An electrician apprenticeship is a paid job with training, and you don't need experience to start one. Colorado has 57 registered electrician apprenticeship programs, with 5,819 apprentices in training at the latest federal count.
About $830 a week at 40 hours. The middle half of starting wages is $18.00 to $23.00 an hour.
Median pay at the end
$32.13 an hour
About $1,290 a week at 40 hours.
From 4,051 recent starting wages in 39 programs, and 1,601 people who finished recently in 26 programs. The 2 figures come from different groups of apprentices, not the same people followed from start to finish.
How to get in
Pick 2 or 3 programs near you
Use the list below. Search each program's name with its city to find it.
Each program takes applications in its own way. Ask each program how and when it takes applications.
The Denver Electrical JATC takes applications 2 times a year, from February 1 to March 31 and from August 1 to September 30. IECRM enrolls new students from mid-June through mid-July for classes that start in August. The Colorado Springs Electrical JATC reopens applications on January 1, 2027, and IEC Southern Colorado is registering students for August 2027.
No program matches. Pick another area or check the spelling.
Also trains other trades: these 3 sponsors train more than one trade, so their count includes apprentices in their other trades.A count of 0 means the federal data recorded no apprentices in training, and it doesn't always mean the program has closed.
How one program works: Denver Electrical JATC
Each program runs in its own way. This is how one of them takes apprentices and trains them, as its own pages describe it.
Denver Electrical JATC
1
Email your documents
Email the Denver Electrical JATC your current driver's license, a second ID, and your diploma or a transcript that states your graduation date. The committee doesn't accept an ID card or an instruction permit in place of a driver's license. The committee takes up to 1 week to review your documents.
2
Apply and take the aptitude test
Once the committee approves your documents, complete the online application and pay the $35 fee, which isn't refunded. The committee offers the aptitude test on the second, third and fourth Fridays of every month.
3
Pass the background check and drug test
If you rank high enough for selection, the committee runs a background check. The committee assesses a felony conviction from the past 7 years case by case, and if the committee finds you unsuitable, you have 10 days to respond. The drug test screens for marijuana.
4
Work and attend evening classes
The program takes 4 years. You work a 40-hour week for a contractor the committee assigns, and you attend evening classes 2 times a week and on some Saturdays. To finish the program, you must earn your journeyman electrician license.
The Denver Electrical JATC is the largest union program in Colorado. Apprentices start at $22.70 an hour and finish at $37.01 an hour, with raises as you reach each pay period. The journeyman rate is $49.35 an hour.
Of the journeyman scale to start at the Pueblo Electrical JATC
50%
Apprentices at the Pueblo Electrical JATC start at 50% of the journeyman scale and get raises as they advance. The Pueblo journeyman wage is $31.90 an hour, and the Denver journeyman wage is $49.35 an hour for the same license. The same percentage gives a different dollar amount at each committee.
You don't need experience to apply. The largest electrician program in Colorado is IECRM, the electrical contractor association's school in the Denver area, and it takes students with or without an employer.
If you don't work for a contractor yet, you can register at IECRM on your own. IECRM runs a hire list, a job board and career fairs, and it says its network has more than 200 member contractors. Classes meet once a week from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm.
Tuition at IECRM is $600 to $1,000 a semester. Books cost $450 to $650 a year. IECRM says many contractors pay back up to 100% of your tuition.
As an apprentice in Colorado, you must be registered with the Colorado State Electrical Board. Your employer registers you within 30 days of your hire date, and you carry your registration card while you work. Your hours count toward a license only while you're registered, and the Denver Electrical JATC gives credit for earlier experience only if you were registered when you earned it.
The aptitude test at the Denver Electrical JATC has 5 parts. You can buy a study guide for $20.
paper folding
numerical computation
numerical reasoning
reading comprehension
mechanical reasoning
Note: If you can't show an algebra credit, the Denver Electrical JATC accepts a self-paced online Tech Math course instead.
To work as an electrician in Colorado, you need your own license from the Colorado State Electrical Board, whoever you work for. Cities can't issue their own electrician licenses. The licenses for an individual include the residential wireman license and the journeyman electrician license.
U.S. Department of Labor national apprenticeship data, extract of August 17, 2026: the programs, the apprentice counts, the 2 median wages and the range of starting wages
IEC Southern Colorado registration page: the registration for August 2027
Colorado State Electrical Board apprentice and application pages, dpo.colorado.gov, and the apprenticeship information guide dated October 2025: the apprentice registration rules
The U.S. Department of Labor data has 10 Colorado filings whose registration numbers name a different state. No figure counts those filings. Every bar uses the same scale.
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