MD-JE Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

What Maryland Actually Publishes About Pass Rates

If you search for the Maryland journeyman electrician pass rate, you will find plenty of confident numbers on commercial prep sites. Very few of them cite a source. The most defensible figures come from a place many candidates never look: the public minutes of the Maryland State Board of Electricians, which sits under the Maryland Department of Labor. Those minutes sometimes include exam result tables from the testing provider, PSI Services LLC.

This article sticks to those published figures and tells you plainly where they conflict. There is no official, audited, year-long journeyperson pass rate that you can quote as "the" number. What exists is a handful of monthly snapshots, small samples, and at least one reporting inconsistency. That is still useful, as long as you read it for what it is.

Three Monthly Reports, Three Different Pictures

The 2026 Board minutes contain three separate reports of journeyperson results. Laid side by side, they show why a single "pass rate" claim should make you skeptical.

Notice the problem. The June and July minutes both label their reporting period "May," yet they give different counts (12/36 versus 5/39). The July table also contains other internal inconsistencies. We cannot tell from the published text whether the July label is a typo for a later month, a corrected figure, or a different measurement. So this article does not silently relabel it, and it does not guess.

For a deeper look at how these results relate to difficulty, see our guide How Hard Is the MD-JE Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.

How Not to Read These Numbers

Three tempting shortcuts would turn these snapshots into misinformation. Avoid all of them.

• Do not add the samples together. Because one label is unresolved, summing 5/27, 12/36 and 5/39 would stack an unreliable data point onto reliable ones and produce a false sense of precision.
• Do not call it a first-attempt probability. The minutes report tests administered and passes. They do not say whether a test was a first attempt or a retake, so you cannot read these figures as "your odds on the first try."
• Do not use a combined inception total. Some Board tables mix examination types over a long period. A mixed-exam cumulative total is not the journeyperson passing rate.

If you want the passing threshold itself rather than the population statistics, our breakdown of the MD-JE passing score covers what 49 of 70 means in practice, and the dedicated MD-JE pass rate page tracks this topic as new minutes appear.

The Exam Behind the Numbers

A pass rate only makes sense next to the test it describes. The Maryland journeyperson exam, delivered by PSI, has the following core structure, based on the Master and Journeyperson Electrician Qualification Information Bulletin (updated 9/1/2024, with an online-only application notice effective March 31, 2025).

Two details deserve emphasis. First, the unscored experimental questions mean you may see more than 70 items, but you will not know which ones do not count, so treat every question seriously. Second, the sources do not establish a fixed total item count or an aggregate appointment timer, so do not plan around a specific "total questions" number you may see quoted elsewhere.

For fee context across the whole process, see MD-JE Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.

Where the 70 Questions Come From

The bulletin's journeyperson outline has seven headings. The published allocations are question counts, not percentage weights: 20, 20, 12, 6, 4, 2 and 6, which total 70. That distinction matters. Domain 1 and Domain 2 each represent 20 of the 70 scored questions, and together they account for 40 of the 49 you need to pass if you look at them as a pool of available points.

For a full walkthrough of all seven content areas, read MD-JE Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 7 Content Areas. The key interpretive point for a pass-rate article is this: with Domains 1 and 2 carrying 40 of 70 questions, a candidate who is weak at theory math or at navigating NEC Articles 100 through 285 is exposed on the biggest share of the test, regardless of how well they know special occupancies.

Eligibility and Approval Shape Who Sits the Exam

Pass rates describe whoever is allowed to test. Maryland requires prior approval from the Board before you can schedule with PSI, and the application is online-only. The ordinary route requires four years of principally providing electrical services under a Maryland-licensed master electrician or a similarly qualified government employee, with experience evidence and approval.

For ordinary experience-route applicants on or after July 1, 2024, COMAR 09.09.03.02 also requires having held a current Board or local apprentice license for four years during the qualifying work period. That means the candidate pool is pre-filtered for field experience, which makes the reported failure rates more notable, not less. It also means a low pass rate does not simply reflect unprepared newcomers.

The Board also describes an approved-apprenticeship experience waiver involving 576 classroom hours, 8,000 work hours and a certificate issued within two years. That is an experience pathway, not an automatic exemption from the exam. Full details are in MD-JE Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.

The 2020 NEC Question and Why It Matters

The only reference named in the retrieved bulletin is NFPA 70, the 2020 National Electrical Code. It is not supplied at the test center, so you bring your own copy. That is a significant detail for anyone reading pass-rate commentary, because a candidate who prepares with the wrong Code edition can lose points on questions that hinge on article numbering or specific requirements.

The July 28, 2026 Board minutes describe 2026 NEC examination questions as still being developed. Proposals and anticipated development dates are not an effective replacement date. A 2026-dated commercial book, a generic "current NEC" FAQ or a proposed code-enforcement date is not proof that the Maryland journeyperson exam changed editions. Keep studying from the 2020 NEC, and revalidate against the PSI bulletin before you buy materials built on any other edition.

Open-book does not mean easy. The tab rules are strict:

• Indexing, highlighting and underlining are permitted.
• Handwritten notes, study guides and additional papers are prohibited.
• The bulletin names Avery Swift Tabs Self-Adhesive Permanent Plastic Tabs and Redi-Tag Self-Stick Permanent Adhesive Index Tabs.
• Removable flags and paper-insert tabs are prohibited, and tabs that can be removed without ripping the page must be removed.

Because Domains 2 and 3 are driven by Code navigation, time lost fumbling through an under-tabbed book is a real cost within a 210-minute window.

Failing Once: Retake Rules and Costs

Given the reported monthly results, many candidates will face a retest. Each attempt carries the USD 65 examination fee, and payment is valid for one year, nonrefundable and nontransferable. The waiting period, however, is a documented conflict in the sources:

Do not publish or commit to a rebooking date until the Board and PSI authorize it. Cancellation also matters: you must cancel at least two days in advance, and you should arrive 30 minutes early with matching valid photo and signature identification.

A Domain-Ordered Preparation Plan

Generic study advice does not fit an exam with 40 of 70 questions in two domains and an open-book Code requirement. Order your preparation by where the points are. The sequence below assumes a roughly six-week runway and is a template, not a guarantee.

The logic: Domains 5 and 6 together are only six questions, so they get the least time, while Domain 7 at six questions gets a short, targeted review. For a wider study framework, see the MD-JE Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and keep the MD-JE Cheat Sheet 2026 handy for quick fact review. When you are ready to test yourself on independently written questions, use the MD-JE practice tests.

After You Pass: The License Is a Separate Step

Passing the test does not itself issue the license. You then apply separately to the Board and provide supporting documents within 30 days of the license application, not 30 days from the examination date. Board original-license and renewal fees are USD 18.50 each, effective July 1, 2025, and are separate from the USD 65 exam fee.

Licenses run two years from issuance. Journeyperson renewal requires five qualifying continuing-education hours during the preceding 24 months plus the renewal fee. Eligible subjects include applicable NEC and local variants and relevant NFPA electrical-service standards. Do not apply master-level continuing-education rules to a journeyperson license.

On earnings, be careful. A single employer's salary listing is not a statewide benchmark and is not evidence of a license-related pay premium. If you are weighing the investment, our analyses of earnings and whether the credential is worth it discuss that question with appropriate caution, and MD-JE Exam Dates 2026 covers scheduling mechanics.

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