Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07

The AJ paper

Minnesota Journeyworker Exam: 80 Questions, 5.5 Hours

Eighty questions in five and a half hours, seventy percent to pass, and a code book handed to you at the door. The Board of Electricity counted 820 journeyworker test takers in 2025 and 349 in 2026 to date, which are the only tester counts it publishes for this paper.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

The shape of the paper

Eighty questions. The Licensing Examination Guide puts the Class A master electrician and the Class A journeyworker electrician on the same count.

Five and a half hours, which works out at about four minutes a question. Seventy percent to pass, which is 56 correct out of 80.

Held weekly, generally every Wednesday, at 443 Lafayette Road N. in St. Paul, starting at 8:15 a.m. and ending at 1:45 p.m.

What has to happen before you sit it

Forty eight months of qualifying experience, with at least 24 in wiring for and installing. An approved two year post high school electrical course can supply 12 of those months.

Then the $50 application, then department approval, then a date. The guide is explicit that before anyone may schedule an examination date, the individual's examination application must be approved by the department, and that walk-ins are not permitted.

The elicense entry puts the whole cycle at approximately 60 days.

What is in the room

DLI provides the code book, in soft cover format and without tabs or other aids, along with a Laws and Rules Booklet in the department's current format. You bring a picture ID and a common desk type calculator with addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, square root and percentage functions. No other materials or electronic devices, including cell phones, are allowed in the building.

The provided book is now the 2026 National Electrical Code, since DLI moved the examinations to that edition on September 8, 2026.

What the paper covers

DLI publishes no subject outline and no weighting for this examination, so nobody can honestly hand you percentages. What the guide does tell you is what is in the room, and a code book, a Laws and Rules Booklet and a calculator between them describe the paper reasonably well.

Our own ordering of the code areas to work, and why, is on the exam content page. The Minnesota law and rule material comes from Minnesota Statutes chapter 326B and Minnesota Rules chapter 3800, both free to read.

What the published rates say

The board's figures for this paper move a lot. October 2025 minutes give 69 percent with no basis label. January 2026 gives 40 percent by total exams, 60 percent by test taker from 820 testers, 38.1 percent as a five year average and 32 percent on first attempt. April 2026 gives 42 percent by total exams and 45 percent by test taker from 349 testers.

The most defensible single sentence is the most recent one with its basis attached: 45 percent of journeyworker test takers passed in 2026 to date, out of 349 testers, per the April 14, 2026 minutes.

Read the pass rates page before you quote any of those numbers, because they measure different things.

If it goes wrong

Applicants who fail any examination may submit an application to retake it 30 days after notification, and must submit a new application and examination fee first. That is another $50.

A failure also closes the reciprocity route for that class, since DLI requires that a reciprocity applicant must not have failed the same or greater class of license examination in Minnesota.

After you pass

The license fee is $48, made up of $40 plus an $8 board fee. Renewal is $53, which adds the $5 continuing education fee, and the late fee is $20.

From then it is 16 hours of DLI approved continuing education per renewal period, with at least 12 on the National Electrical Code. The renewal date is worded two ways by two state sources and both are printed on the fees page.

Questions people ask

How many questions is the Minnesota journeyworker exam?

Eighty. The Licensing Examination Guide puts the Class A master and Class A journeyworker examinations on the same count.

How long is the Minnesota journeyworker exam?

Five and a half hours, which is about four minutes a question. The session runs 8:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. in St. Paul.

What score do I need to pass?

Seventy percent, which is 56 correct out of 80. The same pass mark applies to every Minnesota electrical examination.

How much does the journeyworker exam cost?

Fifty dollars for the application and examination fee, which is not refundable. The $48 license fee is separate and is paid after approval.

Which code edition is the journeyworker exam on?

The 2026 National Electrical Code. DLI states that electrical licensing exams transitioned to it beginning September 8, 2026.

How many people sit this exam?

The Board of Electricity counted 820 journeyworker test takers in 2025 and 349 in 2026 to date at its April 14, 2026 meeting. It publishes no master electrician tester count, so the papers cannot be ranked against each other.

What this page cites

• DLI Licensing Examination Guide The 80 question count, the five and a half hour limit, the 70 percent pass mark, the schedule and the room rules. source
• DLI experience requirements The 48 month matrix that has to be satisfied before the application is approved. source
• Board of Electricity minutes, April 14, 2026 The 2026 pass rates and the 349 journeyworker tester count. source
• Board of Electricity minutes, January 15, 2026 The 2025 figures by total exams, by test taker, on first attempt and as a five year average. source
• DLI electrical codes and standards The September 8, 2026 examination transition to the 2026 National Electrical Code. source
• CCLD licensing fee schedule The $50 exam fee, the $48 new total and the $53 renewal. source