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Class I or Class II, four years of experience
$58,320 a year, about $28.04 an hour
Georgia has been building the kind of things that need a lot of power. Data centers around metro Atlanta, electric vehicle and battery plants, film and television production stages, warehouses feeding the Port of Savannah, and housing across a metro that keeps expanding outward.
Day to day:
If you have been looking for a Georgia journeyman electrician license, there isn’t one. There’s no master license either. The Georgia State Board of Electrical Contractors, which sits under the Secretary of State, licenses electrical contractors and nothing below that.
The Independent Electrical Contractors chapter in Atlanta puts it plainly: there is no journeyman licensing phase in Georgia, and electricians work under the license of an electrical contractor.
Apprenticeship programs run by IBEW, IEC, and ABC do award journeyman certificates when you finish. Those are worth having, and employers know what they mean. They are program credentials, though, not state licenses, so don’t expect a state agency to have any record of yours.
No state license, no registration, no fee at the door. You get hired by a licensed electrical contractor, you work under their license, and you get paid while you learn. Georgia is one of the easier states in the country to enter this trade.
Make sure your employer holds a current license. More on why in a moment, but it decides whether the years you are about to work count for anything later.
SkillUp houses short, low-cost programs in one place so you’re not calling around. Our Georgia training catalog only lists programs we have checked for cost, length, and whether they lead to work.
Georgia employs about 21,650 electricians, and the median is $58,320 a year, or $28.04 an hour.
This is the only electrical license Georgia issues, and it’s what lets you pull permits, bid work, and run your own jobs. Two classes:
Both classes require four years of experience, and both require you to be at least 21. That age floor is higher than most states, so if you start at 18, you will have the hours before you have the birthday.
Keep in mind that your experience only counts if it was gained under a licensed electrical contractor, and the application makes you name the qualifying licensee and their license number for each stretch of work.
You also need three references with notarized original signatures, at least one from a licensed electrical contractor. Copies get rejected. The Board reviews and approves your application before you can schedule the exam, which is open-book and administered by PSI.
The Board can administer the exam orally if you ask in writing and it approves the request before scheduling. If reading under time pressure is a barrier for you, that option is available.
Georgia does not grant automatic reciprocity. The Board may waive the exam for an applicant holding an equivalent license from a state with comparable standards, but that is a case-by-case review rather than a standing agreement, so ask before you assume.
If you’re moving between Georgia and Alabama, Alabama used to accept Georgia electrical contractor licenses reciprocally and has ended that arrangement, including for applications that were already pending. Several licensing sites have not caught up. Check both boards directly.
SkillUp is so much more than a job board. Our free tools support you through each step:
No. Georgia issues no journeyman or master electrician license. The Georgia State Board of Electrical Contractors licenses electrical contractors only, and everyone else works under a contractor’s license.
No. You can work as an electrician or apprentice with no state license, as long as you are working under a licensed electrical contractor. You need a license only to contract for work yourself.
Class I is restricted to single-phase installations up to 200 amperes at the service drop or lateral. Class II is unrestricted and covers any system, but it requires experience across all the Board’s primary areas plus work above single-phase 400 amperes.
Four years of qualifying experience, and you have to be at least 21. Up to one year can come from secondary experience or education, credited at half rate.
No. Georgia only counts experience gained under a licensed electrical contractor, and the application asks you to name the qualifying licensee and license number. Check your employer’s license early rather than late.
Not automatically. The Board may waive the exam for holders of equivalent out-of-state licenses, case by case. Alabama has ended its reciprocal recognition of Georgia licenses, so check both boards if you work across that line.
The median is $58,320 a year, about $28.04 an hour. The top quarter earns above $76,490, and the top ten percent above $84,000. Helpers have a median of $39,030.
The Board can administer it orally, but you have to request that in writing and get approval before the exam is scheduled. It is not something you can arrange on the day.
