Oregon electrician license: levels, hours, reciprocity, pay

An Oregon General Journeyman (J) electrician license takes an approved Oregon apprenticeship, or for out-of-state hands, 576 classroom hours plus 8,000 hours of work, then the state exam. Journeymen from seven reciprocal states can skip the test. Oregon had the highest median electrician wage of any state in May 2025, $48.71 an hour, per BLS.

Everything below is as of 2026, from the Oregon Building Codes Division (BCD), part of the Department of Consumer and Business Services. Where we lean on a secondary source, we say so. Rules change, so confirm with BCD before you file anything. To compare states, see electrician license requirements in every state.

01Oregon license facts at a glance

02Which licenses does Oregon issue?

Oregon licenses electricians statewide, so your card works anywhere in the state. The main individual licenses are the General Journeyman (J) and the General Supervising Electrician (S). Oregon also issues limited licenses, including Limited Residential, Limited Energy Technician and Limited Maintenance, each with its own scope.

The S is the license that runs work. Mike Holt Enterprises, an exam-prep company that tracks every board, quotes Oregon's rule calling the S "the only individual authorized to direct, supervise, or control the installation or alteration of an electrical service." It takes a J license plus 8,000 more hours of journeyman experience, per the same source. Confirm with BCD.

03How do you qualify for the J exam?

Most Oregon journeymen come up through an approved Oregon apprenticeship. If you learned the trade somewhere else, Oregon's rule (OAR 918-282-0170, as summarized by Mike Holt Enterprises) gives two other roads:

1. 576 plus 8,000. Official transcripts for 576 classroom hours, plus 8,000 hours of work outside Oregon with at least 1,000 each in residential, commercial and industrial.
2. 16,000 hours. Without the classroom hours, 16,000 hours of work with at least 2,000 each in residential, commercial and industrial.

The split is where commercial hands get stuck. Say you have 9,000 hours, all commercial and industrial. You clear the 8,000 but you're short 1,000 residential hours. A service call season or a few months of houses fixes it, but you need the hours on paper. Confirm the current rule with BCD before you count on either road.

04What's the Oregon exam like?

BCD mails a Letter of Authorization once your application is approved. It names your testing location and the books you can bring. Per the exam page:

• You have 60 days from the letter to take the exam.
• The passing score on every license exam is 75%.
• Results come by mail in about two weeks, never by phone.
• Fail, and you wait 30 days before you can retest.

Mike Holt Enterprises lists the J exam as open book, 52 questions in 3 hours, on the 2023 NEC. Note the code change. The 2026 Oregon Electrical Specialty Code, based on the 2026 NEC, took effect October 1, 2026. Ask BCD which edition your exam is on before you buy a book.

05Which states reciprocate with Oregon?

Oregon takes General Journeyman licenses from Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. For the Supervising license, the list is Arkansas and Utah. Per BCD's reciprocity page, you must have qualified for your home exam with:

• Four years of electrical apprenticeship education, at least 576 classroom hours.
• At least 8,000 hours over four years under a licensed journeyman's direct supervision.

Washington hands have one more rule. You need to have finished an Oregon or Washington apprenticeship and passed Washington's exam. Under that rule, a Washington card earned without an Oregon or Washington apprenticeship doesn't qualify. Our Washington electrician license guide covers that side.

Get the paperwork in before you take the job. If you're coming from Idaho, you're on the list. If you hold a California certification, you're not, so plan on testing. Our electrician license reciprocity guide covers the rest.

06CE and renewal

Oregon's CE page says licenses need 24, 16, 8, 4 or 0 hours each three-year cycle, depending on the specialty, and you can check your own number in your license record. Mike Holt Enterprises puts the J at 24 hours, with at least 8 code change and 4 Oregon rules and law, and the S at 24 with 12 code change and 4 rules and law. Licenses renew every three years by October 1, per the same source.

Per BCD's renewal page, you can renew online within 45 days of expiration, but your CE has to be in the system first. Let a license sit expired for more than a year and you retest.

07What does an Oregon electrician make?

The median Oregon electrician made $48.71 an hour in May 2025, the highest state median in the BLS data. 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.

Oregon had 10,590 electricians on payroll and a $101,310 median annual wage. Same survey, the medians next door were $45.78 in Washington, $36.62 in California and $30.29 in Idaho. That gap of more than $18 with Idaho is worth knowing if you live near the line, and our list of the highest paying states for electricians shows where else the money is.

For the union side, IBEW Local 48 in the Portland area lists a 2026 commercial and industrial journey-level wage of $65.50 gross, with $33.24 an hour in employer-paid fringes on top. Residential journey-level is $44.07 gross. The page doesn't give an effective date. Don't hold that against the Portland median directly: OEWS counts apprentices and open shop hands, and the dates differ. Our guide to union vs non-union electrician pay explains how to compare a package to an hourly rate.

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.

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