Electrician School Cost by State: Tuition, Debt and Earnings

Electrician school cost by state: public tuition runs from $1,257 to $8,110 a year

At public colleges that award electrician credentials, the median 2025-26 in-state tuition and fees ranged from $1,257 in California to $8,110 in South Dakota. The national median across 292 public academic-year institutions was $4,291.

In the 2023-24 award year, 476 institutions in the 50 states and DC awarded 28,770 credentials in CIP 46.0302, the federal code for electrician programs (NCES IPEDS Completions). For the 292 public colleges among them that charge by the academic year, the median 2025-26 in-state tuition and fees was $4,291 (College Scorecard, 2026-10-15 release). This is the charge for a full academic year at the institution, not a price set for the electrician program alone.

South Dakota had the highest state median at $8,110 (4 institutions), followed by New York at $7,863 and New Hampshire at $7,500, where a single public institution sets the figure. California had the lowest median at $1,257 across 18 community colleges, followed by New Mexico at $2,322 and Arizona at $2,358. In 41 states at least one public academic-year institution reported a charge; the remaining 10 (Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia) had none, either because no public institution awarded the credential or because their public providers are clock-hour schools that price the whole program instead.

Program supply also varies. Nationally there were 228.9 electrician awards of one year or longer for every 10,000 employed electricians (awards from 2023-24, employment from BLS OEWS May 2025). New Jersey had 971.9, Connecticut 891.1 and Mississippi 756.4. Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, South Carolina and Vermont reported no electrician awards of one year or longer in 2023-24.

Electrician certificate graduates earned a national median of $44,469 one year after finishing

Across every Title IV electrician-field certificate program, 15,430 graduates working and not enrolled had median earnings of $44,469 one year after completion and $55,923 five years after (a different cohort). Associate degree graduates earned $55,611 and $71,513.

The College Scorecard field-of-study file reports earnings from federal tax records for graduates of CIP 46.03, electrical and power transmission installers (College Scorecard). Nationally, certificate graduates who completed in 2020-21 or 2021-22 had median earnings of $44,469 one year later, in 2024 dollars. The 25th percentile was $29,965 and the 75th percentile $61,571.

Graduates further out earned more. Certificate completers from 2016-17 or 2017-18 had median earnings of $55,923 five years after completion, and those from 2014-15 or 2015-16 $59,298 after seven years. Associate degree graduates earned $55,611 after one year, $71,513 after five and $69,642 after seven. For comparison, the median annual wage of all employed electricians was $63,190 in May 2025 (BLS); state wage medians are on our electrician salary by state page.

Debt is thinner. Scorecard reports median federal loan debt only for students who borrowed, and suppresses it where few did. Among 355 public certificate programs, debt was reported for 29; their median was $6,914, with an estimated monthly payment of $79 on a 10-year plan. Among 40 for-profit certificate programs, debt was reported for 34, with a median of $9,456.

By state, where at least 3 programs report one-year earnings, the median of program medians ranged from $66,735 in Nebraska (3 programs) to $37,378 in Florida (6 programs). Pennsylvania (17 programs) had $46,291 and California (12 programs) $46,921. Small program counts make these state figures fragile.

For-profit electrician programs cost 4.6 times the public price and graduates earn less

The median published price of a whole electrician program was $21,500 at for-profit schools and $4,657 at public clock-hour schools in 2023-24, a gap of $16,843. For-profit certificate graduates had higher median debt and lower median earnings.

Public institutions awarded 16,540 of the 28,770 electrician credentials in 2023-24 (57.5%), for-profit schools 11,210 (39.0%) and private nonprofits 1,020 (3.5%) (IPEDS).

IPEDS collects a whole-program price from clock-hour and credit-hour program schools for each of their six largest programs. For the electrician program, the 2023-24 median was $4,657 at 40 public schools, $16,375 at 7 private nonprofits and $21,500 at 76 for-profit schools. For-profit prices ranged from $10,000 to $39,182. Median books and supplies were $901 at public schools and $1,173 at for-profit schools.

Net price, the average annual cost after grants for first-time, full-time aided students at the whole institution, shows the same order: $7,377 at public institutions, $21,006 at private nonprofits and $28,609 at for-profit schools in 2024-25 (College Scorecard).

Outcomes run the other way. For certificate programs, the median of program median earnings one year after completion was $49,309 for public programs and $42,666 for for-profit programs, a gap of $6,643. Five years after, the medians were $63,353 and $53,332. Median debt was $6,914 and $9,456. That puts first-year earnings at 7.1 times debt for public certificates and 4.5 times for for-profit certificates. For associate degrees the ratios were 4.5 and 3.0.

Clock hour: A 50- to 60-minute period of class, lab or supervised shop training in a 60-minute hour, as defined in the IPEDS instructions. Federal aid rules and award levels for many trade programs are set in clock hours.

Most electrician awards are certificates (89.7% in 2023-24). Certificates of 1 to under 2 years (900 to 1,799 clock hours) were the largest group with 13,667 awards, followed by certificates of 12 weeks to under 1 year with 10,118. The median electrician program length was 1,080 clock hours at public schools and 900 at for-profit schools, with median completion times of 12 and 10 months for a full-time student.

The apprenticeship route: 8,000 paid hours of training instead of tuition

Registered electrician apprenticeships in Department of Labor guideline standards run 8,000 hours of paid on-the-job learning plus 576 to 660 hours of related instruction. At one standard's minimum wage scale, an apprentice earns $159,320 gross over the term.

Most electricians learn the trade through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship, with about 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training a year plus technical instruction, according to the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook. Federal rules set the floor: an apprenticeable occupation needs at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning, and 144 hours of related instruction per year is recommended (29 CFR Part 29). Sponsors must pay a progressively increasing wage schedule.

• IREC and SEIA national guideline standards, Electrician (RAPIDS 0159): 8,000 hours of on-the-job learning and at least 576 hours of related instruction; illustrative wages start at 60% of the journeyworker rate and reach 95% (DOL Bulletin 2026-03).
• Learning Alliance national guideline standards, Electrician: 8,000 hours and at least 660 hours of related instruction; minimum pay starts at $14.75 an hour and ends at a $26.55 completion wage (DOL Bulletin 2026-26).
• Texas requires 8,000 hours of supervised on-the-job training for a journeyman electrician license and allows the exam after 7,000 hours (TDLR).

Summed over 8,000 hours, that minimum scale pays $159,320 gross. This is an illustration from one sponsor's DOL-recognised standard, not an average; local and union scales differ (see our IBEW pay scale report). Apprentices may still pay for books, tools or related instruction, depending on the sponsor; under 29 CFR 29.7 the apprenticeship agreement must state whether related instruction is compensated.

School and apprenticeship are not exclusive. The BLS notes that technical school graduates usually receive credit toward an apprenticeship. Licensing adds its own costs: in Texas the journeyman application fee is $30 and the exam fee $78, or $108 before any retakes. Other states' requirements are on our electrical license lookup, and the full career path is in how to become an electrician.

How we ranked the states

Get the calculations (CSV)

State by state

1. 28,770 electrician (CIP 46.0302) credentials were awarded by 476 institutions in the 50 states and DC, July 2023 to June 2024.^[5]
2. Public institutions awarded 57.5% of electrician credentials in 2023-24, for-profit schools 39.0% and private nonprofits 3.5%.^[5][6]
3. Median 2025-26 in-state tuition and fees at 292 public academic-year colleges with electrician programs: $4,291 a year.^[2][5]
4. South Dakota had the highest state median public tuition and fees, $8,110 in 2025-26; California the lowest, $1,257.^[2][5]
5. Whole electrician program, median published tuition and fees, 2023-24: $4,657 public, $16,375 private nonprofit, $21,500 for-profit.^[7]
6. Median 2024-25 net price at institutions awarding electrician credentials: $7,377 public, $28,609 for-profit.^[2]
7. US electrician-field certificate graduates (2020-21 and 2021-22 completers) had median earnings of $44,469 one year after completion, in 2024 dollars.^[1]
8. US electrician-field associate degree graduates had median earnings of $55,611 one year after and $71,513 five years after completion.^[1]
9. Public certificate programs: median federal debt $6,914, median earnings $49,309 one year after; earnings-to-debt ratio 7.1.^[1]
10. For-profit certificate programs: median federal debt $9,456, median earnings $42,666 one year after; earnings-to-debt ratio 4.5.^[1]
11. US electrician awards of one year or longer per 10,000 employed electricians: 228.9 (awards 2023-24, employment May 2025).^[5][9]
12. New Jersey had the most electrician awards of one year or longer per 10,000 electricians, 971.9.^[5][8]
13. Two DOL-recognised electrician guideline standards set an 8,000-hour term with 576 or 660 hours of related instruction.^[13][14]
14. Texas journeyman electrician license: 8,000 hours of supervised training, $30 application fee and $78 exam fee.^[17][18]

In short

• 476 institutions awarded 28,770 electrician (CIP 46.0302) credentials in the 50 states and DC in 2023-24; public colleges awarded 57.5% and for-profit schools 39.0%.
• The median 2025-26 in-state tuition and fees at public colleges with electrician programs was $4,291 a year, from $1,257 in California to $8,110 in South Dakota.
• A whole electrician program had a median published price of $21,500 at for-profit schools and $4,657 at public clock-hour schools in 2023-24, 4.6 times as much.
• Nationally, electrician-field certificate graduates earned a median $44,469 one year after completion and $55,923 five years after (2024 dollars).
• Public certificate graduates who borrowed owed a median $6,914 and earned $49,309 a year later; for-profit graduates owed $9,456 and earned $42,666.
• Earnings-to-debt ratios were 7.1 for public certificates and 4.5 for for-profit certificates.
• DOL electrician guideline standards set 8,000 hours of paid on-the-job learning; one standard's minimum scale pays $159,320 gross over that term.
• Most electrician awards are certificates (89.7%), with a median program length of 1,080 clock hours at public schools.

Common questions

Keep reading

• How to become an electrician
• Electrician salary by state
• Electrical license lookup
• Are electricians in demand? Openings, new entrants, state growth and pay, 2025 to 2035
• EV Charger Installation Cost at Home: Published Level 2 Figures, the Electrician's Share and Rebates by State, 2026
• EV Charging Stations by State: Public Ports, Ports per EV and Growth, 2023 to 2026
• All electrical contractor data

How we built this report

Selection: we started from every institution that reported at least one award in CIP 46.0302 (Electrician), first major, in the IPEDS 2023-24 Completions file (C2024_A), the newest final completions file on the NCES data center. State and sector come from the IPEDS HD2024 directory. Puerto Rico and other territories are excluded from state and national figures.

Prices: annual in-state tuition and fees (2025-26), whole-program tuition and fees for program-year institutions (2025-26) and average net price (2024-25) come from the College Scorecard institution file released on 2026-10-15, which draws them from IPEDS. The electrician-specific whole-program price comes from IPEDS IC2023_PY, which lists the price of up to six of the largest clock- or credit-hour programs at each program-year institution; we kept entries coded 46.0302. All price figures are medians across institutions or programs, not weighted by enrolment.

Debt and earnings: the College Scorecard field-of-study file reports at the level of four-digit CIP (46.03, which also includes general electrical installers and lineworkers), credential level and six-digit OPEID. Values are repeated across branch campuses, so we kept one record per OPEID6 and credential level and only those at institutions with 46.0302 awards. Electrician programs were 84.7% of all 46.03 awards. Debt is the median federal loan debt of borrowers who completed in 2022-23 or 2023-24; it is suppressed where few students borrow, which affects public programs most. Earnings come from IRS records for graduates working and not enrolled, in 2024 dollars; the one-, five- and seven-year figures describe different completion cohorts.

Derived metrics: awards per 10,000 electricians divide IPEDS awards by OEWS May 2025 wage-and-salary employment; a second version counts only awards of one year or longer because short certificates are often stacked. Earnings-to-debt ratios divide median earnings by median debt. Apprentice pay sums one DOL guideline standard's minimum wage scale over its 8,000-hour term. Every formula and input row is in derived_metrics.csv and fact_sheet.csv.

Conflicts and exclusions: vendor and school price ranges are cited only as pages compared, never as figures in this report. Where a state has one reporting institution, its median is that institution's charge. Apprentice counts are not covered here.

Limitations: institution-wide tuition is not the price of the electrician program; IPEDS program prices are 2023-24 because 2024-25 program charge files were not posted when checked; graduates may work in another state; non-Title IV schools and apprenticeship-only training are absent from Scorecard. This report describes published data and is not financial advice.

Last updated 2026-10-27. Data accessed 2026-10-27.

This report presents published data with its limitations. It is not legal, financial or investment advice.

Sources by tier

Tier 1: primary and official sources (17)

• [1] U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard. College Scorecard, Most-Recent-Cohorts-Field-of-Study file (release of 2026-10-15). Debt: 2022-23 and 2023-24 completers; earnings measured 2022 and 2023. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [2] U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard. College Scorecard, Most-Recent-Cohorts-Institution file (release of 2026-10-15). Tuition 2025-26; net price 2024-25. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [3] U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard. Technical Documentation: College Scorecard Data by Field of Study (October 2026) and Data Dictionary. October 2026. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [4] U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard. College Scorecard data page and change log (October 15, 2026 update). 2026-10-15. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [5] National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), IPEDS. IPEDS Completions 2023-24, file C2024_A. July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [6] NCES, IPEDS. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics directory, file HD2024. 2024-25. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [7] NCES, IPEDS. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics, program-year charges, file IC2023_PY. 2023-24 charges. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [8] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 state estimates. May 2025. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [9] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 national estimates. May 2025. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [10] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025 (news release USDL-26-0725, May 15, 2026). May 2025. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [11] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Electricians. 2025 base year; projections 2025 to 2035. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [12] U.S. Department of Labor via eCFR. 29 CFR Part 29, Labor Standards for the Registration of Apprenticeship Programs. eCFR as of 2026-10-01. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [13] U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship. Office of Apprenticeship Bulletin 2026-03: Revised Appendix A, National Guidelines for Apprenticeship Standards for IREC and SEIA (Electrician). Bulletin dated 2025-11-25. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [14] U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship. Office of Apprenticeship Bulletin 2026-26: Revision to Appendix A, National Guidelines Standards for Learning Alliance (Electrician). Bulletin dated 2026-02-17. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [15] U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. Office of Apprenticeship Circular 2026-04: Registered Apprenticeship Sponsors and Workforce Pell. Dated 2026-09-08. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [16] U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. GEN-26-01: 2026-27 Federal Pell Grant Maximum and Minimum Award Amounts. 2026-27 award year. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [17] Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Apply for a New Journeyman Electrician License. As accessed 2026-10-27. Accessed 2026-10-27.

Tier 2: trade bodies, market research, company data (1)

• [18] PSI Services LLC (TDLR exam vendor). TDLR Electrician Candidate Information Bulletin. As accessed 2026-10-27. Accessed 2026-10-27.

Tier 3: journalism and expert commentary (3)

• [19] The Refrigeration School (RSI). How Much Is Electrician Trade School?. Published 2022-08-24. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [20] BestColleges. How Much Does Trade School Cost?. Updated 2024-05-23. Accessed 2026-10-27.
• [21] Penn Commercial Business/Technical School. Is the Cost of Electrician School Worthwhile?. Published 2025-10-24. Accessed 2026-10-27.