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How to become an electrician in Oregon

Oregon's Building Codes Division licenses electricians: subject to the statute's exemptions, no one may make an electrical installation without a supervising or journeyman electrician's license (or, on a single or multifamily dwelling unit not exceeding three floors above grade, a limited residential electrician's license), or work on one as an apprentice without an electrical apprentice's license. A general journeyman license is issued once the applicant passes the examination, after an approved Oregon apprenticeship, 576 hours of classroom training and 8,000 hours of on-the-job experience obtained outside Oregon, or 16,000 hours of on-the-job experience obtained outside Oregon. Electricians in Oregon earned a median $101,310 a year in May 2025 ($48.71 an hour).

State license for workers

Required

a passage on the pages read says so

On-the-job hours

8,000 hours

for General Journeyman Electrician, the first license on the main path that takes 2,000 or more

Published fees, first steps

Not published

no fixed published fee for Electrical Apprentice

Median pay

$101,310

$48.71 an hour, May 2025

Electrician licensing in Oregon

The licensing authority is Oregon Building Codes Division (Electrical and Elevator Board). 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
Electrical Apprentice (apprentice license)	Register in a formal electrical apprenticeship program recognized by the board and the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries; the Bureau issues and renews the apprentice license. An apprentice applies at 17 and is registered at 18, with a high school diploma, GED or international equivalency and a year of high school algebra, integrated math 2 or its equivalent with a grade of C or better (or equivalent community college math placement results). An apprentice may assist an appropriately licensed electrician on the same job site and the same shift.	—	—	not published
General Journeyman Electrician (J)	Complete an approved apprenticeship in Oregon; or show official transcripts of 576 hours of classroom training and 8,000 hours of on-the-job experience obtained outside Oregon, at least 1,000 hours in each of residential, commercial and industrial work; or 16,000 hours of on-the-job experience obtained outside Oregon, at least 2,000 hours in each of those categories. The division counts no more than 2,000 hours of experience a year, and self-verification of hours is not accepted. Exam applicants must submit proof of a high school diploma, GED or international equivalent; a college degree substitutes. After the division approves the application it mails a letter of authorization; the exam must be taken within 60 days of that letter, and the passing score is 75 percent. All applicants must test, at a test location chosen on the application. The license fee is $100 and is nonrefundable; licenses run on a three-year cycle, with 24 hours of continuing education each cycle, including 8 hours of code-change courses and a 4-hour Oregon rule and law course. A general journeyman works under the supervision, direction and control of a general supervising electrician, except for work a limited supervising electrician may direct or work that needs no supervision.	8,000 hrs (≈ 4 yrs)	Oregon general journeyman electrician exam	$100
Limited Residential Electrician (LR)	Complete an approved apprenticeship in Oregon; or show official transcripts of 288 hours of classroom training and 4,000 hours of on-the-job residential experience obtained outside Oregon; or 8,000 hours of on-the-job residential experience obtained outside Oregon. All applicants must test, at a test location chosen on the application. Exam applicants must submit proof of a high school diploma, GED or international equivalent; a college degree substitutes. The license fee is $100. A limited residential electrician makes electrical installations on one- and two-family or multifamily dwelling units not exceeding three floors above grade, under the supervision, direction and control of a general supervising electrician.	4,000 hrs (≈ 2 yrs)	Oregon limited residential electrician exam	$100
General Supervising Electrician (S)	Be licensed as an Oregon journeyman electrician and verify an additional 8,000 hours of on-the-job journeyman experience, or meet the qualifications for the Oregon journeyman license and verify an additional 8,000 hours of on-the-job journeyman experience. All applicants must test, at a test location chosen on the application. Exam applicants must submit proof of a high school diploma, GED or international equivalent; a college degree substitutes. The license fee is $100. A general supervising electrician designs, plans and lays out work, signs all permits, and is the only individual authorized to direct, supervise or control the installation or alteration of an electrical service.	8,000 hrs (≈ 4 yrs)	Oregon general supervising electrician exam	$100

Reciprocity. Oregon has reciprocity agreements for the general journeyman electrician license with Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, letting a licensed individual from those states get an Oregon license without taking the exam. The applicant must have qualified for the home-state journeyman license through four years of electrical apprenticeship education (at least 576 classroom hours) and at least four years (8,000 hours) in the trade under the direct supervision of a licensed journeyman. A Washington applicant must have completed an apprenticeship in Oregon or Washington and passed Washington's licensing exam.

Renewal. Every three years, with 24 hours of continuing education each cycle for a general journeyman or general supervising electrician, including code-change hours and a 4-hour Oregon rule and law course.

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 Oregon?

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

Each of the 3 published fees in the table above is $100, one for each step that lists it. 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 Oregon?

You can be licensed as General Journeyman 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. Limited Residential Electrician, a separate license, takes 4,000 hours.

How much do electricians make in Oregon?

Electricians in Oregon earned a median $101,310 a year in May 2025, $48.71 an hour. That median is 60% above the national figure of $63,190, and Oregon ranks 1 of 51 by pay for this trade.

What electricians earn in Oregon

Electricians in Oregon earned a median $101,310 a year in May 2025, $48.71 an hour. 10,590 people held the job, 5.4 for every 1,000 jobs in the state. That median is 60% above the national figure of $63,190, and Oregon ranks 1 of 51 by pay for this trade.

Median annual

$101,310

$48.71 an hour

Rank by pay

of 51 with a published median

Employed in OR

10,590

5.4 per 1,000 jobs

Location quotient

1.11

1.00 = national concentration

The full wage spread in Oregon

Point	Hourly	Annual	Meaning
10th percentile	$28.63	$59,550	A tenth of the workforce earns less than this.
25th percentile	$38.03	$79,110	A quarter earn less.
Median	$48.71	$101,310	Half earn less, half earn more.
75th percentile	$58.50	$121,680	A quarter earn more.
90th percentile	$63.24	$131,530	A tenth earn more than this.
Mean	$47.96	$99,750	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 Oregon

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA employs the most electricians of the 8 metro areas based in Oregon that BLS publishes, 7,340, at a median $105,090 a year.

Metro	Employed	Median annual	10th pct	90th pct
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	7,340	$105,090	$60,360	$134,380
Salem, OR	1,000	$98,850	$57,630	$129,010
Eugene-Springfield, OR	750	$94,680	$56,420	$122,700
Bend, OR	610	$99,200	$57,920	$123,270
Medford, OR	500	$92,410	$53,460	$119,390
Albany, OR	440	$100,230	$61,370	$123,500
Corvallis, OR	80	$99,880	$59,860	$115,240
Grants Pass, OR	60	$88,140	$53,460	$133,260

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.

Oregon against its neighbors on the pay ladder

#	State	Median annual	Employed
1	Oregon	$101,310	10,590
2	Illinois	$99,560	23,120
3	Hawaii	$96,460	3,070
4	Washington	$95,220	19,380

The complete ranking is on the Electricians page.

Against the national figure

Figure	Oregon	United States
Median annual	$101,310	$63,190
Median hourly	$48.71	$30.38
10th percentile, annual	$59,550	$42,640
90th percentile, annual	$131,530	$108,510
Employed	10,590	757,220

Apprenticeships in Oregon

U.S. Department of Labor records list 80 registered apprentices active in Oregon 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, 20 apprentices started; 20 have a starting wage DOL counts, fewer than the 50 a median needs here. Of those who completed that year, 19 have an exit wage DOL counts, fewer than the 50 a median needs.

Find a registered program: DOL's Apprenticeship Finder → · Every state's count and wages for this trade →

Which wages DOL counts, which titles count and how the state is assigned are on the data page.

Other trades in Oregon

Plumbers and pipefitters ($97,050) · HVAC technicians ($62,940) · Welders ($59,450) · Truck drivers (CDL) ($61,980) · Lineworkers (power-line installers) ($131,090) · Elevator installers ($138,600) · Ironworkers ($96,050) · Sheet metal workers ($73,750) · Carpenters ($62,870) · Brickmasons and blockmasons ($79,450) · Auto service technicians ($58,520) · Diesel mechanics ($63,970) · Heavy equipment operators ($73,430) · Machinists ($63,820)

See all 15 ranked by pay in Oregon.

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.