OHIO · ELECTRICIAN · UPDATED FROM FEDERAL RECORDS
How to become an electrician in Ohio: get paid to train.
You don't need experience to start this trade, and the largest program publishes its full wage scale: the first pay step is half the journeyman rate, labeled 'No Experience Needed' on the chart itself. Ohio has 100 registered electrician apprenticeships, with 10,350 people in training at the latest federal count. This page shows you how applying works and where every program is.
01 THE PAY
How much do electrician apprentices make in Ohio?
The median starting wage was $17.20 an hour across 9,032 recent starting records: half were above it and half were below. Separately, recent completers had a median recorded wage of $31.30 an hour. These are different groups of apprentices, not the same people tracked from start to finish. The middle half of starting wages fell between $14.40 and $20.42 an hour.
The median across 9,032 recent starting records from 93 programs. The middle half earned between $14.40 and $20.42 an hour. At 40 hours a week, $17.20 works out to about $690 before taxes.
The largest program, the Newark electricians' committee in Heath, publishes its full wage chart under the current agreement: a first-period apprentice earns half the journeyman rate, $22.34 an hour, and the steps rise with hours worked to 80% at 6,500 hours. The journeyman rate itself is $44.67, with a total package of $70.68 an hour counting pension and health contributions. Wages and benefits increase annually.
The Electrical Trades Center, the Columbus training committee with the next-largest class, charges a $50 application fee. Selection is the GAN aptitude test plus your experience form, scored 0 to 100; the program ranks every eligible applicant and takes candidates from the top score down.
02 HOW TO APPLY
How to apply, and how long it takes
No experience needed. At the largest program open to outside applicants, you must be 18 and hold a high school diploma or GED, with a passing grade in algebra. Selection is a qualifying score on an aptitude test and an interview with the committee. The requirements are published by the contractor association that co-sponsors the program.
Finishing takes five years. The Newark apprenticeship requires 8,000 hours on the job plus five years of classroom instruction, held Monday and Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 9:30 pm. Tuition is $300 a year. The apprentice with the highest GPA and the apprentice with the most verified volunteer hours each receive free tuition for the following school year. Classes earn college credit toward an associate degree at Northwest State Community College. To complete the apprenticeship, you also need an OSHA 30 card, first aid and CPR certification, and the State of Ohio fire alarm installer license.
The largest sponsors are union-contractor committees and contractor associations. The JATCs on the list are Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committees run by the electricians' union and participating contractors. Newark's committee trains the most apprentices, while Columbus's Electrical Trades Center accepts applications through an open online portal. Contractor associations run their own apprenticeship programs as well. IEC Central Ohio in Columbus has the third-largest apprentice count, and the ABC chapters train apprentices in multiple trades. Many smaller programs are individual companies training their own employees. Pick two or three programs near you, search each program's name with its city, and check how and when they accept applications.
Neither of the two largest open programs posts an application window. The Newark portal takes new account requests any day, and the Columbus program accepts applications continuously but warns that the full process, from account to test results, can take up to three months. Start when you're ready instead of waiting on a date.
Applications at the Columbus program run through its online portal. Request an account once: requests are processed by the next business day, and duplicate requests delay approval.
You have 60 days to complete the application and upload your documents: transcripts, GED scores if that's your route, and a copy of your birth certificate. The $50 fee is paid with the application. High school seniors can apply starting 60 days before graduation with an on-track letter from their advisor.
The GAN aptitude test covers reading, numerical reasoning, paper folding, problem-solving, and mechanical comprehension. No electrical knowledge is tested and calculators are not permitted; bring a photo ID. Scores come back within 60 days.
The Columbus apprenticeship is 8,000 hours on the job plus 1,028 classroom hours in night classes. The State of Ohio fire alarm installer license is required to advance to the fourth year, and fourth-years complete OSHA 30, first aid and CPR, and rigging and confined-space training.
03 THE PROGRAMS
Every registered electrician apprenticeship in Ohio
All 100 programs, ranked by each sponsor's total apprentices at the latest federal count. The bar shows that total. For the 7 sponsors that train more than one trade, the count includes apprentices in their other trades as well. Ranks cover all 100 programs. Prison-run programs keep their overall rank but are listed separately below. A zero means no apprentices were recorded in training in this dataset; it does not necessarily mean the program has closed.
The biggest programs
Smaller and single-company programs
SHOW ALL 67 SMALLER PROGRAMS
Run inside state prisons
1 of the 100 programs is run by the Ohio corrections department's school system and trains people who are incarcerated. It's part of the state's count, but you cannot apply to it from outside, and none of the wage numbers above include it.
04 LICENSING
Licensing depends on where you work
Ohio has no statewide electrician license. Cities and counties issue their own, each with its own rules, and they change across a city line. Before you count on your hours, check the rules where you plan to work.
How electrician licensing works in Ohio05 SOURCES
- U.S. Department of Labor national apprenticeship data, extract of August 17, 2026. Every program, every count, and the two medians and the starting-wage band on this page.
- Newark Electrical JATC 2026-2027 wage chart and Administrative Policy, posted in the program's public documents folder and at ibewlocal1105.org, accessed 2026-09-03. The wage scale, the tuition and its waivers, the class nights, and the five-year shape on this page.
- The Electrical Trades Center application pages, portal, and training programs, electricaltrades.org, accessed 2026-09-03. The $50 fee, the aptitude test, the ranked list, and the timeline on this page.
- Central Ohio NECA apprenticeship page, cohneca.org, accessed 2026-09-03. The entry requirements it lists for its training committees.
- 8 Ohio filings in the source data name a different state inside their own registration numbers. They are under review, and no figure on this page counts them.
EVERY FIGURE ON THIS PAGE IS FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP DATA, EXTRACT OF AUGUST 17, 2026, EXCEPT THE SOURCE-MARKED RATES IN THE MONEY SECTION.