South Dakota electrician license: levels, hours, reciprocity, pay

South Dakota licenses journeymen statewide. As of 2026, the South Dakota Electrical Commission lets you sit for the journeyman exam after 4 years (8,000 hours) as a licensed apprentice, and only licensed hours count. The median South Dakota electrician made $29.51 an hour in May 2025, per BLS.

South Dakota is also one of the easier states to move a card in or out of. It trades journeyman licenses with a long list of plains and mountain states, and its reciprocity page is the clearest public map of how those deals work. For the national picture, see our electrician license requirements in every state.

01South Dakota license facts, as of 2026

Everything above comes from the commission's own pages. Rules change, so confirm with the commission at 605.773.3573 before you act on any of it.

02Your apprentice hours only count if you're licensed

This is the rule that bites people. The commission says experience hours "must be licensed in order for your working time to count toward the hours required to take the exams." Work two years unlicensed as a helper and those two years don't move you toward the journeyman exam.

Apprentices work under the employment and supervision of an electrical contractor. Get the apprentice license before your first day, and keep it current the whole way through.

03License levels in South Dakota

South Dakota has four main licenses:

• Apprentice electrician. Licensed, working for and under an electrical contractor.
• Journeyman electrician. After 4 years (8,000 hours) as a licensed apprentice, you can write the journeyman exam.
• Class B electrician. A residential and farmstead license. It needs a notarized bond application, like the contractor license.
• Electrical contractor. Two more years as a licensed journeyman, 4,000 hours, with at least 2,000 of them commercial, then the contractor exam and the bond application.

You can't take an exam without prior written approval. Once you're approved, the commission sends exam site details and you have 90 days to schedule. All tests have been on the 2023 NEC since December 2, 2024.

04Which states accept a South Dakota license?

South Dakota trades journeyman cards with a long list of states, mostly in the plains and mountain West. The commission's terms:

1. You earned the license by passing that state's exam.
2. You've held it at least one year, unless an agreement says otherwise.
3. It's been active for that whole year.

The commission's journeyman list includes Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Alaska, Colorado and New Mexico are journeyman only. Contractor and master agreements cover Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma (unlimited contractor) and Wyoming. For Colorado, the page notes a master electrician plus 2,000 more hours.

The other side has to agree too, and its terms can differ. Two we checked on the other board's own page:

• Minnesota takes South Dakota journeyman licenses earned by state exam and held at least a year, with a $50 application and exam fee.
• North Dakota takes them too, with 8,000 hours under a contracting master and a license held continuously for the year before you apply.

The page also lists states it believes have no state electrical license, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee, and says to call to confirm. A local card from one of those won't reciprocate into South Dakota. Our electrician license reciprocity guide explains the one-year rule, and our steps to transfer an electrician license cover the paperwork.

05Why the one-year rule matters to a contractor

Contractors who need hands fast look at reciprocity states first. One national electrical contractor told us they tried hiring out of the neighboring states so the men could reciprocate their licenses, but "everybody's just going to these data centers right now." If you hold a South Dakota card a year or more, you're the hand that kind of contractor is looking for, wherever the work is. Our guide to data center electrician work covers why those jobs are pulling so many journeymen.

06Renewal and continuing education

South Dakota licenses renew every two years, due June 30 of even-numbered years. The 2026 renewal window opened April 20, 2026, and renewals in by June 30 paid no late fee.

You need 16 hours of CE per cycle, at least 8 of them on code, under ARSD 20:44:17:01. Only 8 hours can be commission pre-approved online or correspondence courses, under ARSD 20:44:17:02, so plan on at least 8 hours in a classroom. Send copies of your certificates with the renewal. For the 2026 renewal, those covered July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026.

07How do you look up a South Dakota license?

There's no public license lookup on the commission's site as of 2026. Call the commission office in Pierre at 605.773.3573, or email [email protected]. If you're moving your card to another state, expect that board to want verification sent straight from the commission, not a copy of your card.

08What does a South Dakota electrician make?

The median South Dakota electrician made $29.51 an hour in May 2025, 87 cents below the national median of $30.38, per BLS OEWS. These are straight-time wages for all electricians, apprentices included. They leave out overtime, per diem and benefits, and they're market data, not what any one contractor will pay you.

Pay barely moves inside the state. Sioux Falls and Rapid City sat 15 cents apart at the median (our math). The bigger gap is next door: Minnesota's median ran $8.07 above South Dakota's, and North Dakota's ran $2.08 above it. Both states take a South Dakota journeyman card held a year, so that gap is one you can act on. Nebraska, another reciprocity state, came in at $29.24.

The statewide median annual wage was $61,390. Our journeyman electrician pay breakdown explains what moves a rate within a range, and our Minnesota, North Dakota and Nebraska guides cover those states' rules.

Run your Pay Check to see what electricians with your license make near you. Takes about a minute and your boss never hears about it.

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