Electrical License Reciprocity by State (2026)
24 states publish a journeyman reciprocity partner list (through NERA or a board's own bilateral agreements), each list its own; 3 recognize a journeyman license from any state; 1 (New Hampshire) licenses journeymen by endorsement from a published list of states it deems equivalent; 5 take out-of-state electricians case by case through endorsement; 5 license journeymen statewide but require a full application and their own exam; 13 issue no statewide journeyman or master license at all (individual licensing is local, if any). 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 partner list covers you — or where you hold a master license and the board keeps no master list covering your state — 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)
13 states (Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee) issue no state journeyman or master license to transfer: individual electricians there are licensed by city and county building departments where they are licensed at all, and some of these states license only electrical contractors statewide. 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 move on separate terms — a board's own master reciprocity list where it keeps one, otherwise individual review — and face higher experience minimums than journeymen; 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 with 1 state(24) | Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, 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 |
| No statewide license(13) | Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee |
| No reciprocity offered(4) | California, Connecticut, Michigan, Rhode Island |
| Licensure by endorsement(6) | Delaware, Georgia, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Utah |
| Full re-application required(1) | Hawaii |
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 week (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?
24 states publish a journeyman reciprocity partner list (through NERA or a board's own bilateral agreements), each list its own; 3 recognize a journeyman license from any state; 1 (New Hampshire) licenses journeymen by endorsement from a published list of states it deems equivalent; 5 take out-of-state electricians case by case through endorsement; 5 license journeymen statewide but require a full application and their own exam; 13 issue no statewide journeyman or master license at all (individual licensing is local, if any). The map below is complete as of 2026-07-21, verified against each state's electrical board rather than aggregator lists.
Which states have journeyman electrician reciprocity lists?
Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, 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, some through NERA and some under a board's own bilateral agreements. Either way each of these states names its own partner states — being on a list is not a blanket pass, so check that your destination lists your origin state specifically.
Which states have no statewide journeyman electrician license?
Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee issue no statewide journeyman or master electrician license as of 2026-07-21 — individual electricians are licensed by cities or counties where they are licensed at all, so there is no state journeyman credential to transfer in or out. Where one of these states licenses anything statewide, it is the electrical contractor (the business), a separate credential; each state page says which.
Does NERA reciprocity cover master electricians?
No. NERA is built around the journeyman license. Master licenses move on separate terms: some boards keep their own master reciprocity lists (often shorter than the journeyman list), and others review the master license and its higher experience minimum individually. 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 the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-10-29
How we verify · All sources · Corrections log · spot an error? hello@licensereciprocity.com