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Electrician shortage in California: the licensed-supply numbers
What the California register actually shows, by tier and per capita, updated nightly.
As of 2026-08-09, California carries 83,027 licensed electricians
on its state register, or 213.1 per 100,000 residents.
83,027
licensed electricians
213.1
per 100k residents
#25
density rank of 41
0.55
apprentice : journeyman
The apprentice-to-journeyman pipeline behind them runs at 0.55 in California, against 0.492 nationally, a read on whether the electricians supply is being replenished.
By credential tier
Every electrician license on the California register, normalized to one ladder.
Tier
Licensed
Share
Apprentice
19,487
23%
Journeyman
35,638
43%
Contractor / business
27,902
34%
Against comparable states
States nearest California on licensed electricians per capita.
State
Licensed electricians
Per 100k
California
83,027
213.1
West Virginia
5,261
297.2
Kentucky
12,962
286.4
Arkansas
8,710
283.9
Virginia
17,835
204.6
New Jersey
16,696
179.7
Maryland
8,290
134.1
Counts, not a capacity opinion. We publish the licensed supply and the pipeline
ratio; whether a market can absorb a given project is a judgement for the reader, not a claim we make.
Frequently asked
Is there an electricians shortage in California?
Reporting on the shortage rarely states how many are actually licensed. California carries 83,027 licensed electricians on its register as of 2026-08-09, or 213.1 per 100,000 residents. Readers can weigh that supply against demand directly.
How many licensed electricians does California have?
83,027 on the state register as of 2026-08-09.
Where does the shortage narrative come from?
Industry analyses project national shortfalls of hundreds of thousands of skilled-trades workers against data-center and electrification demand. Those are demand-side estimates; the figure here is the licensed supply on the register today.
New licenses, ladder upgrades, classification changes and lapses, by market and credential tier. Read the quarterly free, or license the underlying data.