How to become an electrician in Oregon

The path in Oregon, step by step

Oregon licenses electrical work at the state level through the Oregon Building Codes Division (BCD), with a Construction Contractors Board license. These are the steps it lays out, in order.

1. Complete an Oregon electrical apprenticeship or document equivalent hours.
2. Pass the journeyman exam, then add 8,000 hours and pass the supervising electrician exam.
3. Get a Construction Contractors Board license for the business.
4. Apply to the Building Codes Division for the Electrical Contractor license and designate a signing supervisor.
5. Renew on the license cycle and keep up continuing education.

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

Finding an apprenticeship in Oregon

Oregon 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 Oregon 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 Oregon

The license to aim for: Electrical Contractor (C) license.

Trade exam. Yes. Supervising electrician: 4 hour, 64 question open book exam. Journeyman: 3 hour, 52 question open book exam. Passing is 75 percent.

Keeping it. Licenses run on set cycles. All C licenses next renew July 1, 2029, S licenses Oct. 1, 2028 and J licenses Oct. 1, 2027. Many licenses need continuing education to renew.

Coming from another state. General supervising electrician reciprocity with Arkansas and Utah. Journeyman reciprocity with Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

What electricians earn in Oregon

The median electrician in Oregon earned $48.71 an hour in May 2025, the highest median of any state, with 10,590 on payrolls. The national median was $30.38.

At the bottom of the range, a quarter of electricians in Oregon earned under $38.03 an hour and a tenth under $28.63. At the top, a quarter earned over $58.50 and a tenth over $63.24.

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

Jobs ahead in Oregon

Oregon's labor market office projects jobs for electricians growing from 11,190 in 2022 to 13,430 in 2032, a change of 20%. Counting people who retire or change careers, that is about 1,300 openings a year.

Jobs are projected to grow 20% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the 6.5% projected nationally, ranking 6th 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 Oregon

To contract on your own in Oregon, the license is the Electrical Contractor (C) license.

Pricing comes next. Paying yourself the Oregon median of $48.71 an hour, the labor rate calculator's starting numbers (one person, 2 unbilled hours a day, $90,000 of overhead, 15% profit) come to $156.13 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.