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Minnesota journeyman electrician exam

Updated · Written for the 2023 NEC

Short answer

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) licenses journeyman electricians, which Minnesota calls Class A journeyworker electricians, and writes and gives the exam itself with no outside testing vendor. The exam has 80 questions, a 5½ hour time limit and a 70% passing score, and since Sept. 8, 2026 it uses the 2026 NEC, with a code book supplied in the exam room. You need 48 months (8,000 hours) of qualifying experience, including at least 24 months of wiring and installing, before DLI approves you to test.

Who licenses journeyman electricians in Minnesota

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry issues the Class A journeyworker electrician license, and the state Board of Electricity adopts the electrical code. The license is statewide. You must pass a written exam before DLI will issue the license, under Minnesota Statutes section 326B.33.

Minnesota also has reciprocity at the journeyworker level with Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. You must have passed that state's exam and held the license for at least one year, according to the DLI electrical license examination guide.

The Minnesota journeyman electrician exam

DLI writes the exam and gives it at its own offices. There is no PSI or Pearson VUE bulletin for Minnesota. All details below come from the DLI electrical license examination guide, revised September 2026, unless another source is linked.

ItemDetails
Testing vendorNone. DLI gives the exam itself
Questions80 multiple choice
Time limit5½ hours (8:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. in St. Paul)
Open bookYes. DLI provides a soft-cover NEC with no tabs, a laws and rules booklet and a basic calculator. You may not bring your own
Passing score70%
NEC edition2026 NEC, used for exams from Sept. 8, 2026
Exam fee$50 (DLI licensing basics)
ResultsEmailed, generally within two weeks
RetakesReapply 30 days after you are told you failed, with a new application and fee

Exams are held at the DLI office in St. Paul and at sites in greater Minnesota, including Duluth, Rochester, St. Cloud, Mankato and Moorhead, according to the DLI license exam schedule. You can only book a date in iMS after DLI approves your application. Walk-ins are not allowed, you may reschedule once, and you need a picture ID.

Requirements to take the exam

You need 48 months of qualifying electrical experience, and at least 24 of those months must be in wiring for and installing electrical wiring, apparatus and equipment, under Minnesota Rules 3800.3520. The personal electrical license exam application lists this as 48 months (8,000 hours).

  • Credit is capped at 160 hours per month or 2,000 hours per year, so the requirement takes at least four years of full-time work.
  • Work must be for a licensed electrical contractor or a DLI registered employer, or be equivalent work out of state or in the military.
  • A department-approved two-year electrical program can count for up to 12 months.
  • No credit is given for work before age 17.
  • Your employer's responsible master electrician signs the work experience verification form. Registered unlicensed electricians report hours each year at renewal, which speeds up approval.

Minnesota journeyman electrician exam pass rate

Minnesota does publish pass rates, in the licensing updates in Board of Electricity meeting minutes. For 2025, 40% of journeyworker exams taken were passes, according to the Jan. 15, 2026 minutes.

Journeyworker measure (2025)Rate
All exams taken40%
By test taker (820 testers)60%
First attempt32%
Five-year average, 2021 to 202538.1%

For 2026 so far, the July 14, 2026 minutes report 44.6% of journeyworker exams passed, up from 42% in the April 14, 2026 minutes. Because a candidate can fail and retest, the rate by test taker is higher than the rate for all exams taken.

How hard is the Minnesota journeyman electrician exam?

It is hard. Only 32% of candidates passed on their first attempt in 2025. DLI rates each question from 1 to 5 for difficulty and says the journeyworker exam averages 1.5 to 2.5, below the master exam. Hard questions combine several code rules or several calculation steps.

The exam guide also warns that wrong answers are plausible, questions may include extra information, and field experience alone is usually not enough to pass. You can't ask the proctor questions, and you may not leave the building until you finish.

How to pass the Minnesota journeyman electrician exam

Learn the code well enough that you rarely need to look things up. DLI says most questions are meant to be answered without the reference materials, even though a code book is supplied.

  1. Study the 2026 NEC. Minnesota exams moved to the 2026 edition on Sept. 8, 2026, and the board adopted it without amendments, according to the DLI electrical codes page. Our practice questions follow the 2023 NEC, so check the changes between editions for the topics you study.
  2. Practice with a plain, untabbed code book. The exam copy has no tabs, so learn the index and article numbers.
  3. Work through the formulas in the exam guide: Ohm's law, voltage drop, motor feeder sizing, dwelling load calculations and transformer math. Our exam calculations guide covers the same types.
  4. Read the Minnesota Electrical Act and Rules chapters 3800 and 3801, since a laws and rules booklet is part of the exam.
  5. Take timed tests. Try our free practice test, and see how to pass the journeyman electrician exam for a study plan.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions are on the Minnesota journeyman electrician exam?

The Class A journeyworker exam has 80 multiple choice questions. Each is worth the same, and there is no partial credit. You have 5½ hours and need 70% to pass, according to the DLI exam guide.

Is the Minnesota journeyman electrician exam open book?

Yes. DLI provides a soft-cover NEC without tabs, a laws and rules booklet and a basic calculator. You can't bring your own books, notes or phone into the building.

What is the Minnesota journeyman electrician exam pass rate?

In 2025, 40% of journeyworker exams were passed, 32% of first attempts passed, and 60% of individual test takers passed, according to the Board of Electricity minutes. The 2026 rate through July was 44.6%.

Which NEC does the Minnesota exam use?

Electrical licensing exams have used the 2026 NEC since Sept. 8, 2026. The 2026 NEC took effect in Minnesota on Aug. 17, 2026, according to the DLI electrical codes page.

How long do I wait to retake the exam if I fail?

You can submit a new application and fee 30 days after DLI notifies you that you failed. DLI does not give reviews of individual exams.

Sources

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