Guides · The ladder
Before the hours, the exam or the fees: find out which of the three systems your state runs. The requirements only make sense inside their system.
Most states license the worker directly: registered apprentice, a block of supervised hours, a classroom component, a journeyman exam, then master after time in grade. Texas, Washington, Minnesota, Maryland, Connecticut, Oregon, Indiana and most of the map live here. The numbers differ; the shape does not.
California and Florida do not issue a state journeyman plumber license at all. The license that matters is the contractor license (California's C-36, Florida's certified or registered plumbing contractor), held by a qualifying individual. Workers qualify through experience and local competency cards. Asking “how do I get my California journeyman license” is asking for a document that does not exist.
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Wyoming have no state journeyman license. Cities and counties license instead — New York City runs one of the strictest systems in the country. “No state license” never means “no license”; it means the answer lives at city hall.
Every state's system, ladder and fees are on its state page, and the dataset shows all 51 side by side.
