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How to become an electrician in Kentucky
Kentucky's Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction licenses electricians, master electricians and electrical contractors. A person without one of those licenses may do the work only under the direct supervision of a licensed electrician or master electrician who is present on the site. An electrician license takes 8,000 hours of verifiable experience in the electrical trade since the applicant's sixteenth birthday and a passing score on the exam. Electricians in Kentucky earned a median $59,720 a year in May 2025 ($28.71 an hour).
Electrician licensing in Kentucky
The licensing authority is Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction (Electrical Division). 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrician | 8,000 hours of verifiable experience in the electrical trade since your sixteenth birthday. Any one of these substitutes for 4,000 of those hours: a training course in electrical work that the department accepts; two years of a training course of at least four years, with the rest of the course completed within four years of getting the license or the license is revoked; an associate's degree or diploma in electrical technology or a related field; or two years of teaching electrical technology or a related field at an accredited college or university. Pass the journeyman electrical exam with PROV, NASCLA or Pearson VUE, with a score of at least 70 percent. The department's application fee is $100 for a two-year license, and a first license may be prorated by the month you apply and your birth month. An applicant with at least six years of verifiable experience, working 2,080 hours a year, can instead get a nonrenewable provisional electrician license, for a fifty-dollar application fee, valid for one year. A holder who passes the exam within that year and pays the fees is issued an electrician license; one who does not cannot get another provisional license, but can still get an electrician license by the regular route. | 8,000 hrs (≈ 4 yrs) | Journeyman electrical exam (PROV, NASCLA or Pearson VUE) | $54 to $100 by birth month, plus the exam provider's fee |
| Master Electrician | 16,000 hours of verifiable experience in the electrical trade since your sixteenth birthday. A training course in electrical work that the department accepts, or two years of teaching electrical technology or a related field at an accredited college or university, substitutes for 4,000 of those hours; an associate's degree or diploma in electrical technology or a related field substitutes for 6,000. Pass the master electrician's exam with PROV, NASCLA or Pearson VUE, with a score of at least 70 percent. The department's application fee is $200 for a two-year license, and a first license may be prorated by the month you apply and your birth month. | 16,000 hrs (≈ 7.5 yrs) | Master electrician's exam (PROV, NASCLA or Pearson VUE) | $108 to $200 by birth month, plus the exam provider's fee |
Reciprocity. A holder of an active Virginia or West Virginia master or journeyman electrician license can apply for the Kentucky license with a copy of that license, a good standing letter, the application, the fee and a photo. An Ohio electrical contractor is issued a Kentucky electrical contractor and master electrician license.
Renewal. Every two years, by the last day of the birth month in the second year, with at least six hours of continuing education a year ($100 for an electrician).
Licensing sources: Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction: Electrical Division (retrieved 2026-10-03) · KRS 227A.020 (prohibitions), Kentucky General Assembly (retrieved 2026-10-03) · KRS 227A.060 (qualifications for licensure; provisional license), Kentucky General Assembly (retrieved 2026-10-03) · KRS 227A.100 (fees; renewal), Kentucky General Assembly (retrieved 2026-10-03) · 815 KAR 35:060 (licensing of electrical contractors, master electricians and electricians), Kentucky General Assembly (retrieved 2026-10-03) · Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction: electrical license application (Form EL-3) and fee schedule (retrieved 2026-10-03) · Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction: electrical new application checklists (retrieved 2026-10-03). Requirements change; confirm with Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction (Electrical Division) before you act.
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 Kentucky?
Kentucky's Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction licenses electricians, master electricians and electrical contractors. A person without one of those licenses may do the work only under the direct supervision of a licensed electrician or master electrician who is present on the site. An electrician license takes 8,000 hours of verifiable experience in the electrical trade since the applicant's sixteenth birthday and a passing score on the exam.
What does it cost to get licensed as an electrician in Kentucky?
Fees are set by the issuing authority; each tier's fee, where published, is in the table above.
How long does it take to become an electrician in Kentucky?
You can be licensed as Electrician after 8,000 hours of on-the-job training; higher tiers take longer. The time-to-journeyman calculator turns the hours into years at your own hours a week.
How much do electricians make in Kentucky?
Electricians in Kentucky earned a median $59,720 a year in May 2025, $28.71 an hour. That median is 5% below the national figure of $63,190, and Kentucky ranks 43 of 51 by pay for this trade.
How much do apprentice electricians make in Kentucky?
In fiscal 2023 (October 2022 to September 2023), among registered apprentices in Kentucky under the occupation titles the U.S. Department of Labor maps to electricians, 814 apprentices started, at a median $15.57 an hour across the 810 whose starting wage DOL counts. Those who completed that year were paid a median $25.16 an hour at completion (235 completers with an exit wage DOL counts). Wages are in that year's dollars.
What electricians earn in Kentucky
Electricians in Kentucky earned a median $59,720 a year in May 2025, $28.71 an hour. 11,030 people held the job, 5.5 for every 1,000 jobs in the state. That median is 5% below the national figure of $63,190, and Kentucky ranks 43 of 51 by pay for this trade.
The full wage spread in Kentucky
| Point | Hourly | Annual | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $17.84 | $37,110 | A tenth of the workforce earns less than this. |
| 25th percentile | $22.37 | $46,540 | A quarter earn less. |
| Median | $28.71 | $59,720 | Half earn less, half earn more. |
| 75th percentile | $37.46 | $77,920 | A quarter earn more. |
| 90th percentile | $40.99 | $85,260 | A tenth earn more than this. |
| Mean | $29.52 | $61,410 | 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 Kentucky
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN employs the most electricians of the 6 metro areas based in Kentucky that BLS publishes, 4,340, at a median $62,440 a year. The best-paid is Paducah, KY-IL at $73,930.
| Metro | Employed | Median annual | 10th pct | 90th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | 4,340 | $62,440 | $37,700 | $85,260 |
| Lexington-Fayette, KY | 1,500 | $57,320 | $36,420 | $78,330 |
| Bowling Green, KY | 480 | $55,740 | $36,190 | $93,250 |
| Paducah, KY-IL | 400 | $73,930 | $38,910 | $89,490 |
| Elizabethtown, KY | 300 | $54,460 | $37,600 | $72,340 |
| Owensboro, KY | 260 | $55,030 | $36,200 | $85,410 |
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 Kentucky: Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN, Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH and Clarksville, TN-KY.
Kentucky against its neighbors on the pay ladder
| # | State | Median annual | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | Iowa | $60,860 | 10,310 |
| 40 | Mississippi | $60,860 | 6,610 |
| 42 | Nebraska | $60,820 | 6,440 |
| 43 | Kentucky | $59,720 | 11,030 |
| 44 | South Carolina | $58,740 | 8,010 |
| 45 | Texas | $58,570 | 76,770 |
| 46 | New Mexico | $58,390 | 5,020 |
The complete ranking is on the Electricians page.
Against the national figure
| Figure | Kentucky | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Median annual | $59,720 | $63,190 |
| Median hourly | $28.71 | $30.38 |
| 10th percentile, annual | $37,110 | $42,640 |
| 90th percentile, annual | $85,260 | $108,510 |
| Employed | 11,030 | 757,220 |
Apprenticeships in Kentucky
U.S. Department of Labor records list 1,811 registered apprentices active in Kentucky 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, 814 apprentices started, at a median $15.57 an hour across the 810 whose starting wage DOL counts. Those who completed that year were paid a median $25.16 an hour at completion (235 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 Kentucky
Plumbers and pipefitters ($64,160) · HVAC technicians ($58,620) · Welders ($51,470) · Truck drivers (CDL) ($56,340) · Lineworkers (power-line installers) ($77,020) · Elevator installers ($42,670) · Ironworkers ($64,060) · Sheet metal workers ($60,680) · Carpenters ($52,680) · Brickmasons and blockmasons ($59,820) · Auto service technicians ($44,890) · Diesel mechanics ($55,480) · Heavy equipment operators ($57,780) · Machinists ($58,660)
See all 15 ranked by pay in Kentucky.
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.