- What This Salary Guide Covers (and What It Won't Invent)
- What the Credential Actually Is: Certificate B
- What Drives a Journeyman's Earnings in Massachusetts
- Who Hires Licensed Journeymen
- The Cost Side: Fees You Pay Before the Raise
- Exam Domains That Map to Higher-Value Work
- Journeyman vs. Master: The Next Earnings Step
- Keeping the License Current Protects Your Pay
- A Domain-Based Timeline for Getting Licensed Faster
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The MA-JE credential is the Massachusetts Journeyman Electrician license, Certificate B, issued by the Board of State Examiners of Electricians.
- Regular exam charges total $226; initial license issuance is a separate $104, so budget both before the raise.
- Qualification takes 8,000 work hours over at least four years plus 600 hours of approved education.
- Photovoltaic and energy storage appear as exam domains, which signals where employer demand is heading.
What This Salary Guide Covers (and What It Won't Invent)
Most salary articles about licensed trades lean on a single scraped number and call it analysis. This guide takes a different approach. It explains what actually moves a Massachusetts journeyman electrician's earnings, who pays for the license, what the license costs you to obtain, and how the exam content connects to the kinds of work that tend to command higher pay. It deliberately avoids quoting specific hourly rates, annual figures, or percentage premiums, because those numbers shift with union agreements, regional markets, employer type, and overtime, and any single figure presented as "the" salary would be misleading.
What you can rely on here are the hard facts about the credential itself: the issuing board, the fee structure, the prerequisites, the exam format, and the renewal rules. Those are the levers you control. If you want the full investment picture, our complete ROI analysis of the MA-JE certification walks through the decision from a return-on-investment angle, and the MA-JE certification cost breakdown itemizes every charge.
What the Credential Actually Is: Certificate B
The credential discussed throughout this site is the Massachusetts Journeyman Electrician License Exam, which leads to a Journeyman Electrician license, Certificate B, issued by the Massachusetts Board of State Examiners of Electricians (MA BSEE). The examination is delivered by PSI Services LLC at authorized Massachusetts testing centers. Remote and out-of-state administration is excluded under the candidate bulletin.
That distinction matters for earnings because a Massachusetts license is a legal permission to perform electrical work under your own credential within a supervised structure. Without it, you work as an apprentice-level tradesperson under someone else's license. With it, you become eligible for roles that carry more responsibility on the job site, and employers can staff jobs knowing a licensed person is present. If you want the plain-language definition before going further, see What Is MA-JE? for the basics.
What Drives a Journeyman's Earnings in Massachusetts
Rather than quote a figure, it is more useful to understand the variables. Two journeymen holding identical Certificate B licenses can earn very different amounts depending on the following factors.
Employer type and pay structure
Electrical contractors, facilities departments, utilities-adjacent employers, and union-affiliated shops each structure compensation differently. Some pay hourly with overtime, some offer salaried facility roles with benefits, and some include prevailing-wage work on public projects. Comparing offers means comparing the full package, not just the headline hourly figure.
Specialization
Work that demands deeper technical knowledge generally supports stronger compensation than routine residential service calls. The exam itself reflects this spread: it tests everything from General Knowledge and Services to Motors, Transformers, Alarm Systems, Photovoltaic, and Energy Storage Systems. Journeymen who build real depth in a niche, such as controls, fire alarm, solar-plus-storage, or industrial motor work, tend to become harder to replace.
Overtime, shift work, and project type
Commercial and industrial schedules, outage windows, and emergency service calls can change take-home pay substantially. Two people with the same base rate can have meaningfully different annual totals based purely on hours available.
Experience on the way to the license
The license requires 8,000 qualifying work hours over at least four years. The quality of those hours, meaning exposure to commercial feeders, grounding and bonding, troubleshooting, and code-driven installation, shapes how quickly you can step into higher-responsibility roles afterward. For the full eligibility picture, review the MA-JE requirements guide.
Who Hires Licensed Journeymen
A Massachusetts journeyman license is portable across a wide range of employers. Common hiring categories include:
- Electrical contractors doing residential, commercial, and industrial installation and service.
- Union and non-union signatory shops that staff jobs with licensed personnel on site.
- Facilities and maintenance departments at hospitals, universities, manufacturing plants, and property management firms.
- Solar and energy storage installers, a segment directly reflected in the exam's photovoltaic and energy storage domains.
- Fire alarm and low-voltage specialty contractors, which align with the Alarm Systems and Low-Voltage Distribution domains.
For a closer look at where the credential opens doors, see our overview of MA-JE jobs.
The Cost Side: Fees You Pay Before the Raise
An honest earnings analysis counts what it costs to get there. The Massachusetts fee structure is split across several line items, and it helps to see them separately rather than as one lump sum.
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| PSI application processing | $60 |
| Part I trade examination | $80 |
| Part II applied examination | $55 |
| State processing | $31 |
| Regular application/testing total | $226 |
| Initial license issuance (separate) | $104 |
| Retake fees for both parts combined | $135 |
Qualifying VALOR applicants pay $195 instead of $226, because the $31 state-processing charge is waived. The $104 initial issuance fee is paid separately after you pass. Retake fees depend on which part you need to repeat, and they total $135 if you must retake both. These figures are exam and licensing charges only; they do not include the cost of the 600 hours of approved education or the 15-hour approved Code Update certificate, which are separate prerequisites. For a fuller itemization, see the MA-JE certification cost breakdown.
Key Takeaway
Failing a part is the most avoidable cost in this process. Both parts must be passed within the applicable 12-month eligibility period, and after three unsuccessful attempts the bulletin requires additional education before further attempts. Passing efficiently protects both your budget and your timeline to licensed pay.
Exam Domains That Map to Higher-Value Work
The exam has two independently scored parts. Part I has 80 questions in 180 minutes and Part II (Applied) has 30 questions in 60 minutes. Each part requires 70% to pass, which means 56 correct on Part I and 21 correct on Part II. The exam is open-book and computer-delivered, but open-book does not mean easy. You are searching a dense code book against a clock. See exactly what you need to pass for the scoring breakdown.
Some domains deserve attention not just for passing, but because they correspond to skills employers actively pay for.
Domain 4: Wiring Methods and Devices
This is the largest Part I subject, with 18 official questions. It is also the backbone of daily journeyman work.
- Conductor selection, raceways, boxes, and device installation
- Fast navigation of the code book under time pressure
- The foundation for nearly every installation role, which makes it a baseline skill for any pay tier
Domain 17: Troubleshooting and Testing
The largest Part II subject, with six official questions. Diagnostic ability is one of the most transferable and valued skills in the trade.
- Systematic fault isolation
- Appropriate test methods and instrument use
- Applied reasoning rather than simple code lookup
Domains 12 and 13: Photovoltaic and Energy Storage Systems
Part I allocates 6 and 4 items respectively to these emerging subjects. Candidates who study them carefully build skills relevant to a growing segment of installation work.
- System layout, disconnecting means, and interconnection concepts
- Energy storage installation requirements
- Knowledge that can differentiate you in solar and battery-focused hiring
Domain 18: Massachusetts Amendments
Part II gives this domain 6 items alongside Troubleshooting and Testing. Massachusetts modifies the national code, and fluency with those differences is part of working legally in the state.
- State-specific changes to the base electrical code
- Why a national-code-only study approach can cost you points
For a domain-by-domain walkthrough, the complete guide to all 19 content areas covers every heading and its published question allocation. Nineteen headings span both parts; they are not nineteen separate examinations.
Journeyman vs. Master: The Next Earnings Step
The journeyman license is a milestone, not an endpoint. A master electrician license is a separate credential with its own examination, including a Business and Law component that the journeyman Part II applied exam is not. Part II for the journeyman is an applied written examination, not a hands-on assessment and not the master's Business and Law test. Many tradespeople treat Certificate B as the gateway to eventually pursuing a master license and, ultimately, contracting or business ownership, which is where earnings potential typically broadens the most because you move from selling your hours to running work. Because the master pathway has its own requirements, confirm current details with the Board before planning around it.
Keeping the License Current Protects Your Pay
An expired license can interrupt your ability to work in a licensed capacity, so renewal is an earnings issue, not just paperwork. Certificate B renews on a triennial cycle, with the renewal date falling on July 31, under Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 141, Section 3. Under 237 CMR 17.01, licensees need 21 hours of continuing education: 15 approved hours covering code, business, and law, plus six professional-development hours.
Build renewal into your calendar early. Continuing education is also a natural way to sharpen specialty skills, such as updated code provisions, that feed back into your market value.
A Domain-Based Timeline for Getting Licensed Faster
Time to licensure is itself an earnings variable, since every month spent unlicensed is a month at the lower pay tier. Use a domain-aware plan rather than studying everything evenly. This sample sequence prioritizes by question allocation and exam logic.
Code navigation and the heavyweights
- Drill Wiring Methods and Devices (18 Part I items) first, since it carries the most weight
- Practice locating articles quickly in your approved reference
- Review General Knowledge and Services (8 and 11 items)
Core systems and protection
- Grounding and Bonding, Overcurrent Protection, Motors, Transformers
- Low-Voltage Distribution and Special Occupancies and Equipment
- Work calculation-heavy topics with a permitted nonprogrammable calculator
Emerging and specialty topics
- Photovoltaic, Energy Storage Systems, Lighting, and Alarm Systems
- Cover the low-item domains so none become a surprise
Part II applied focus and Massachusetts specifics
- Circuit Calculations (Ohm's Law), Schematics and Plans, Materials and Components
- Troubleshooting and Testing, Massachusetts Amendments, Licensing Laws and Regulations
- Timed Part II sets to build pace across 30 questions in 60 minutes
For a fuller preparation strategy, read the MA-JE study guide on passing the first time, and gauge your readiness with our difficulty guide. When you are ready to test yourself against original questions in the same 80-plus-30 structure, use the MA-JE practice test to find weak domains before exam day. Remember to verify what you may bring: the bulletin allows highlighting, underlining, and permanent tabs, but it conflicts internally on prewritten margin notes, so confirm PSI authorization before annotating any reference.
Scheduling details, including testing windows, are covered in the MA-JE exam dates guide, and if you want to understand the pass-rate context, see what the data shows. You can also keep the one-page MA-JE cheat sheet handy for last-minute review, and try more original questions at the main practice test site.
Frequently Asked Questions
This guide deliberately does not state a single figure, because pay varies with employer type, union status, specialty, overtime, and region. Instead of relying on one number, compare full offers including benefits and overtime, and check current postings and wage data from authoritative sources for your area.
The regular application and testing charge is $226, made up of $60 PSI application processing, $80 for the Part I trade examination, $55 for the Part II applied examination, and $31 state processing. Qualifying VALOR applicants pay $195. The initial license issuance fee of $104 is separate, and retakes for both parts total $135.
Prerequisites include a high-school diploma or equivalent, 600 hours of approved journeyman education, 8,000 qualifying work hours over at least four years, a 15-hour approved Code Update certificate, supporting school and employer documentation, and CORI authorization. Classroom, update-training, and work hours are eligibility requirements, not exam timers.
The open-book, computer-delivered exam has Part I with 80 questions in 180 minutes and Part II Applied with 30 questions in 60 minutes. Each part is scored independently and requires 70%, meaning 56 correct on Part I and 21 correct on Part II. Both parts must be passed within the applicable 12-month eligibility period.
Certificate B renews on a triennial cycle with a July 31 date under Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 141, Section 3. Under 237 CMR 17.01, renewal requires 21 continuing education hours: 15 approved code, business, and law hours plus six professional-development hours.
Earning power in this trade starts with the credential, and the credential starts with passing both parts efficiently. Treat the fees, prerequisites, and renewal rules as part of your financial plan, build real depth in the domains employers value, and verify code-edition and reference rules with the Board and PSI before you commit to a study path.