How to become an electrician in Illinois

The path in Illinois, step by step

There is no state electrical license in Illinois. Each city may require electrical contractors to register. If you are registered in one Illinois city, another city cannot make you register or pay its fee again. Chicago requires its own electrical contractor license for work under the Chicago Electrical Code. The training is the same as anywhere: learn the trade under someone experienced, ideally in a registered apprenticeship.

1. Ask the city or county where you will work whether it requires electrical contractor registration or a license.
2. Register as an electrical contractor in one Illinois city that requires it.
3. Use that registration in other cities instead of registering again.
4. If you work in Chicago, get a City of Chicago electrical contractor license from the Department of Buildings.

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

Finding an apprenticeship in Illinois

Illinois 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 Illinois 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.

Licenses and exams around Illinois

The license to aim for: None at state level.

What the Illinois license costs

The fees the No state board. Cities and villages license or register electrical contractors. lists. Exam fees from a testing company, insurance and any bond come on top.

What electricians earn in Illinois

The median electrician in Illinois earned $47.87 an hour in May 2025, 2nd of 51 states, with 23,120 on payrolls. The national median was $30.38.

At the bottom of the range, a quarter of electricians in Illinois earned under $35.35 an hour and a tenth under $23.67. At the top, a quarter earned over $56.47 and a tenth over $59.45.

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

Jobs ahead in Illinois

Illinois's labor market office projects jobs for electricians growing from 21,300 in 2022 to 22,820 in 2032, a change of 7.1%. Counting people who retire or change careers, that is about 2,070 openings a year.

Jobs are projected to grow 7.1% from 2022 to 2032, about the same as the 6.5% projected nationally, ranking 42nd 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 Illinois

Each city may require electrical contractors to register. If you are registered in one Illinois city, another city cannot make you register or pay its fee again. Chicago requires its own electrical contractor license for work under the Chicago Electrical Code.

Pricing comes next. Paying yourself the Illinois median of $47.87 an hour, the labor rate calculator's starting numbers (one person, 2 unbilled hours a day, $90,000 of overhead, 15% profit) come to $154.66 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.