How we collect and check this data

Every number on this site is either copied from an official state page or calculated from one. Here is exactly which, and what we do when we cannot verify something.

Licensing rules

Requirements, fees, step sequences, renewal cycles and reciprocity terms come from the agency that issues the credential — the state licensing board, department of licensing, or contractor board. Where a board publishes its rules in a PDF handbook, we read the handbook rather than a summary of it.

Each page carries the exact sources it was built from, including a quotation from the source next to the figure it supports. The date the page was last checked is at the top. If a fee is not published in a verifiable form, the page says so instead of estimating.

What we calculate

Two numbers on each page are ours, not the state's, and they are labelled as such:

• Total cost — the itemised state fees added together, plus an estimated training cost where the state requires training that is not free. Exam retakes are excluded.
• Time to finish — the state's required training or supervised hours, divided by a 40-hour week. Someone training part-time takes longer; the page always shows the raw hour requirement next to our conversion.

Pay

Median annual and hourly wages come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program, statewide, May 2026-11-06 release year. Median, not average: half of the people in the trade earn more, half less. BLS base pay excludes overtime and shift differentials.

When we cannot verify something

We publish the page with the field marked as unverified rather than filling it with a plausible number. A missing figure is a smaller problem than a wrong one — people make five-figure decisions on these pages.

Corrections

Rules change every legislative session. If a figure here is out of date, the source page linked at the bottom of each page is the authority. Corrections are welcome and get checked against the board's own publication before anything is changed.

What this site is not

Not legal advice, not a licensing agent, and not affiliated with any state agency or trade school. We do not sell licences and we are not paid to recommend a school.