How to become an electrician in Delaware

The path in Delaware, step by step

Delaware licenses electrical work at the state level through the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Electrical Examiners. These are the steps it lays out, in order.

1. Finish an approved apprenticeship, or build six years of full time experience under a licensed electrician (or four years plus two years of technical training).
2. Create a DELPROS account, apply for the Master license and pay the $203 fee.
3. Have each employer send a Verification of Employment form directly to the board at least 45 days before your test date.
4. After board approval, schedule and pass the ProV exam with at least 75 percent.
5. Send proof of general liability insurance of at least $300,000 so the license can be issued.
6. Get a Delaware business license from the Division of Revenue, and renew every two years with your continuing education.

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

Finding an apprenticeship in Delaware

Delaware runs Registered Apprenticeship through its own State Apprenticeship Agency, recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor to register and oversee programs there. Its staff are state employees, and it may use the federal paperwork or forms of its own. Apprenticeship.gov lists the Delaware State Apprenticeship Agency 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 Delaware

The license to aim for: Master Electrician.

Trade exam. Yes. The board must approve you to sit for the exam. Exams are given by ProV and based on the National Electrical Code adopted in Delaware. You need at least 75 percent to pass.

Keeping it. Every two years, with each licensure period ending June 30 of an even numbered year. Active Master and Limited electricians need 10 hours of approved continuing education per full period, 5 of them on the National Electrical Code starting with the second renewal. Late renewals add 50 percent.

Coming from another state. Holders of a license from Maryland or New Jersey do not need to prove experience. Applicants licensed in many other states, including Florida, Georgia, Virginia and DC, need five years of experience after licensure.

What the Delaware license costs

The fees the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Electrical Examiners lists. Exam fees from a testing company, insurance and any bond come on top.

What electricians earn in Delaware

The median electrician in Delaware earned $30.63 an hour in May 2025, 28th of 51 states, with 2,260 on payrolls. The national median was $30.38.

At the bottom of the range, a quarter of electricians in Delaware earned under $23.10 an hour and a tenth under $18.40. At the top, a quarter earned over $43.52 and a tenth over $50.64.

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

Jobs ahead in Delaware

Delaware's labor market office projects jobs for electricians growing from 2,330 in 2022 to 2,630 in 2032, a change of 12.9%. Counting people who retire or change careers, that is about 250 openings a year.

Jobs are projected to grow 12.9% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the 6.5% projected nationally, ranking 25th 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 Delaware

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

Insurance. Master and Limited electricians must show general liability insurance of at least $300,000. You can take the exam first, but the license is not issued until proof arrives.

Pricing comes next. Paying yourself the Delaware median of $30.63 an hour, the labor rate calculator's starting numbers (one person, 2 unbilled hours a day, $90,000 of overhead, 15% profit) come to $124.38 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.