None. Your county issues it.
The C-2 contractor license for the business
$73,570 a year, about $35.37 an hour
Nevada has casinos and hotels that never fully close, data centers and battery plants outside Reno, warehouses along the I-15 corridor, and solar across the southern desert. Air conditioning alone keeps a lot of electricians busy.
Day to day:
If you have been searching for a Nevada journeyman electrician license, the state does not issue one. The Nevada State Contractors Board licenses contracting businesses, not individual electricians.
Journeyman and master cards come from counties. Clark County runs the largest program, Reno and Washoe County run their own, and what each requires is determined locally.
Clark County covers Las Vegas and most of Nevada’s electrical workforce, so it is a useful example to calibrate against. It certifies at two levels:
Both are earned by examination through the International Code Council, delivered at Pearson VUE test centers. Clark County also certifies master electricians by exam. Cards are valid for three years, and renewing takes 18 hours of instruction.
Reno and Washoe County run their own certification with their own numbers. Call the building department where you plan to work and ask what they certify, how many hours they want, and whether they accept a card from another Nevada county.
Get hired first. Every county route counts hours worked under a licensed contractor, so the job is what starts the clock.
SkillUp houses short, low-cost programs in one place so you’re not calling around. Our Nevada training catalog only lists programs we have checked for cost, length, and whether they lead to work.
Nevada employs about 8,350 electricians, and the median is $73,570 a year, or $35.37 an hour.
The C-2 Electrical classification comes from the Nevada State Contractors Board, and it goes to a business with a qualifying individual behind it.
The board sets a bond anywhere from $1,000 to $500,000 depending on your finances, experience, and the size of work you want to take on. And every Nevada license carries a monetary limit, a cap on the value of any single contract, set from your financial statement.
Nevada exempts minor repair and maintenance work under $1,000, including labor and materials, from needing a contractor license. However, that exemption does not cover electrical work.
The board states it directly in its FAQ: the exemption applies only if the job needs no building permit and does not involve work performed by a plumbing, electrical, refrigeration, heating, or air conditioning contractor. Electrical is named in the carve-out.
So a $400 electrical job still needs a licensed contractor, even though a $400 painting job would not. You can check whether a contractor is licensed before taking work with them through the board’s license lookup.
Nevada does not recognize out-of-state contractor licenses outright. It does have arrangements with some neighboring states that recognize experience and can remove the trade exam, though you still complete the Nevada application and the business and law exam.
For working as an electrician rather than contracting, you are back to the county, and county certification is by examination regardless of where you trained.
SkillUp is so much more than a job board. Our free tools support you through each step:
Not from the state. The Nevada State Contractors Board licenses contracting businesses, not individual electricians. Journeyman and master cards come from counties, with Clark County running the largest program.
You need county certification to work at journeyman level, and you need to work for a licensed contractor. Check with the building department where you plan to work, since each county sets its own conditions.
In Clark County, 6,000 hours for a residential journeyman card and 8,000 hours for a general journeyman card, which is about three and four years. Other counties set their own figures.
Yes. Nevada exempts minor repair and maintenance under $1,000 from contractor licensing, but the board’s own rule excludes electrical work from that exemption. A small electrical job still needs a licensed contractor.
The electrical classification of the state contractor license. It goes to a business with a qualifying individual who has four years of experience at journeyman level or above, and it takes two exams, a bond, and a financial statement.
A cap on the value of any single contract the licensed business can take, set by the board from your financial statement. It is separate from the bond and it limits the size of job you can bid.
Nevada does not accept out-of-state contractor licenses outright. Arrangements with some neighboring states can recognize experience and remove the trade exam, so ask the board which apply to you before assuming.
The median is $73,570 a year, about $35.37 an hour. The top quarter earns above $96,550, and the top ten percent above $121,200. Helpers have a median of $44,140.
