What the State File Says About California Electrical Contractors
On Sep 24, 2026, 27,718 of the 29,175 California licenses with the C-10 Electrical class, 95.0%, had no suspension. A contractor bond problem caused most suspensions: 1,004 of 1,457. Among active licenses, 49.9% list no workers' comp policy and instead certify they have no employees.1,2
C-10 licenses with status CLEARHalf of active electrical licenses, 49.9%, rest on a no-employees exemption, and 48.5% have an insurance policy on file. One in four, 25.5%, was issued less than 5 years ago.1 Bond trouble, not missing insurance, is the main reason a C-10 license is suspended.
What the status column says
The License Master file lists licenses that are renewed, or expired but still renewable.2 No C-10 record in our snapshot has an expiration date before Sep 24, 2026. So the split that matters is CLEAR versus suspended.
CLEAR means the record shows no suspension. A suspended license cannot be used to contract. CSLB treats work done during a suspension as unlicensed.3 The most common reason is a contractor bond that does not meet the requirement: 1,004 of 1,457 suspensions. Workers' comp follows with 240.1 To read these fields on a single license, see Reading a CSLB License Record.
| Primary status | Licenses | Share |
|---|---|---|
| CLEAR (no suspension) | 27,718 | 95.0% |
| Contractor bond suspension | 1,004 | 3.4% |
| Workers' comp suspension | 240 | 0.8% |
| Liability insurance suspension | 61 | 0.2% |
| Other suspensions (14 types) | 152 | 0.5% |
| All licenses with this class | 29,175 | 100.0% |
Workers' comp: policy or exemption
Every license needs a workers' comp certificate on file, or a signed statement that the business has no employees.3 For electricians the exemption is still allowed. Five other classes, roofing among them, must carry coverage even with no employees.3 See What the State File Says About California Roofing Contractors for how that looks in the data.
The exemption share for C-10, 49.9%, is close to the share for all 230,478 active licenses in the file: 48.5%.1 SB 1455 (2024) set January 1, 2028 as the date when all licensees must hold workers' comp.4 More on what each entry means: Workers' Comp on a License.
| Coverage on file | Licenses | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Exemption (no employees certified) | 13,842 | 49.9% |
| Insurance policy on file | 13,454 | 48.5% |
| Workers supplied by a leasing firm or temp agency | 279 | 1.0% |
| No current coverage on file | 96 | 0.3% |
| Out-of-state coverage | 28 | 0.1% |
| Self-insured | 19 | 0.1% |
An exemption is a statement by the licensee. The file does not show whether it is true on a given job. If an electrician brings a crew, ask which coverage applies. Our checklist is in Hiring an Electrician.
How long licenses have existed
We measured years from the issue date to Sep 24, 2026. The median active C-10 license is 14.8 years old. One in four, 25.5%, was issued less than 5 years ago.1
| Years since issue | Licenses | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under 5 years | 7,081 | 25.5% |
| 5 to 9 years | 4,121 | 14.9% |
| 10 to 19 years | 6,329 | 22.8% |
| 20 to 29 years | 4,653 | 16.8% |
| 30 years or more | 5,534 | 20.0% |
Where license holders' mailing addresses are
The file gives one county per license: the county of the mailing address.1 Los Angeles County holds 23.8% of active C-10 licenses. Together with Orange, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino, the five counties hold 51.8%.
Another 1,178 active C-10 licenses, 4.2%, have a mailing address outside California and no county. A mailing address shows where a business gets its mail. It does not limit where it can work.
| County | Active C-10 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 6,609 | 23.8% |
| Orange | 2,434 | 8.8% |
| San Diego | 2,068 | 7.5% |
| Riverside | 1,899 | 6.9% |
| San Bernardino | 1,354 | 4.9% |
| Santa Clara | 1,083 | 3.9% |
| Sacramento | 1,034 | 3.7% |
| Alameda | 919 | 3.3% |
| Contra Costa | 760 | 2.7% |
| Ventura | 692 | 2.5% |
| Sonoma | 576 | 2.1% |
| San Francisco | 554 | 2.0% |
| San Mateo | 541 | 2.0% |
| Placer | 528 | 1.9% |
| Kern | 477 | 1.7% |
| Fresno | 465 | 1.7% |
| San Joaquin | 362 | 1.3% |
| San Luis Obispo | 322 | 1.2% |
| Stanislaus | 305 | 1.1% |
| Santa Barbara | 299 | 1.1% |
| Monterey | 291 | 1.0% |
| El Dorado | 262 | 0.9% |
| Solano | 261 | 0.9% |
| Marin | 248 | 0.9% |
| Santa Cruz | 248 | 0.9% |
| Tulare | 186 | 0.7% |
| Shasta | 163 | 0.6% |
| Nevada | 158 | 0.6% |
| Butte | 152 | 0.5% |
| Yolo | 102 | 0.4% |
| Napa | 100 | 0.4% |
| Madera | 98 | 0.4% |
| Humboldt | 94 | 0.3% |
| Mendocino | 94 | 0.3% |
| Merced | 94 | 0.3% |
| Imperial | 67 | 0.2% |
| Sutter | 59 | 0.2% |
| Tuolumne | 56 | 0.2% |
| Calaveras | 55 | 0.2% |
| San Benito | 53 | 0.2% |
| Amador | 49 | 0.2% |
| Kings | 46 | 0.2% |
| Lake | 43 | 0.2% |
| Yuba | 42 | 0.2% |
| Siskiyou | 40 | 0.1% |
| Tehama | 30 | 0.1% |
| Plumas | 27 | 0.1% |
| Mono | 26 | 0.1% |
| Mariposa | 23 | 0.1% |
| Lassen | 19 | 0.1% |
| Colusa | 15 | 0.1% |
| Inyo | 15 | 0.1% |
| Glenn | 14 | 0.1% |
| Trinity | 11 | under 0.1% |
| Del Norte | 10 | under 0.1% |
| Modoc | 3 | under 0.1% |
| Sierra | 3 | under 0.1% |
| Alpine | 2 | under 0.1% |
| Mailing address outside California | 1,178 | 4.2% |
All active C-10 licenses | 27,718 | 100.0% |
One license, several classes
34.4% of active C-10 licenses hold at least one more class. The most common pairing is B General Building, on 24.0% of them.1 Sole owners hold 46.1% of active C-10 licenses, corporations 45.9%. What each class allows: California License Classifications.
This is one snapshot, taken Sep 24, 2026. Status can change any day; check a single license on the CSLB site before you hire. The county is the mailing address, not where the work is done. A business can hold many classes, so C-10 counts overlap with other trades. Counts are licenses, not people or companies. We publish totals only, never names or license numbers.
Sources
- Legit Pages analysis of the CSLB License Master file, snapshot Sep 24, 2026 (244,908 license records). Counts by classification, status, county, workers' compensation type and issue date.
- Contractors State License Board, Master List of California Licensed Contractors (License Master file), https://www.cslb.ca.gov/onlineservices/dataportal/ContractorList.aspx, file downloaded Sep 24, 2026, page checked Oct 7, 2026.
- Contractors State License Board, Workers' Compensation, https://www.cslb.ca.gov/Contractors/Maintain_License/Workers_Compensation.aspx, accessed Oct 7, 2026.
- Contractors State License Board, Workers' Compensation Insurance Stakeholder Meeting packet, Nov 19, 2024 (SB 216, Chapter 978, Statutes of 2022; SB 1455, Chapter 485, Statutes of 2024), https://www.cslb.ca.gov/Resources/StakeholderAgendas/2024/WC_Stakeholder_Meeting_Agenda,_Packet_Nov_2024.pdf, accessed Oct 7, 2026.