How to become an electrician in Alabama

To work as a journeyman electrician in Alabama, you need your own license from the Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors (AECB), or a license from the county or city where you work, which is good only there. Alabama has no apprentice electrician license, so you don't need one as an apprentice.

See your steps Find an apprenticeship

Your ladder

Dates if you start in Nov 2026 and work 40 hours a week.

You
ApprenticeStart here
Journeyman Electrician8,000 hours on the job
Electrical ContractorRun your own business

First: start as an apprentice.

Find an apprenticeship

Dates are estimates, worked out from the hours on the job each license requires and the hours a week you pick.

Your steps

Steps for: New to the trade. The dates follow your ladder. Change where you are, your start month or your hours a week at the top of the page.

1
Step 1, Start here
Start as an apprentice
An apprenticeship is a paid job with training. You work for an employer and you learn the trade on the job. Alabama has 25 registered electrician apprenticeship programs. The median wage is $16.00 an hour at the start and $24.00 an hour at the end.
The programs with the most active apprentices
See all 25 programs
Step 2,
Complete 8,000 hours on the job
To qualify for the Journeyman Electrician license, you need 8,000 hours on the job.
Step 3,
Apply for your Journeyman Electrician license
Apply to AECB for the Journeyman Electrician license. You must pass the Alabama Electrical Journeyman exam, or the NASCLA Journey-level Electrician exam. Prov, Inc. gives the exam.
Hours on the job
8,000
Exam
$115
The Journeyman Electrician license requires 8,000 hours on the job.
What this license lets you do: “You install electrical wiring, apparatus and equipment for lighting, heating, power and controls, working under a master electrician or a state-certified electrical contractor, to the plans and specifications you are given.”
How to apply: “You can apply for the exam online, or on the paper JCE-1 application sent by mail or email. Once you pass, you apply for the license online by logging back into your exam application, or on the EC-1 form emailed to licensing@aecb.alabama.gov.”
About the exam: “Alabama Electrical Journeyman: 240 minutes · 80 questions · 75% to pass · open book · computer-based · offered in English. The NASCLA Journey-level Electrician exam: 300 minutes · 110 questions · 75% to pass · open book.”
The Journeyman Electrician license costs $35.
You must pass the Alabama Electrical Journeyman exam, or the NASCLA Journey-level Electrician exam. The exam costs $115.
You renew the Journeyman Electrician license every year. The renewal costs $35.
The official wording of the requirement
Journeyman Electrician“You document at least 8,000 hours of electrical work installing wiring, apparatus or equipment for lighting, power or controls, on commercial, industrial or residential jobs. Your employers swear to it in notarized affidavits, with your W-2s or 1099s, showing at least four years in the trade within the past eight years; if you came through a Department of Labor registered apprenticeship, the program signs a work affidavit instead. Up to 2,000 of the hours can come from school or an apprenticeship program, at 1,000 hours a year, and a long certificate from an Alabama public two-year or community college counts as the full 2,000.”
Step 4,
Renew your license
You renew the Journeyman Electrician license every year.

To run an electrical business

This is the license for running an electrical business.

Electrical Contractor

Hours on the job: 8,000
Exam: $165

The Electrical Contractor license requires 8,000 hours on the job.

What this license lets you do: “You plan, lay out, install and directly supervise electrical construction work on commercial, industrial or residential jobs, and you may run an electrical contracting business. The Alabama license has no limit on voltage or on the size of a bid.”

How to apply: “You apply for the exam on the paper ECE-1 application, by mail to PO Box 301008, Montgomery, AL 36130-1008, or by email to exams@aecb.alabama.gov. After you pass, you send the EC-1 and EC-2 forms to licensing@aecb.alabama.gov; if you will be an active contractor, include your corporation documents or certificate of foreign authority.”

About the exam: “Alabama Electrical Contractor: 300 minutes · 110 questions · 75% to pass · open book · computer-based · offered in English. It covers business and law as well as the electrical code. The NASCLA Electrical Contractor exam: 270 minutes · 110 questions · 75% to pass · open book.”

The Electrical Contractor license costs $150.

You must pass the Alabama Electrical Contractor exam, or the NASCLA Electrical Contractor exam. The exam costs $165.

You renew the Electrical Contractor license every year. The renewal costs $150. You need 14 hours of continuing education for each renewal.

After your first renewal, you need 14 hours of classes every 2 years.

The official wording of the requirement

Electrical Contractor“You document at least 8,000 hours (four years) of experience designing, planning, laying out and directly supervising electrical construction, in a supervisory or managerial position on commercial, industrial or residential new construction; 8,000 hours as a journeyman electrician in charge of jobs also counts. A licensed electrical contractor, electrical inspector, building inspector or electrical project manager signs your notarized work affidavit, and you include your W-2s or 1099s. Up to 2,000 of the hours can come from an approved electrical program or apprenticeship, at 1,000 hours a year. If you hold an Alabama professional electrical engineer license, you qualify to sit the exam.”

Take the exam

License	Exam
Journeyman Electrician	Alabama Electrical Journeyman exam, or the NASCLA Journey-level Electrician examProv, Inc. gives the exam.
Electrical Contractor	Alabama Electrical Contractor exam, or the NASCLA Electrical Contractor examProv, Inc. gives the exam.

You take the exam for the license you apply for.

What electricians earn in Alabama

$26.78an hour

$55,690 a year, full time

Half of the electricians on a payroll in Alabama earn more than $26.78 an hour, and half earn less. The federal wage survey puts the yearly figure at $55,690.

These figures cover everyone on a payroll as an electrician in Alabama, from apprentices to people with decades in the trade, so they aren't a starting wage. The survey counts 10,900 jobs. The figures don't include self-employed electricians.

The yearly figure is for full-time work all year, which is 2,080 hours.

Median$18.09Lowest 10%$22.17Lowest 25%$30.98Highest 25%$37.61Highest 10%

Use a license from another state

If you hold a license from one of the states listed for a license, you may be able to use your license to qualify in Alabama.

Alabama license	Recognized from
Journeyman Electrician license	Texas
Electrical Contractor license	Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia

Journeyman Electrician license: If you hold a current Texas journeyman electrician license, you can use it in Alabama. It can get you the Alabama Journeyman Electrician license. You must have passed an exam like Alabama's to get your Texas license. Send AECB a reciprocity application. You must sign it and get it notarized. The Texas licensing office sends AECB proof of your license, with the date of your exam and the score you got.

Electrical Contractor license: If you hold a current contractor license from one of these states, you can apply with it. You must have passed an equivalent exam for that license. First, pass Alabama's Electrical Business and Law exam through Prov. Then send AECB a signed and notarized reciprocity application. Send the $315 processing fee with it. You also qualify if you passed the NASCLA Electrical Contractors exam.

These states recognize a license from Alabama.

Alabama license	Recognized by
Journeyman Electrician license	Texas
Electrical Contractor license	Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia

Questions

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

If you work full time, you reach the 8,000 hours for the Journeyman Electrician license in about 4 years.

Can you become an electrician with no experience?

Yes. You can start as an apprentice and learn the trade on the job.

Alabama electrician apprenticeships

How much do most electricians earn in Alabama?

Half of the electricians on a payroll in Alabama earn between $22.17 and $30.98 an hour. These figures don't include overtime pay.

Can an electrician earn $100,000 a year in Alabama?

The highest-paid 10% of electricians on a payroll in Alabama earn more than $78,230 a year before overtime, so most electricians earn less than $100,000 a year from regular hours.

Contact the licensing office

Alabama Board of Electrical Contractorsaecb.alabama.gov/applicants/how-to-get-licensed

Words to know

Apprentice: Someone who learns the trade on the job, working under a licensed worker.
Journeyman: The license level after apprentice. Some states write journeyperson, journeyworker or journey level.
Master: A higher license level, for a worker with more years in the trade. It often lets you supervise others.
Continuing education: Classes you take to keep your license.
Reciprocity: An agreement that lets you use a license from one state to get a license in another.
Prov: A company that runs licensing exams for state and city offices.
NASCLA: The National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies, which gives a contractor exam that some states accept.
Notarized: Signed in front of a notary public, who checks your ID and stamps the form.
Affidavit: A written statement that you swear is true.
Median: The middle figure. Half of the workers earn more, and half earn less.

Sources

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Alerts for: Electrician in Alabama