specifically, not just the NEC.
THE CAREER GUIDES
Your next reads, mapped out.
Four new career guides built for this hub, plus the seven trade-skill guides from the library.
TRADE-SKILL GUIDES
From the Trades How-To Library
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Bookmark these.
The working references electricians actually reach for on the job.
WHY THIS GUIDE IS FREE
No paywall. Here is why.
No paywall, no email required to read. I buy scrap metal for a living — these guides are how I give back to the trades, and yeah, if you ever have copper or carbide to sell, I hope you call me first.
Found a mistake? Tell me and I will fix it. That is the deal.
ONE DIRECT CONTACT
Talk to Sonny, not a department
Every quote, pickup, and payment runs through one person who answers the phone: Sonny Johns at 312-880-8174. No portals, no ticket queues, no waiting on a committee.
- PHOTO QUOTES — Send photos of the material and get a real number back.
- TRADE FRIENDLY — Built for crews: wire, pipe, brass, and carbide, by the bucket or by the truckload.
- US ONLY — Your material never leaves the United States.
QUESTIONS, ANSWERED
Common questions.
How long does it take to become an electrician?
Plan on four to five years. A typical apprenticeship runs about 8,000 hours of supervised on-the-job training plus 576 to 800 classroom hours, and you earn a paycheck the whole way. After that you test for your journeyman license, and master level usually follows after several more years of full-time work.
Do I need a license to be an electrician in Illinois?
Illinois has no statewide electrician license, so licensing is handled by cities and counties. Chicago licenses electricians locally: the city issues a Supervising Electrician License (age 21 or older, two years of verified experience, and a written exam on the Chicago Electrical Code) and an Electrical Contractor License for businesses. Always check the rules in the exact city where you plan to work.
Should I go union or non-union?
Both paths produce excellent electricians. Union apprenticeships (through the IBEW and NECA joint training committees) offer structured training with strong pay and benefits, and union wages often run higher. Non-union programs (through ABC chapters or employer sponsorships) can be faster to start and vary more by company. Talk to electricians on both sides in your city before you decide.
How much do electricians make?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics put median pay at $62,350 per year in May 2024, with the lowest 10 percent under $39,430 and the highest 10 percent over $106,030. Apprentices earn a fraction of journeyman pay and step up each year. Masters and shop owners regularly reach six figures, and owners of busy shops can go well beyond.
What is the hardest part of the apprenticeship?
The classroom math surprises most people. Algebra, trigonometry for conduit bends, and code calculations are the filter that washes people out, not the physical work. Show up on time, take notes, and practice the math at home. The apprentices who treat the bookwork like part of the job finish.
Can I do my own electrical work at home?
Simple low-risk tasks are one thing, but anything involving the service panel, the meter, or new circuits is licensed-pro work in most places and can be dangerous or illegal without permits and inspections. These guides explain how licensed electricians do the work; they do not replace training, an apprenticeship, or a license. When in doubt, hire it out.
Why is this guide free?
No paywall, no email required to read. Ironcrest Industrial Surplus buys copper wire, brass, and carbide from the same crews these guides are written for. The guides are how Sonny gives back to the trades, and yes, if you ever have copper to sell, he hopes you call him first: 312-880-8174.
CUTOFF BUCKET
What to Do With the Cutoffs
Every electrical job leaves copper behind. Romex tails trimmed at every box, THHN shorts from panel terminations, conduit scraps, old service cable pulled out of a rewire. A busy crew fills a bucket faster than most people expect, and that bucket is worth real money — copper is copper whether it is on a spool or in a trim pile.
Most crews split the cutoff bucket at the end of the job — ask your foreman who gets it on your crew. Keep the copper separate from the trash as you work: one pile for wire, one for everything else. When the bucket is full, call Sonny at 312-880-8174. One call turns a week of trimmings into cash.
No minimums — every bucket counts. On bigger lots, we handle the freight so you don't lift a finger.
If you liked this hub, read the Apprentice Electrician Guide next.