The Hardest Topics on the Electrician Exam
Which topics cost candidates the most points in practice diagnostics?
| State | NEC topic | Questions tracked | Miss rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| MD | Electrical Services and Service Equipment | 11 | 64% |
| MI | Motors and Generators | 13 | 62% |
| MD | Calculations, Theory, and Plans | 10 | 60% |
| TX | Motors and Generators | 99 | 45% |
| TX | Electrical Feeders | 39 | 44% |
| TX | Special Occupancies and Equipment | 72 | 42% |
| TX | Calculations, Theory, and Plans | 90 | 41% |
| MD | Branch Circuit Calculations and Conductors | 16 | 38% |
| MI | Special Occupancies and Equipment | 13 | 38% |
| TX | Branch Circuit Calculations and Conductors | 195 | 37% |
What it tells you
- These topic-level miss rates come directly from complete diagnostic attempts; they are not predictions and do not claim to be official pass-rate data.
- Topic-level miss rates are computed from 119 completed diagnostics across all states where we have enough topic coverage.
Methodology
Aggregated from completed, anonymous JourneymanIQ diagnostic sessions. Each question contributes to a topic-level miss count inside the candidate's same state context. The percentages are calculated as incorrect-attempt ratio by topic.
Source: Anonymized JourneymanIQ completed diagnostic sessions. | Last updated 2026-09-21
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