An electrician apprenticeship is a paid job with training, and you don't need experience to start one. Tennessee has 98 registered electrician apprenticeship programs, with 4,027 apprentices in training at the latest federal count.
About $650 a week at 40 hours. The middle half of starting wages is $14.78 to $19.47 an hour.
Median pay at the end
$30.37 an hour
About $1,210 a week at 40 hours.
From 4,242 recent starting wages in 55 programs, and 2,231 people who finished recently in 51 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.
Applications at the Memphis Electrical JATC are closed, and the committee says it will announce its next round on its website. The Chattanooga Electrical JATC takes applications for its next class until November 30, 2026. The committees in Nashville, Knoxville and Oak Ridge take online applications all year.
Each of these programs carries the name of a contractor association: Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) or Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC).
No program matches. Pick another area or check the spelling.
Also trains other trades: these 10 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.
Programs inside prisons
The federal data marks 1 of the 98 programs as run inside a state prison. This program trains people who are incarcerated. You can't apply to this program from outside, and the wage figures don't include it.
Northwest CorrectionsTiptonville0 apprentices
How one program works: Memphis 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.
Memphis Electrical JATC
Memphis · Memphis & West Tennessee · 487 apprentices
1
Apply online
The Memphis Electrical JATC accepts applications online only, and you pay the $25 fee when you apply. Upload your official transcript, because the committee needs the record of your algebra credit and doesn't accept a diploma in its place. You also confirm that you can do the physical work, get to job sites across the program's area and attend all required classes.
2
Take the aptitude test
The test has 2 parts, algebra and reading comprehension. If you get a qualifying score, you move to the interview. If you don't, you wait 3 months before you apply and test again.
3
Interview with the committee
The committee holds interviews every month, in the order applicants complete the process. Your interview and qualifications give you a ranking, and the committee can select you from the list at any time for 1 year. If the committee selects you, you take a physical exam and a drug screen.
4
Work and attend classes
You work on the jobs the committee assigns, anywhere in the program's area. Your classes follow the local school calendar.
The Memphis Electrical JATC is the largest program open to outside applicants. A first-period apprentice earns 60% of the journeyworker rate, which is $22.95 an hour, and the rate rises with hours and classes to 80% ($30.60 an hour) in period 6. The journeyworker rate is $38.25 an hour.
A year to start at TVA
$62,895
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is the federal power utility, and it pays its electrician apprentices a yearly salary. The salary starts at $62,895 and rises in steps to $93,795 at the top apprentice level. After training, an electrician at TVA earns $110,345 a year.
At the Mid-South IEC in Memphis, a member contractor must hire you first. The Mid-South IEC is a non-union contractor association, and it says it isn't a job placement agency.
TVA hires apprentices through its own job postings. A posting opens when TVA starts a class. When no opening is listed, TVA doesn't accept resumes.
To apply to the Memphis Electrical JATC, you must be at least 17 years old. You must be 18 years old when the committee selects you. You need a high school diploma or GED, an official transcript that shows a full year of algebra with a passing grade, and a valid driver's license.
The Memphis Electrical JATC program takes 4 years. You need at least 8,000 hours on the job and 720 hours of class, in 2 sessions a week of about 3 hours each. Tools cost about $365 if you need everything on the list, textbooks cost about $750 a school year, and you bring your own laptop.
Note: If the Memphis Electrical JATC selects you, you sign an agreement to work in the organized electrical industry for 4 years after you complete the program. If you don't, you repay the cost of your training.
Note: At the Electrician Training Academy in Knoxville, you aren't paid to attend class. Class meets 2 nights a week from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm, September to May, for 180 classroom hours a year over 4 years.
To work as an electrician in Tennessee, you need your own license from the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors. The license for an individual is the limited licensed electrician (LLE) license, and contractors hold a separate 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
The U.S. Department of Labor data has 18 Tennessee filings whose registration numbers name a different state. No figure counts those filings. Every bar uses the same scale.
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