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Obtain an apprentice license from the state
Four years of school plus supervised hours
$62,000 a year, about $29.81 an hour
Utah has data centers and tech campuses along the Wasatch Front, mining and processing in the west, hospitals and universities in Salt Lake City and Provo, and housing going up fast. Day to day:
Utah licenses apprentice electricians, which several neighboring states do not. You apply to the Division of Professional Licensing before you legally start logging hours under a journeyman or master.
So the order is license, then job, then hours. Work done before the apprentice license exists is work you cannot count, and doing electrical work for hire without a license in Utah brings fines, citations, and possible misdemeanor charges.
Five classifications sit above it: journeyman, master, residential journeyman, and residential master, plus the contractor licenses that go to businesses.
Get the apprentice license, then the job.
Utah employs about 11,450 electricians, and the median is $62,000 a year, or $29.81 an hour.
Utah's commerce department sets out several ways to qualify, and the gap between them is enormous:
Utah runs a competency-based licensing route for people who already have relevant work behind them, which is unusual and worth using if it fits.
You submit transcripts, diplomas, or letters of reference documenting what you have done. If the division finds gaps, you may be able to close them with coursework at an approved institution. And if your documentation supports it, the division may decide you qualify for a shortened apprenticeship period rather than the full four years.
That matters for anyone arriving with military electrical work, out-of-state experience, or field time that never got formally credited.
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Yes. Utah licenses apprentice electricians, unlike several neighboring states, and you apply through the Division of Professional Licensing before you legally start logging hours. Work done before the license exists does not count.
Four years on the standard route: an apprenticeship education program with at least 576 classroom hours plus supervised hours as a licensed apprentice. An electrical engineering degree cuts the work to 2,000 hours.
The division publishes two figures on its own pages, 6,000 on the exam information page and 8,000 on the applicants page. A third document suggests 6,000 qualifies you to test and 8,000 to be licensed. Plan for 8,000 and confirm your own number with the division.
Yes, but it is long. 16,000 hours as a licensed apprentice, roughly eight years, with no schooling at all. Most people take the four-year apprenticeship instead.
A licensed trade covering residential work, reached through a two-year program with at least 288 classroom hours plus 3,000 hours of residential experience as a licensed apprentice.
Considerably. A bachelor’s or master’s in electrical engineering with EAC or ABET accreditation, plus 2,000 hours as a licensed apprentice, qualifies you for the journeyman exam.
Utah runs a competency-based licensing route. You submit transcripts, diplomas, or reference letters, and the division may determine you qualify for a shortened apprenticeship period.
The median is $62,000 a year, about $29.81 an hour. The top quarter earns above $79,310, and the top ten percent above $89,110. Helpers have a median of $43,250.
