Pennsylvania electrician license: who licenses, local cards, pay

Pennsylvania has no statewide electrician license. As of 2026, no state board tests or cards journeymen; cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh license electrical work inside their own limits, and most of the state asks for no journeyman card at all. The median Pennsylvania electrician made $32.50 an hour in May 2025, per BLS.

Across most of the state, your experience is your card. Once the job sits inside a city that licenses, the city's rules decide. For how this compares with the rest of the country, see our electrician license requirements in every state.

01Pennsylvania license facts, as of 2026

Rows marked come from Mike Holt Enterprises' state page, an exam-prep company that tracks every board. Treat them as confirm-with-the-city.

02Do you need a license to work as a journeyman in Pennsylvania?

In most of the state, no. Pennsylvania's Department of Labor and Industry says local rules may cover "electrical contractors (or electricians)" and that the Commonwealth "has no jurisdiction in this matter." So a journeyman working for a contractor outside a licensing city usually carries no card at all.

Pennsylvania is one of several states with no statewide journeyman license, along with neighbors Ohio and New York. In those states the license that counts belongs to the contractor or the city, and the hand's proof is his work history.

Before you start inside city limits anywhere new, call the code office and ask:

1. Do you license electricians, or only electrical contractors?
2. Does a journeyman working for a licensed contractor need his own card or registration?
3. Which NEC edition are you enforcing right now?
4. Do you accept a license from another Pennsylvania city?

Write down who you talked to and the date.

03Philadelphia: the Electrical Contractor license

Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections issues an Electrical Contractor license. As of 2026, its license page lists no separate journeyman or master electrician license. The requirements:

• Experience: At least 4 years doing electrical work for a company licensed by a local or state jurisdiction. Two years of electrical schooling counts as one year of experience, for up to 2 years of credit.
• Proof: Tax records showing you worked for a licensed electrical contractor, or proof of a license from another jurisdiction, subject to L&I approval.
• Exam: The Philadelphia Electrical Contractor exam, administered by the International Code Council. You must apply within 12 months of passing, or the exam must reference the current Philadelphia code.
• Coursework: At least 8 hours on the current or later edition of NFPA 70 from a provider approved by Pennsylvania L&I, finished within 12 months before you apply.
• Insurance: $500,000 general liability per occurrence, $300,000 auto, and workers' comp at $100,000 each accident.
• Money: A $262 license fee ($60 of it is the non-refundable application fee) and a $202 renewal every year.

One newer rule: starting July 1, 2026, any permit application that includes an EV charger needs a contractor with EVITP certification on file. If your shop does charger work in the city, make sure that certification is on file before the permit goes in.

Full details are on the City of Philadelphia's Electrical Contractor license page. Confirm with L&I before you apply.

04Pittsburgh and the rest of the state

Pittsburgh's Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections issues its own electrical license. Its online pages didn't list the requirements when we checked, so what we have is secondary: Mike Holt reports 8 hours of CE a year for Pittsburgh electrical licenses. Call PLI at the City-County Building, 412-255-2621, for the current experience and exam rules.

Other cities and townships may license or register electrical contractors too. There's no statewide list, so the code office where the permit gets pulled is the only answer that counts.

05Can you take a Pennsylvania license to another state?

Mostly no, because other states don't see a Pennsylvania state license to accept. Delaware says it outright: Pennsylvania electrical licenses aren't issued by a state board, so if your only license comes from a Pennsylvania municipality or other local jurisdiction, you apply to Delaware by exam. Our Delaware electrician license guide covers that test.

South Dakota's reciprocity page puts Pennsylvania on its list of states with no state licenses, which is how most licensing boards will treat you.

So if you plan to work in New Jersey, Delaware or another licensing state, budget for that state's exam and paperwork. Our guide on electrician license reciprocity explains why a local card rarely travels.

06Your work history does the talking

With no state card, a Pennsylvania contractor checks you on the work. One national electrical contractor told us they kept getting "so-called journeymen that can't bend conduit." In their words, "They're basically laborers." In a no-card state, the interview is the license.

Keep a short list of the jobs you've run: the type of building, the gear, how big the service was, whether you ran the crew. A city license, OSHA 10 or 30 and an NFPA 70E card all help. Our list of what contractors check before they hire a journeyman shows what they'll ask for.

07What does a Pennsylvania electrician make?

The median Pennsylvania electrician made $32.50 an hour in May 2025, about $2 above the national median of $30.38, per BLS OEWS. These are 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.

The range is wide. The 90th percentile in Pennsylvania sat $37.03 above the 10th (our math), and the top 10% made $58.95 or more. Nationally that gap was $31.67. Reading and Harrisburg posted higher medians than Pittsburgh, and the Philadelphia metro's top 10% made $63.76 or more.

The statewide median annual wage was $67,600. Next door, the medians were $37.14 in New Jersey, $37.86 in New York and $31.11 in Ohio, same survey. Our journeyman electrician pay breakdown covers what moves a rate inside a range like that.

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.

FAQFAQs