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How to become an electrician in Alabama

Alabama's Board of Electrical Contractors issues statewide journeyman electrician licenses, by examination, and electrical contractor licenses. Its statute requires a license from the Board, or from the county or municipality where the work is done, to engage in electrical contracting or to perform work as a master or journeyman electrician, but exempts a master or journeyman employed by a licensee of the Board or of the county or municipality where the contract work is done. The journeyman exam takes 8,000 documented hours of experience, up to 2,000 of them from approved education or apprenticeship. Electricians in Alabama earned a median $55,690 a year in May 2025 ($26.78 an hour).

State license for workers

Not stated

the pages read do not say

On-the-job hours

8,000 hours

for Journeyman Electrician, the first license on the main path that takes 2,000 or more, over at least 4 years. Four years is the work-experience route; a completed non-DOL apprenticeship is entered as two years.

Published fees, first steps

Not stated

no step is listed before any experience, and the pages read do not say whether a worker needs a license

Median pay

$55,690

$26.78 an hour, May 2025

Electrician licensing in Alabama

The licensing authority is Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors. The pages each row was read from are listed under the table, with the date each was read.

License	What it takes	Experience	Exam	Fee
Journeyman Electrician (statewide)	8,000 hours of documented experience installing electrical wiring, apparatus or equipment for light, heat or power, shown by notarized employer affidavits of at least four years in the electrical contracting industry within the past eight years (with the W-2 or 1099 forms) or by a Department of Labor registered apprenticeship's work affidavit; the applicant cannot certify their own hours. A year of an approved electrical curriculum or apprenticeship counts for 1,000 hours, up to 2,000, and a long certificate from an Alabama public two-year or community college counts for 2,000. Then the exam, the Alabama journeyman exam or the NASCLA Portable J exam ($115); the license is $35 and is renewed each year on the Board's annual renewal form (a journeyman license cannot be renewed late). The application counts four years of experience for an applicant qualifying strictly through work experience and two years for one who completed an apprenticeship other than a US Department of Labor one. A journeyman works under a master or state certified electrical contractor.	8,000 hrs (at least 4 yrs)Four years is the work-experience route; a completed non-DOL apprenticeship is entered as two years.	Alabama journeyman electrician exam or NASCLA Portable J exam	$150

Reciprocity. The Board lists Texas (TDLR) journeyman licenses as reciprocal, earned on an equivalent exam; TDLR's announcement of the agreement requires a license in good standing held at least one year. The Board's reciprocal application lists only the active electrical contractor license ($315), so its journeyman process and fee are not published there. Its other reciprocal states cover electrical contractors only.

Renewal. Every year ($35 for a journeyman; a journeyman license cannot be renewed late).

Years to this license at your hours a week → · Every fee here, itemised and totalled → · Compare time and cost across trades and states →

Common questions

Do you need a license to work as an electrician in Alabama?

What does it cost to get licensed as an electrician in Alabama?

The published fee in the table above is $150. Read each tier's requirements for any exam or license-issue fee charged on top.

How long does it take to become an electrician in Alabama?

Journeyman Electrician takes 8,000 hours of on-the-job experience over at least 4 years; the pages read do not say whether a worker needs a license to do the work, and the table above has each license's own requirement. Four years is the work-experience route; a completed non-DOL apprenticeship is entered as two years.

How much do electricians make in Alabama?

Electricians in Alabama earned a median $55,690 a year in May 2025, $26.78 an hour. That median is 12% below the national figure of $63,190, and Alabama ranks 50 of 51 by pay for this trade.

How much do apprentice electricians make in Alabama?

In fiscal 2023 (October 2022 to September 2023), among registered apprentices in Alabama under the occupation titles the U.S. Department of Labor maps to electricians, 575 apprentices started, at a median $15.15 an hour across the 572 whose starting wage DOL counts. Those who completed that year were paid a median $29.75 an hour at completion (234 completers with an exit wage DOL counts). Wages are in that year's dollars.

What electricians earn in Alabama

Electricians in Alabama earned a median $55,690 a year in May 2025, $26.78 an hour. 10,900 people held the job, 5.2 for every 1,000 jobs in the state. That median is 12% below the national figure of $63,190, and Alabama ranks 50 of 51 by pay for this trade.

Median annual

$55,690

$26.78 an hour

Rank by pay

#50

of 51 with a published median

Employed in AL

10,900

5.2 per 1,000 jobs

Location quotient

1.06

1.00 = national concentration

The full wage spread in Alabama

Point	Hourly	Annual	Meaning
10th percentile	$18.09	$37,640	A tenth of the workforce earns less than this.
25th percentile	$22.17	$46,120	A quarter earn less.
Median	$26.78	$55,690	Half earn less, half earn more.
75th percentile	$30.98	$64,450	A quarter earn more.
90th percentile	$37.61	$78,230	A tenth earn more than this.
Mean	$27.65	$57,510	The average. Pulled up by the top earners.

Annual figures are the hourly rate times 2,080 hours, BLS's full-time year. Overtime is inside the survey's earnings but not separated out.

Pay by metro area in Alabama

Birmingham, AL employs the most electricians of the 12 metro areas based in Alabama that BLS publishes, 2,780, at a median $56,630 a year. The best-paid is Decatur, AL at $63,930.

Metro	Employed	Median annual	10th pct	90th pct
Birmingham, AL	2,780	$56,630	$38,880	$78,550
Mobile, AL	1,360	$61,720	$38,430	$75,100
Huntsville, AL	1,030	$58,500	$38,280	$77,050
Montgomery, AL	760	$49,910	$37,170	$74,350
Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL	570	$59,770	$36,670	$98,470
Tuscaloosa, AL	560	$60,110	$37,540	$83,040
Decatur, AL	480	$63,930	$39,450	$133,180
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL	410	$50,840	$38,160	$71,150
Dothan, AL	280	$47,630	$36,700	$111,000
Auburn-Opelika, AL	230	$53,860	$35,090	$67,230
Anniston-Oxford, AL	170	$54,200	$36,900	$66,400
Gadsden, AL	140	$44,490	$29,950	$57,590

Metropolitan statistical areas as BLS publishes them in the same May 2025 estimates. A metro that crosses a state line is listed only under its primary state, so part of a neighboring state's metro can sit outside this table. Areas outside any metro are not shown. Listed under another state but reaching into Alabama: Columbus, GA-AL.

Alabama against its neighbors on the pay ladder

#	State	Median annual	Employed
47	Georgia	$58,320	21,650
48	Florida	$57,250	49,700
49	North Carolina	$56,800	21,640
50	Alabama	$55,690	10,900
51	Arkansas	$49,070	7,500

The complete ranking is on the Electricians page.

Against the national figure

Figure	Alabama	United States
Median annual	$55,690	$63,190
Median hourly	$26.78	$30.38
10th percentile, annual	$37,640	$42,640
90th percentile, annual	$78,230	$108,510
Employed	10,900	757,220

Apprenticeships in Alabama

U.S. Department of Labor records list 1,254 registered apprentices active in Alabama in fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 to September 2024) under the occupation titles DOL maps to electricians (SOC 47-2111). The file's fiscal 2024 records largely stop after February 2024. In fiscal 2023, the latest year the file holds in full, 575 apprentices started, at a median $15.15 an hour across the 572 whose starting wage DOL counts. Those who completed that year were paid a median $29.75 an hour at completion (234 completers with an exit wage DOL counts).

Find a registered program: DOL's Apprenticeship Finder → · What those wages come to at your hours a week → · Every state's count and wages for this trade →

Wages are DOL's own hourly figures in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Which wages DOL counts, which titles count and how the state is assigned are on the data page.

Other trades in Alabama

Plumbers and pipefitters ($58,670) · HVAC technicians ($48,370) · Welders ($48,490) · Truck drivers (CDL) ($52,120) · Lineworkers (power-line installers) ($92,030) · Elevator installers ($103,700) · Ironworkers ($56,640) · Sheet metal workers ($47,530) · Carpenters ($48,220) · Brickmasons and blockmasons ($49,710) · Auto service technicians ($45,640) · Diesel mechanics ($50,470) · Heavy equipment operators ($47,520) · Machinists ($55,560)

See all 15 ranked by pay in Alabama.

The pay and employment figures on this page are the May 2025 BLS estimates, apart from the apprenticeship figures, which are DOL's; the licensing detail is read from the pages listed in the licensing section, each with the date it was read. See how the numbers are built.