Checked against primary sources 2026-09-05

Wake County

Raleigh NC Electrician License: Classes and Exam Site

Raleigh is the one city in North Carolina where a journeyman certificate exists, examined by a city board rather than the state. This page separates that certificate from the state license, then covers training, the test center and local pay.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

The license a Raleigh electrician needs

The license is the state's, not the city's. G.S. 87-43 says no person, partnership, firm or corporation may engage in electrical contracting in North Carolina without a license in the applicable classification from the State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors, and there is no state journeyman or apprentice card underneath it.

If you work for somebody else, G.S. 87-43.1 exempts a bona fide employee of a Board licensee, so your employer's license covers your work. If you want to contract in your own name, the route is hours, the $125 application and examination fee, a grade of 70 on the examination and then the license application with its annual fee of $100 to $200.

The City of Raleigh journeyman certificate

Raleigh runs an Electrical Examining Board. The city says it examines applicants for electrician journeyman's licenses and advises the city council on questions referred to it, working under state statutes, city ordinances and the National Electrical Code, and meeting at least twice a year.

The stated entry rule is satisfactory character plus either two years of field experience or 36 semester hours from an accredited electrical program. Military experience counts only for documented time at the rank of E-4 with the rating of electrician. The staff liaison named on the page is Jay Daunoy.

The city's own detail page for the certificate would not load for us, so the fee, the application steps, the examination format, the code edition tested and the renewal terms are unconfirmed here, and so is whether the certificate is required to work in the city. Ask the city before you plan around it. Wake Technical Community College lists the City of Raleigh Journeyman's Electrician Certification as an external certification tied to its electrical program, which is a second source that the certificate exists.

Where to train in Raleigh and Cary

• IBEW Local 553, PO Box 13551 RTP, NC 27709, 919-596-8220. The local's apprenticeship page describes schooling at no cost, healthcare during training, work alongside an experienced electrician and job placement on completion, with instruction at the training center in Research Triangle Park.
• Raleigh-Durham Electrical Training Institute, 324 Blackwell Street, Suite 900 PMB 157, Durham, NC 27701. A state registered four year curriculum with a minimum of 900 classroom hours and 8,000 hours of work based learning, covering theory, the National Electrical Code, OSHA safety, blueprints, motor controls, fire alarm systems and programmable logic controllers.
• Wake Technical Community College, Electrical Systems Technology, main campus 9101 Fayetteville Road, Raleigh, NC 27603, with certificate courses also at Vernon Malone College and Career Academy. The college says graduates can obtain credit toward a licensing examination for secondary experience as outlined by the Board's rules.
• Greater Charlotte IEC is listed in the ApprenticeshipNC group program directory as covering Wake County, which is the registered program route for Raleigh and Cary.

The test center

The Examination Information Handbook lists the Raleigh PSI site at 5711 Six Forks Road, Suite 208, Raleigh, NC 27609. Candidates from Durham, Greensboro and Cary usually sit here.

Approval opens a 90 day authorization period, and an appointment can be cancelled and rescheduled without losing the fee if PSI has the notice two days before the scheduled date. Missing an appointment forfeits the fee.

Bring two forms of valid, non expired, signature bearing identification, one with a photograph.

What the work pays around Raleigh

O*NET OnLine, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data, gives a median of $27.31 an hour or $56,800 a year for electricians in the Raleigh-Cary metro, the same as the statewide median on that page.

The BLS May 2025 metro release for Raleigh-Cary puts construction and extraction occupations at 4.8 percent of local employment with a mean hourly wage of $27.66.

The two figures measure different things. The first is a median for electricians, and the second covers every construction and extraction occupation in the metro, so do not read them as a range for the same job.

Your next move in Raleigh

Decide which credential you actually need. If the goal is to run your own jobs, the target is a Board classification. If an employer is asking for the city certificate, that is a separate application to the City of Raleigh.

Either way the hours count the same, and the Board treats 2,000 hours as one creditable year. Check any employer on the Board's public license search first.

Questions people ask

Is there a Raleigh journeyman electrician certification?

Yes. The City of Raleigh Electrical Examining Board examines applicants for electrician journeyman's licenses. Wake Technical Community College lists the same certification as an external credential tied to its electrical program.

What do I need for the Raleigh journeyman certificate?

The city's board page asks for satisfactory character and either two years of field experience or 36 semester hours from an accredited electrical program, with military experience counting only for documented time at E-4 with the rating of electrician. The city's detail page did not load for us, so the fee and renewal terms are unconfirmed.

Do I need the city certificate to work as an electrician in Raleigh?

We could not confirm that. The city page describing the Electrical Examining Board does not say whether the certificate is required, and the detail page would not load. Ask the City of Raleigh directly rather than assuming either way.

Where is the PSI test center in Raleigh?

The Board's Examination Information Handbook lists it at 5711 Six Forks Road, Suite 208, Raleigh, NC 27609. Candidates from Durham, Cary and Greensboro travel to this site or to Winston-Salem.

Which apprenticeships serve Raleigh and Cary?

The Raleigh-Durham Electrical Training Institute runs a four year state registered curriculum with a minimum of 900 classroom hours and 8,000 hours of work based learning. Greater Charlotte IEC is listed in the state group program directory as covering Wake County.

How much do electricians make in Raleigh?

O*NET OnLine, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data, gives a median of $27.31 an hour or $56,800 a year for the Raleigh-Cary metro. The BLS May 2025 release puts all construction and extraction occupations there at a mean of $27.66 an hour.

What this page cites

• City of Raleigh Electrical Examining Board Describes the city board that examines applicants for electrician journeyman's licenses and its experience rule. source
• Wake Technical Community College Lists the City of Raleigh Journeyman's Electrician Certification and the secondary experience credit for graduates. source
• Raleigh-Durham Electrical Training Institute Publishes the four year curriculum, the 900 classroom hours and the 8,000 hours of work based learning. source
• Examination Information Handbook Lists the Raleigh PSI site, the 90 day authorization period and the cancellation rule. source
• O*NET OnLine local wages for 47-2111 Gives the Raleigh-Cary median for electricians, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data. source
• BLS Raleigh metro release, May 2025 Gives the construction and extraction mean hourly wage and its share of local employment. source