How to become an electrician in Arkansas

The path in Arkansas, step by step

Arkansas licenses electrical work at the state level through the Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners, Department of Labor and Licensing. These are the steps it lays out, in order.

1. Register as an electrical apprentice and work under a master or journeyman.
2. Qualify for and pass the journeyman exam.
3. Work at least two years as a licensed journeyman within six years of construction experience.
4. Apply for and pass the master electrician exam.
5. Pay the license fee and renew every year with code-cycle continuing education.

The full license guide, with every fee and form: electrical license in Arkansas.

Finding an apprenticeship in Arkansas

Arkansas has no recognized State Apprenticeship Agency, so the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship registers and oversees programs there through a state field office. Apprenticeship.gov lists the Arkansas Apprenticeship Office as the contact.

Either way, a registered program means paid work with a mentor, raises as you progress, classroom instruction and a credential recognized in every state. Search open spots in the Apprenticeship Job Finder.

Across the country. Most electricians learn the trade in a 4 or 5 year apprenticeship. Each year brings about 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training plus some classroom instruction.

License levels and exams in Arkansas

The license to aim for: Master Electrician license.

Trade exam. Yes. A state exam for each license class.

Keeping it. Every year. Master and journeyman licensees complete at least 8 hours of continuing education in the first year of each new National Electrical Code cycle.

Coming from another state. Arkansas has journeyman and master reciprocal agreements with listed states. It only reciprocates an original license, and most master licenses from the list convert to a journeyman license, except Oregon and North Dakota.

What the Arkansas license costs

The fees the Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners, Department of Labor and Licensing lists. Exam fees from a testing company, insurance and any bond come on top.

What electricians earn in Arkansas

The median electrician in Arkansas earned $23.59 an hour in May 2025, the lowest median of 51 states, with 7,500 on payrolls. The national median was $30.38.

At the bottom of the range, a quarter of electricians in Arkansas earned under $18.54 an hour and a tenth under $16.79. At the top, a quarter earned over $29.99 and a tenth over $35.80.

Every state, the neighbors and what a business should charge: electrician salary in Arkansas.

Jobs ahead in Arkansas

Arkansas's labor market office projects jobs for electricians growing from 8,340 in 2022 to 9,210 in 2032, a change of 10.4%. Counting people who retire or change careers, that is about 850 openings a year.

Jobs are projected to grow 10.4% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the 6.5% projected nationally, ranking 33rd of the 50 states in the file.

These are the state's own long-term projections, published together on Projections Central for the occupation group electricians.

Starting your own electrician business in Arkansas

To contract on your own in Arkansas, the license is the Master Electrician license.

Pricing comes next. Paying yourself the Arkansas median of $23.59 an hour, the labor rate calculator's starting numbers (one person, 2 unbilled hours a day, $90,000 of overhead, 15% profit) come to $112.02 per billable hour. Try your own in the electrician labor rate calculator.

The full checklist is in how to start an electrical business. The free Koira Office plan gives you a website on a Koira address, estimates customers sign with a deposit, invoices with card payments and your day's jobs in one place, with no per-person fee. See the plans.