An approved apprenticeship registered with the state
8,000 hours of experience plus 576 classroom hours
$101,310 a year, about $48.71 an hour
Oregon has semiconductor fabrication west of Portland, data centers along the Columbia, hospitals and universities through the valley, wind and hydro generation, and steady commercial building. Day to day:
Most states let you assemble hours and then apply. Oregon does not. The state license directory gives two ways to qualify for a general journeyman license, and only one of them is available to someone already in Oregon:
Route two is for people arriving with experience from elsewhere. If you're starting in Oregon, the apprenticeship is the path, and hours picked up informally will not get you a license.
Apprenticeship hours are registered through the Bureau of Labor and Industries, not the licensing agency. Your supervising electrician signs off your hours, and your employer reports them. Keep your own copies as well, because the two records need to agree when you apply.
You'll need to get into a registered apprenticeship. You can find them through:
SkillUp houses short, low-cost programs in one place so you’re not calling around. Our Oregon training catalog only lists programs we have checked for cost, length, and whether they lead to work.
Oregon employs about 10,590 electricians, and the median is $101,310 a year, or $48.71 an hour.
Oregon issues twelve individual electrician licenses, split between general licenses with a broad scope and limited licenses covering one kind of work.
The general journeyman is what most people are after. It lets you make electrical installations under the direction of a general supervising electrician, and it's the step before running your own crew.
The limited classes cover things like residential, maintenance, signs, stage work, and renewable energy. Several of them take fewer hours than the general license, and some can be applied for at 17, though you have to be 18 to be registered.
The exam is 52 questions over three hours, and it's open-book. The division sends an approved materials list once your application clears.
Bring official transcripts showing 576 classroom hours and verification of 8,000 hours of on-the-job experience earned outside Oregon, and you can qualify for the general journeyman exam without repeating an Oregon apprenticeship.
Apprenticeships completed elsewhere can also count if the program was sanctioned by a state or federal apprenticeship authority and is comparable to Oregon’s. Bring the completion certificate along with your transcripts.
SkillUp is so much more than a job board. Our free tools support you through each step:
If you are starting in Oregon, yes. The Building Codes Division qualifies general journeyman applicants either by completion of an approved Oregon apprenticeship or by 576 classroom hours plus 8,000 hours of experience obtained outside Oregon. Informally accumulated in-state hours do not qualify.
About four to five years. An approved apprenticeship covers 8,000 hours of on-the-job work alongside 576 hours of classroom training, and you are paid throughout.
The Building Codes Division issues the license. The Bureau of Labor and Industries registers your apprenticeship and holds your hours, and the Construction Contractors Board licenses the business if you go on to run one.
52 questions over three hours, open book. The division provides a list of approved exam materials once your application is approved.
Every three years on October 1, for $100, with 24 hours of continuing education across the cycle. The division mails a renewal notice about six weeks beforehand.
Some of Oregon’s limited license classes can be applied for at 17, though you have to be 18 to be registered. You also need a high school diploma, GED, or international equivalent.
Yes. Transcripts for 576 classroom hours plus verification of 8,000 hours worked outside Oregon qualify you for the general journeyman exam. An apprenticeship completed under a state or federal authority elsewhere can also count if it is comparable to Oregon’s.
The median is $101,310 a year, about $48.71 an hour, the highest of any state we have covered. The top quarter earns above $121,680, and the bottom ten percent still earn $59,550.
