Idaho electrician license: levels, hours, reciprocity, pay

An Idaho journeyman electrician license takes 8,000 hours as a registered apprentice plus a four-year instruction sequence, or 16,000 hours of electrical experience, and then a PSI exam. Idaho can license journeymen from states with equal standards without the written test. The median Idaho electrician made $30.29 an hour in May 2025, per BLS.

Everything below is as of 2026, from the Idaho Electrical Board under the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL), Idaho Code 54-1007 and the board's rules, IDAPA 24.39.10. Idaho is changing its renewal cycle this fall, so confirm with the board before you file. For other states, see our electrician license requirements in every state.

01Idaho license facts at a glance

02Which electrician licenses does Idaho issue?

Idaho licenses electricians statewide. Its rules and fee table cover apprentice, residential electrician, journeyman, provisional journeyman, master, limited installer, limited trainee, electrical contractor and limited electrical contractor.

The residential card takes 4,000 hours plus a two-year instruction sequence and an exam. A master takes at least 4 years as a licensed journeyman plus the hours the board sets, per Idaho Code 54-1007. A master gets a journeyman license at no extra cost.

Apprentices register with DOPL for $15 a year. Apprentices, trainees and provisional journeymen work only under the "constant on-the-job supervision" of a licensed electrician.

03How do you qualify for the journeyman exam?

There are two roads, and Rule 100.02 spells out both.

1. Apprentice route. At least 8,000 hours as an apprentice making electrical installations, plus a four-year sequence of instruction approved by Idaho Career-Technical Education. Idaho Code 54-1007 also says you must have been registered with DOPL as an apprentice for all the apprentice time you claim.
2. Experience route. Proof of 16,000 hours of electrical experience, counted under the rules of the place where you earned it.

Some work doesn't count toward either one:

• Appliance repair, motor winding and communications work don't count.
• No more than 2,000 hours from work as a limited installer or limited trainee can count.
• On the apprentice route, hours worked while your registration had lapsed don't count. The registration is a 1-year card, so renew it every year.

The provisional journeyman card

If you have the 16,000 hours but haven't passed the test, Idaho can issue a provisional journeyman license. It runs 6 months and costs $55, per the board's fee table. You work under supervision while you hold it. Pass the exam and you move up to the full journeyman license.

Do the math on the experience route before you lean on it. 16,000 hours is 8 years at 2,000 hours a year (our math). An apprentice who finishes school with 8,000 hours gets there in about half the time. Our guide on how to get a journeyman license compares apprenticeship and experience routes across states.

04What's the Idaho exam like?

Idaho exams run through PSI, per the board's program and exam page. You bring your own references to the test center.

• The DOPL Contractors' Business and Law Reference Manual must be printed, hole-punched and in a three-ring binder before exam day.
• You can highlight, underline and permanently tab your references before the exam. No writing during the session.
• No extra papers or temporary markers like Post-its. They get confiscated.

PSI's candidate bulletin has the content outline once you pick your exam. Our journeyman electrician exam guide covers how to prep for a code test where you bring the book.

05Does Idaho have reciprocity?

Yes, by agreement. Idaho Code 54-1007 lets the administrator enter reciprocal agreements with states whose qualifications are "at least equal" to Idaho's. Electricians licensed in those states can get an Idaho license without the written exam.

DOPL doesn't post the list on the pages we read, so ask the board which states are current. Other boards help fill in the picture. Arkansas's Board of Electrical Examiners lists Idaho on its reciprocal agreement lists. Secondary sources also group Idaho with the National Electrical Reciprocal Alliance (NERA) states. [Secondary, confirm the current list with the board]

Look at both sides of every deal. Reciprocity often runs one way, so check the board where you're going, not the one you're leaving. The Montana electrician license guide covers a neighboring board, and our reciprocity guide explains how these agreements work.

06Code, fees and the 2026 renewal change

Idaho enforces the 2023 NEC with Idaho amendments, in Rule 600 of IDAPA 24.39.10. A few amendments change GFCI rules in Section 210.8(A), including dropping the reference to 250-volt receptacles. Read the Idaho amendments before you wire a house there.

Fees from the board's table: journeyman $55 to license, $45 to renew, on a 3-year term. Master $65. Contractor $125 a year. That's changing. DOPL says that "On October 30, 2026, big changes are on the way," and it's moving the Electrical Board to biennial licensure. Check the board's news page for how your renewal date and fee shift. CE hours under the new two-year cycle weren't posted on the pages we read. [Confirm with the board]

07What does an Idaho electrician make?

The median Idaho electrician made $30.29 an hour in May 2025, right at the national median of $30.38. These are BLS OEWS straight-time wages for all electricians, apprentices included. They leave out overtime, per diem and benefits, and they're market data, not what any one contractor will pay you.

Boise has the most electricians but not the highest median. The southeast-central nonmetro area beat it by $5.48 an hour (our math: $35.10 minus $29.62).

The bigger number is next door. The Washington state median was $45.78 and Oregon's was $48.71, same survey. That's $15.49 and $18.42 an hour over Idaho's median (our math). If you live near a state line, the Washington electrician license guide and the Oregon electrician license guide cover what it takes to work there.

Run your Pay Check to see what electricians with your license make near you. Takes about a minute and your boss never hears about it.

08If you're traveling in

For travel work in Boise, the GSA's FY2027 rate for Ada County is $176 to $201 a night for lodging, depending on the season, plus $86 a day for meals, per GSA per diem rates. It's a yardstick, not a rule any contractor has to follow. Ask whether per diem is daily or weekly and whether it runs 7 days.

If your card is from another state, get the reciprocity answer from DOPL before you take the job, not after. A license in hand is what puts you on the tools day one.

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