01
Requirements and steps
We use the licensing authority's published requirements throughout this page. If the licensing authority doesn't publish a requirement, we don't guess.
1Figure out which license you need
Start from where you will actually be working rather than from where you live. Every license below is issued by a city or a county, and the office across the line can require something different. Then read the classes for that place: some are held by the worker and some by the business.
2Choose the license class you're working toward
Each license class below has its own fees and exam rules. Start with the class you're working toward: everything below depends on it. We use the licensing authority's official license names, so you'll see the same terms on its forms.
3Build the required experience
The experience requirements for each license are quoted below exactly as the licensing authority publishes them. The licensing authority decides whether your experience qualifies, so keep your own record from day one and make sure your employer can verify your hours.
4Take the exam
If your license requires an exam, the exam name and its fee are listed under that license class. The licensing authority and the testing company are often different organizations, so the exam fee is often paid to the testing company. That's why the exam fee may appear in the candidate bulletin instead of the fee schedule.
5Apply, pay, and keep it current
Each license class below lists the fees the licensing authority publishes for it. Renewal varies by class too, so check the renewal period and fee for the class you are working toward rather than for the trade as a whole.
02
If you want to do the work
This page is short because Illinois is, not because nobody looked. The state licenses neither the worker nor the business, so there is no statewide license to list and no statewide fee schedule to print. What there is instead is city licenses. Each holds in its own city and nowhere else. The one that matters to you is where the job is, and it can change across a city line.
Two of Illinois's licenses are held by the worker. Each is a separate license with its own fees and exam rules. The ones below come from Chicago, Springfield, Peoria and Rockford.
Not published for any class here: job hours or classroom hours. Illinois does not publish a reciprocity list for these licenses.
Supervising Electrician License (City of Chicago)1
Held by the worker · issued by Chicago
$150 for the license itself.1 $150 to take the exam.1 You renew this every year, for $150. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.1
Supervising Electrician License (City of Chicago)
At least 21 years old, with at least two years' experience installing, altering, repairing and maintaining electrical wires, equipment and apparatus — or equivalent experience — under the direct supervision of a supervising electrician or equivalent person.1
The body that issues this class of license4City of Chicago Department of Buildings Where that body publishes this class of license1https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/bldgs/supp_info/TLdetails/SupvEL.html Chicago doesn't list who runs it or an application fee.
Springfield Electrical License (City of Springfield)5
Held by the worker · issued by Springfield
$25 to apply.5 International Code Council administers the exam.7 You renew this every year, for $25. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.8
Springfield Electrical License (City of Springfield)
Minimum qualifications of five years' experience with two years supervisory, listed employer by employer on the application, plus proof of having passed the ICC Master Electrician examination (G16). The application goes before the Springfield Electrical Commission for approval before a licence is granted.7
The body that issues this class of license7City of Springfield Building and Zoning Department Where that body publishes this class of license9https://www.springfield.il.us/Departments/PublicWorks/PublicWorksDefault.aspx?PermitsForms Springfield doesn't list an exam fee or a license fee.
03
Apprenticeship and hours
Nothing on this page counts your time in hours. Where a board states the requirement in years instead, the years are in its own wording with each class, and turning them into hours would need a working week no board here publishes.
04
What it pays
Among the electricians on a payroll in Illinois, half earn more than $47.87 an hour and half earn less. The federal wage survey puts the annual figure at $99,560.3
- $23.67The bottom tenth earn this or less3
- $59.45The top tenth earn this or more3
These figures cover every experience level, from first-year apprentices to workers with decades on the job, so this is not what an apprentice earns. The survey counts 23,120 of these jobs. Self-employed workers are not included in the survey.3
The yearly figure assumes 2,080 paid hours, which is full time with no long gaps. Actual earnings can be lower where work is interrupted or seasonal.
Figures from the federal wage survey for May 2025, read 2026-08-16. The survey’s state file is a spreadsheet in a zip, not a web page.
05
If you want to run an electrical business
These credentials apply if you plan to take work in your own name. Each is issued to the business itself rather than to any one person.
Electrical Contractor License - General (City of Chicago)2
Held by the business · issued by Chicago
$150 for the license itself.2 You renew this every year, for $150. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.2
Electrical Contractor License - General (City of Chicago)
Ownership by, or employment of, at least one licensed supervising electrician. The experience test is that person's: two years under the direct supervision of a supervising electrician, plus the city's written examination.2
The body that issues this class of license4City of Chicago Department of Buildings Where that body publishes this class of license2https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/bldgs/supp_info/TLdetails/ELcontractor.html Chicago doesn't list an exam name, who runs it, an exam fee or an application fee.
Electrical Contractor License - Low Voltage (City of Chicago)2
Held by the business · issued by Chicago
$150 for the license itself.2 You renew this every year, for $150. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.2
Electrical Contractor License - Low Voltage (City of Chicago)
Ownership by, or employment of, at least one licensed supervising electrician holding the low voltage examination. The experience test is that person's.2
The body that issues this class of license4City of Chicago Department of Buildings Where that body publishes this class of license2https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/bldgs/supp_info/TLdetails/ELcontractor.html Chicago doesn't list an exam name, who runs it, an exam fee or an application fee.
Registered Electrical Contractor (City of Springfield)7
Held by the business · issued by Springfield
$45 to apply.7 International Code Council administers the exam.7 You renew this every year, for $45. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.8
Registered Electrical Contractor (City of Springfield)
Minimum qualifications of five years' experience with two years supervisory, plus a $5,000 surety bond in favour of the City of Springfield running from 1 January to 31 December, proof of liability insurance and workers' compensation, and either a Springfield electrical licence or a licence from another Illinois municipality. A licence obtained after 10 October 2007 requires the ICC Master Electrician examination.7
The body that issues this class of license7City of Springfield Building and Zoning Department Where that body publishes this class of license9https://www.springfield.il.us/Departments/PublicWorks/PublicWorksDefault.aspx?PermitsForms Springfield doesn't list an exam fee or a license fee.
Electrical Contractor License (City of Peoria)10
Held by the business · issued by Peoria
$150 for the license itself.10 International Code Council administers the exam.10 You renew this every year, for $150. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.10
The body that issues this class of license10City of Peoria Where that body publishes this class of license10https://www.peoriagov.org/770/Electrical-Contractor Peoria doesn't list an experience bar, an exam fee or an application fee.
Electrical Contractor Registration (City of Rockford)11
Held by the business · issued by Rockford
$25 for the license itself.11 You renew this every year, for $25. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.11
The body that issues this class of license11City of Rockford Where that body publishes this class of license11https://rockfordil.gov/448/Electrical-Permits Rockford doesn't list an experience bar, an exam name, who runs it, an exam fee or an application fee.
06
The examination
International Code Council administers three of the four exams named on this page. No examiner is named for the other. The exam provider sets the exam content, publishes the study material and sets retake fees. Use the official exam names below when you look for study material, application instructions or retake information. Exam fees are listed with each class above.
- Supervising Electrician License (City of Chicago)
- Supervising electrician examination (general or low voltage)1
- Springfield Electrical License (City of Springfield)
- ICC Master Electrician Exam (G16)7
- Registered Electrical Contractor (City of Springfield)
- ICC Master Electrician Exam (G16)7
- Electrical Contractor License (City of Peoria)
- ICC Contractor test10
07
The licensing office, and how to reach it
Four different offices issue the licenses on this page, so check the class you are after for the office to contact.
The licensing authority doesn't list who certifies the worker, where that sits, who licenses the business, where that sits, the agency behind this trade or a page for that agency.
08
Bringing a license in, and taking one out
Reciprocity is an agreement between states, and every license on this page belongs to a city or a county. Chicago, Springfield, Peoria and Rockford do not speak for each other or for anywhere outside the state. Moving to Illinois? Ask the office where the job is whether it will recognize your current license. Leaving? Contact the licensing authority in the state where you plan to work.
09
Questions people ask
Do you need a license to be an electrician in Illinois?
Illinois does not license individual electricians. Cities and counties do. You still need a license; there is just no single statewide one, so the rules that apply are the ones where you will be working, and they change across a city line. Contractor licensing is not the state's either. Cities and counties issue it, so taking work in your own name means finding the rules where the job is.
How long does it take to become a licensed electrician in Illinois?
Not as a number: Illinois doesn't publish an hours figure for any license on this page. Several states on these pages state the requirement in years instead, and turning years into hours needs a working week nobody publishes. So this page prints what was published. The experience wording with each class is where the answer is.
How much do electricians in IL make?
The middle half of the electricians on a payroll in Illinois earn between $35.35 and $56.47 an hour, and half of all of them earn more than $47.87. These are straight-time figures, before any overtime, at every experience level, counted by the federal wage survey in May 2025. Self-employed workers are not included in them.3
How to make $100,000 a year as an electrician?
The top tenth of electricians on a payroll in Illinois earn above $59.45 an hour, which over a 2,080-hour year comes to more than $123,660. Those are straight-time figures: overtime pay is outside them, and so are self-employed workers. The federal wage survey counts what the top tenth earn above, not how many reach any figure past it.3
How much does an electrician license cost in Illinois?
The licensing authority publishes these: $25 to apply for Springfield Electrical License (City of Springfield), $45 to apply for Registered Electrical Contractor (City of Springfield), $150 to be issued Supervising Electrician License (City of Chicago), $150 to be issued Electrical Contractor License - General (City of Chicago), $150 to be issued Electrical Contractor License - Low Voltage (City of Chicago), $150 to be issued Electrical Contractor License (City of Peoria) and $25 to be issued Electrical Contractor Registration (City of Rockford). Each is per class, not per trade. None of them is the exam: where a vendor administers the exam, that fee is the vendor's and lives in its own bulletin.
Can I use an electrician license from another state in Illinois?
Not as a published rule: Illinois publishes no list of the states it recognizes. Bringing a license in and taking one out are two separate agreements, signed and published separately. Contact the licensing authority in the state where you plan to work and ask what it will recognize.
How long does it take to become an electrician?
There is no national answer. Any page that gives you one is averaging states whose requirements differ by thousands of hours. Licensing is set state by state, and in some states city by city, so the honest version of this question has a place in it. What is the same everywhere is the shape: you learn on the job, the hours that count are the ones somebody signs for, and the clock starts the day the work does.
Can you become an electrician with no experience?
Yes, and that is the ordinary way in. These trades are learned at work rather than before it, which is why boards mostly require time on the job. What you cannot skip is the paperwork: the hours that count are the ones somebody signs for, so the question to ask an employer is who signs, not whether they will train you.
Is 30 too old to become an electrician?
No. Boards set a minimum age, not a maximum. No board on these pages sets an upper limit, and where age shows up at all it is a floor. The real question at 30 is money: an apprenticeship pays you while you learn and school charges you while you learn. That difference usually decides it.
How hard is the electrician licensing exam?
None of the boards on these pages publishes a pass rate. The useful question is who administers the exam: that organization sells the reference material for it and sets what a retake costs.