Michigan journeyman electrician exam cost and fees
The fees are modest. A failed attempt and the wait that comes with it is the expensive part. Here is the full breakdown of what you pay PSI, what you pay the state, and what the code books run you.
Last reviewed June 2026
What you pay
- Exam fee: $100, paid to PSI Services when you schedule the 80-question test.
- License fee: $40, paid to the Bureau of Construction Codes after you pass, to issue the journeyman license.
- Code books: your own 2023 NEC, the Michigan Part 8 rules, and the two state acts, since the exam is open book and the state does not hand you references.
- Prep is separate and optional. Free options exist, paid prep runs from workbooks to subscriptions.
The code books are part of the cost
California provides references at the test center. Michigan does not. The Michigan Journeyman Electrician exam is open book on the 2023 NEC, which means you walk in with your own bound copies. You need the 2023 NEC, the Michigan Electrical Code Part 8 rules, and the two state acts that govern the trade. Those books are real money on top of the $100 exam fee, but they are yours to keep and study from.
One rule that trips people up at check-in: your references must be bound, with factory tabs and printed markings only. No handwritten notes, no personal indexing, and the NEC Handbook is not allowed. If you write in your book and the proctor catches it, that is wasted money. The open-book rules cover exactly what passes inspection.
The cost most candidates forget: a retake
The fees above assume you pass on the first sitting. A failed attempt is the $100 PSI fee again, plus the lost time and momentum. Two attempts allowed within one year of eligibility. Fail twice inside a two-year period and you must wait one year from the second failure before testing again. That is why the cheapest move on this whole list is finding your weak NEC chapters before test day and studying those, not everything.
Is it worth the fee? How hard the exam runs
LARA does not publish a journeyman pass rate, so anyone quoting you a number for Michigan is guessing. What we can say honestly is where candidates lose the exam. The pass mark is 75%, which is five points higher than most states ask for, so there is less room to give back questions.
The clock is the other pressure. You get 80 questions in 2 hours 30 minutes, and the open-book format cuts both ways. It is not a memory test, but every minute you spend hunting for the right article is a minute you do not have for the calculation. Candidates who treat open book as a reason to study less get buried looking up rules they should already know cold. The fee is small. Walking in unprepared and paying it twice is the expensive outcome.
Where these exam facts come from: LARA Electrical Examination, Licensing & Application Information, PSI Candidate Information Bulletin (Michigan Electrical), Michigan Electrical Code, Part 8 Rules (2023 NEC). Verify current fees with LARA before you schedule, since amounts change.
Before you pay the fee, find your weak spots.
A free 15-minute diagnostic shows your projected score and the NEC chapters costing you the most, before you spend the $100 and book the date. That is how you avoid paying the exam fee a second time.
Start the free diagnostic →