What does a trade license take in your state?
- J Journeyman Electrician 4 years
- M Master Electrician 5 years
Source checked 2026-10-20. Full Massachusetts electrician page: every level, source and fee
Four trades, 15 states, one source each
How the answer is built
Each trade and state pair on this site comes from one place: the licensing board's own web page, its application form, or the statute or rule that sets the requirement. The tool shows the top credential, the minimum time from the start of the trade to that credential, whether an exam is required, the fees the source prints and the reciprocity partners it names. Every figure links back to its source on the full state page, with the date it was read.
Time is counted the way the source counts it. Some states write requirements in hours (Texas journeyman electricians need 8,000 hours; Massachusetts journeyman plumbers 6,800), some in years (California's CSLB asks for 4 years of journeyman-level experience), and some in time held at the previous license (a Vermont master electrician needs 2 years as a journeyman). Where a source gives hours, the tool converts them to full-time years at 2,000 hours a year, the convention Georgia's licensing board prints on its application. Where a level depends on an earlier level whose time the source does not state, the answer is marked with a "+".
Some states do not license the trade at the individual level at all. Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island register home improvement or building contractors rather than testing them; Ohio's state board licenses commercial contractors only; California and Florida license the contracting business by classification. The tool says which kind of credential each state uses so a "yes" in one state and a "yes" in another are not mistaken for the same thing.
What is not here
New York is left out because its trade licenses are issued by cities and counties and no statewide source could be verified. Pennsylvania appears only for contractor registration and Illinois only for plumbing, and a few New England pairs (Maine and Vermont HVAC and general contractor, New Hampshire general contractor) are still to be verified. The methodology page lists every source and every exclusion. Nothing is filled in from other websites.
Start with a guide: how long the path to master takes in each state, how the exams work, what the fees add up to, reciprocity, or license versus registration.
General information, not legal advice. The state boards are the authority; confirm with them before applying.