An electrician apprenticeship is a paid job with training, and you don't need experience to start one. Wisconsin has 238 registered electrician apprenticeship programs, with 5,383 apprentices in training at the latest federal count.
About $790 a week at 40 hours. The middle half of starting wages is $17.23 to $21.08 an hour.
Median pay at the end
$39.00 an hour
About $1,560 a week at 40 hours.
From 3,715 recent starting wages in 166 programs, and 1,890 people who finished recently in 133 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.
METI tests applicants once a year, usually from January to March, and selects its class between April and August, so complete your application before testing starts. ABC of Wisconsin takes applications all year, but your materials and a company to sponsor you are due by June 30 for electrical classes that start in August or September. If you're not selected at METI, it emails you the steps to apply again.
As an apprentice, you must register with the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) to do electrical work. You can register once you have an apprenticeship contract, and you upload a copy of the contract. The registration also has a $15 credential fee, and you renew it every year for $15 while your contract continues.
No program matches. Pick another area or check the spelling.
Also trains other trades: these 6 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: METI
Each program runs in its own way. This is how one of them takes apprentices and trains them, as its own pages describe it.
METI
1
Create a TradeSchool account
Create your account in TradeSchool from the METI site, and the METI office approves it within 2 to 5 business days. Then choose Milwaukee Inside or Kettle Moraine Inside and complete every step of the application.
2
Wait for your test date
Once METI confirms that you meet the minimum qualifications, it mails you a letter and schedules you for the next aptitude test. METI emails you about a month before the test, which usually takes place from January to March.
3
Take the aptitude test
Before the test, you send your documents and a personal experience form to GAN, the outside testing company, through its portal. After testing, GAN gives METI a list of every applicant ranked by score.
4
Start work with a contractor
METI calls applicants from the top of the ranked list between April and August, and you usually get 2 weeks' notice before your start date. METI places you with a union contractor, and you start paid work while you attend your classes.
Of the skilled wage rate in your first year at ABC of Wisconsin
45%
Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin (ABC of Wisconsin) lists a state skilled wage rate average of $38.42 an hour for electricians. A first-year apprentice earns at least 45% of that rate, and the minimum rises each year to 75% in the fifth year. Benefits such as health care and retirement are paid on top of the wage.
You don't need experience to apply. In Wisconsin, you apply directly to a local apprenticeship committee for your trade, not to a single employer. The largest sponsors are ABC of Wisconsin, a contractor association, and the area electrical committees.
Note: ABC of Wisconsin runs one statewide apprenticeship, and the federal data lists it as several programs, one for each region. The federal data lists the ABC of Wisconsin programs and many area committees, such as the Eau Claire Area Electrical JAC, at a Madison address, so search a program's name to find where it trains apprentices.
To apply to ABC of Wisconsin, you don't need a job first. Once ABC of Wisconsin pre-qualifies you, it sends you a list of approved contractors, and you find a company that will hire you and sponsor your apprenticeship. ABC of Wisconsin doesn't find you a job, and it has no application fee.
To apply to the ABC of Wisconsin electrical apprenticeship, you need proof that you finished high school. You also need these things with your online application.
a copy of your driver's license, or another plan to get to work and school
Accuplacer scores of at least 239 in reading and 237 in arithmetic, or ACT scores of at least 15 in reading and 15 in math
a C or better in each semester of 1 year of high school algebra, geometry or a higher math class, or another algebra course ABC of Wisconsin accepts
ABC of Wisconsin charges tuition, and you're responsible for paying it. The tuition covers your class fees, most textbooks and the running of the program. Many employers pay back at least part of the tuition.
To apply to the Milwaukee Electrical Training Institute (METI), you must be 18 or older with a high school diploma or GED. You must also be authorized to work in the U.S. and have reliable transportation. METI trains the apprentices of the Milwaukee Area Electrical JAC, with IBEW Local 494 and the NECA Milwaukee Chapter.
The METI apprenticeship takes about 5 years. You work full time for a contractor and attend classes at the METI training centers in Greenfield and Wauwatosa. You don't pay tuition for your first 3 semesters. After that, you pay some costs, and METI doesn't list the amounts.
To do electrical work in Wisconsin, you need your own license or registration from DSPS, and cities can't require their own. As an apprentice, you hold the Electrical Apprentice registration. Once you complete your apprenticeship, you can take the journeyman electrician exam.
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
Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, credential fees page, and Wis: admin. Code SPS 305.46. The Electrical Apprentice registration and its fees
The U.S. Department of Labor data has 5 Wisconsin filings whose registration numbers name a different state. No figure counts those filings. Every bar uses the same scale.
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