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Skilled trades in California

SkilledLadder has guides for 2 trades in California so far: electrician and plumber. Each one has its own license and its own rules.

  • Electrician

    You need your own state license, from the California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

    $36.62

    median pay an hour

    73,310

    jobs on payrolls

    See the guide

    No apprenticeship guide yet

  • Plumber

    California's licensing pages don't settle whether individual plumbers need a license. That doesn't mean no license is needed. The city or county where you'll work answers it. Its guide covers Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.

    $35.01

    median pay an hour

    47,660

    jobs on payrolls

    See the guide

    No apprenticeship guide yet

No sprinkler fitter guide for California yet. The sprinkler fitter guides cover Florida and Washington so far. See the sprinkler fitter guides

Sources

  1. The licensing boards and agencies listed in each trade's guide: who issues the license
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: median pay and jobs

Pay and jobs: median pay counts every worker in the trade on a payroll in the state, from first-year apprentices to masters, so it isn't what an apprentice earns. Jobs counts filled positions on payrolls. Someone with 2 jobs counts twice, and the self-employed aren't in it.

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