Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07

Nine in, four up

Minnesota Electrical License Reciprocity: Nine States Listed

Minnesota publishes two reciprocity lists and they are different lengths. Nine states get you a Minnesota journeyworker license and only four of those also get you a master license, so the state you are coming from decides how far the agreement carries you.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

The two lists

Class A journeyworker electrician, nine states. Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Class A master electrician, four states. Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.

So Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming are journeyworker only. A master electrician from one of those five does not get a Minnesota master license through reciprocity.

DLI lists no reciprocity for the maintenance electrician, power limited technician, lineman, Class B installer or satellite system installer licenses, and none for any contractor license.

The cross class provision

DLI publishes one sentence that people miss: applicants that have the equivalent of a Minnesota master electrician license in these states may also obtain the Minnesota journeyworker electrician license under the agreements.

So a master from Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota or Nebraska can take the Minnesota journeyworker license as well as, or instead of, the master. A master from Colorado can take the journeyworker license on that provision, since Colorado is on the journeyworker list.

The eight conditions

All from the DLI reciprocity page.

1. The applicant must not have failed the same or greater class of license examination in Minnesota.
2. The applicant must have obtained the same or greater class of license in the first state by examination at the state level, rather than through a reciprocal agreement.
3. The applicant must have held the license for at least one year in the first state.
4. The applicant's license must be current and in good standing in the first state.
5. The applicant must not be under any order to deny, suspend or revoke any class of electrical license in Minnesota.
6. Submit the application with the $50 examination fee.
7. Upon approval, submit the required license fee to be issued the license applied for.
8. Upon obtaining the license, meet all continuing education and renewal requirements.

Condition 4 is the one that answers the expired license question. A license that has lapsed in the first state is not current, so it does not support a reciprocal application here.

The two year rule, and who it is actually about

DLI publishes one more sentence on the same page, and it gets read as a rule about out of state licenses. It is not. It is about a Minnesota license that was allowed to lapse.

Minnesota electrician license holders that have not renewed their license prior to two years after expiration do not qualify to acquire the same class of license through the reciprocal agreements and must retake and pass the license examination.

So the two years runs from the expiration of your Minnesota license, not your Iowa or North Dakota one. If you let a Minnesota journeyworker license go more than two years past expiration, you cannot use a reciprocal agreement to pick the same class back up. You sit the paper.

It also only closes the same class. Nothing in that sentence speaks to a different class, and we are not going to read one into it.

Two things that catch people

The first is condition 2. A license you obtained by reciprocity in the first state does not qualify you here. You have to have sat that state's own examination at state level, which blocks a chain of reciprocal licenses ending in Minnesota.

The second is the money. The $50 is still called an examination fee even though no examination is taken, and it is separate from the license fee, which is paid after approval. So the total is $50 plus $48 for a journeyworker license or $50 plus $88 for a master license.

What reciprocity does not switch off

Continuing education. Once the Minnesota license is issued you are on Minnesota's cycle: 16 hours with at least 12 on the National Electrical Code for a journeyworker or master license, inside the license term immediately before expiration.

The renewal dates are Minnesota's too, and the statute and DLI word the master expiration a day apart. Both are printed on the fees and renewal page.

The examination content also does not follow you. Minnesota moved its examinations to the 2026 National Electrical Code on September 8, 2026, so if you end up sitting the paper rather than reciprocating, that is the edition you sit.

The form

DLI publishes an application for electrical license reciprocity on the reciprocity page. Send it with the $50, and expect the same experience verification and board approval steps that slow a normal application.

Reciprocity is also a board matter. Minnesota Statutes 326B.32, subdivision 2 gives the Board of Electricity the power to approve license reciprocity agreements, so the lists can change when the board changes them.

Questions people ask

Which states have electrical reciprocity with Minnesota?

Nine for the Class A journeyworker license: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Four of those, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska, also reciprocate the Class A master license.

Does Minnesota reciprocate a master electrician license?

With four states only: Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. A master from one of the other five journeyworker states can obtain the Minnesota journeyworker license instead.

Can I use reciprocity for a power limited technician license?

No. DLI lists reciprocity for the Class A journeyworker and Class A master licenses only, with nothing for the maintenance electrician, power limited technician, lineman, Class B installer, satellite installer or any contractor license.

How much does Minnesota reciprocity cost?

Fifty dollars with the application, still called an examination fee, and then the license fee after approval. That is $48 for a journeyworker license or $88 for a master license.

Does a license I got by reciprocity in another state count?

No. DLI requires that you obtained the same or greater class of license in the first state by examination at the state level rather than through a reciprocal agreement.

What if my out of state license has expired?

DLI requires that your license in the first state is current and in good standing, so an expired one does not support a reciprocal application. The separate two year rule DLI publishes is about a lapsed Minnesota license, not an out of state one.

What happens if my own Minnesota license lapsed?

DLI says Minnesota license holders who have not renewed within two years after expiration do not qualify to acquire the same class of license through the reciprocal agreements and must retake and pass the license examination.

What this page cites

• DLI electrical license reciprocity The two state lists, the cross class provision and all nine conditions. source
• Minnesota Statutes 326B.32 Subdivision 2 gives the Board of Electricity the power to approve license reciprocity agreements. source
• CCLD licensing fee schedule The $50 examination fee and the $48 and $88 license totals a reciprocity applicant pays after approval. source
• DLI continuing education The Minnesota hours a reciprocal licensee picks up as soon as the license is issued. source
• DLI electrical codes and standards The September 8, 2026 examination transition, which applies if you end up sitting the paper. source