Electrician License Reciprocity by State (2026)
Last verified: 2026-07-21
25 states run NERA-style journeyman reciprocity, each with its own bilateral partner list; 3 recognize a journeyman license from any state; 5 take out-of-state electricians case by case through endorsement; 2 require a full application and their own exam; 16 issue no statewide electrician license at all (city or county only). The map below is complete as of 2026-07-21, verified against each state's electrical board rather than aggregator lists.
Check your exact transfer pathway
Pathway, requirements, fees, and board links for your specific state pair.
The pathways, applied to electrician
NERA journeyman reciprocity
The alliance is the backbone of electrician portability. A member state waives its journeyman exam for an electrician who qualified by exam in another member state, held the license at least a year, and meets the experience-hour minimum. Membership is not a blanket pass, though — each member keeps its own partner list, so what matters is whether the destination names your origin state specifically. Grandfathered, non-exam licenses are generally excluded.
Licensure by endorsement
Where no NERA list covers you — or where you hold a master license — states fall back to endorsement: the board reviews your license and experience individually and decides what, if anything, it will waive. It resembles reciprocity on paper but offers less certainty, and it is the usual route for master electricians, whose experience minimums run higher. Get any exam waiver or experience credit confirmed by the board in writing.
Full application and state exam
Some states recognize no outside electrician license and treat every applicant as new. Your out-of-state hours generally still count toward the experience minimum, but you sit the state's exam. The honest playbook is to pull the board's current requirements early, document your hours, and treat your years on the job as a study advantage rather than a credential that transfers.
No statewide license (municipal licensing)
New York, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, and Kansas are the clearest cases: there is no state journeyman or master license to transfer, because licensing lives with city and county building departments (Missouri licenses electrical contractors statewide, but not individual journeymen or masters). Your move is governed by the local authority for your jobsite — its exam, its fee, its rules — not a state board.
This site's grids track the journeyman license, the credential NERA is built around. Master electricians generally move by endorsement rather than reciprocity and face higher experience minimums (commonly around 10,000 hours); where a state issues a master license, its specifics are noted on that state's page and on the board's site.
NERA membership and each member's partner list change, and the popular aggregator maps are frequently wrong. Every count here carries the date we last verified it against the state electrical board — confirm current status there before you rely on it.
The master matrix: every state by pathway
| Pathway (as destination) | States |
|---|---|
| Reciprocity (named partners)(25) | Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming |
| Full reciprocity — honors all states(3) | Alaska, Vermont, West Virginia |
| Full re-application required(2) | Arizona, Hawaii |
| No reciprocity offered(16) | California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee |
| Licensure by endorsement(5) | Delaware, Georgia, Montana, New Jersey, Utah |
Fees & timelines: the spread
Highest verified application fees
- Alabama$35–$315
- Massachusetts$208–$310
- Alaska$250
- North Carolina$100–$200
- Wisconsin$100–$200
Processing times range from ~1 weeks (Wyoming) to ~3 weeks (West Virginia) — where a board publishes no timeframe, the state page says so honestly instead of guessing.
Frequently asked questions
How does electrician license reciprocity work in 2026?
25 states run NERA-style journeyman reciprocity, each with its own bilateral partner list; 3 recognize a journeyman license from any state; 5 take out-of-state electricians case by case through endorsement; 2 require a full application and their own exam; 16 issue no statewide electrician license at all (city or county only). The map below is complete as of 2026-07-21, verified against each state's electrical board rather than aggregator lists.
Which states participate in NERA journeyman reciprocity?
Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming publish journeyman reciprocity lists as of 2026-07-21. Because NERA membership is bilateral, each of these states names its own partner states — being on the alliance is not a blanket pass, so check that your destination lists your origin state specifically.
Which states have no statewide electrician license?
California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee issue no statewide journeyman or master license as of 2026-07-21 — electricians are licensed by city or county building departments instead, so there is no state credential to transfer in or out.
Does NERA reciprocity cover master electricians?
No. NERA is built around the journeyman license. Master electricians usually move by ordinary licensure by endorsement, which reviews the master license and its higher experience minimum separately — this site's grids track the journeyman path.
Is a grandfathered (non-exam) license eligible for reciprocity?
Generally not. NERA waivers require that your original license came from a state-administered exam; a license you were grandfathered into without testing is usually excluded, even from a partner state.
Why do online electrician reciprocity lists disagree so much?
Because NERA lists are bilateral and differ between members, aggregator maps flatten and inflate them into a single 'reciprocity' count. Every list on this site is verified against the destination state's electrical board and NERA, and carries the date it was last confirmed.
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-07-21
How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]