Occupational licensing · education requirements
Which licenses demand the most training?
Averages drawn from every reporting state, not a hand-picked list. Compare apprenticeship and clinical paths before treating two reported hour totals as the same kind of training.
- Professions ranked
- 10
- Highest average
- 5,919 hrs
- Requirement records
- 4,947
- Data vintage
- 2026-05-15
The bar to make this top 10
Where the cutoff sits among all professions with reported education-hour data
3,459 Top 19% higher than 81% of 47 professions
professions with reported education-hour data, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more professions. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source NCSL Occupational Licensing Database · 2026-05-15
| # | Profession | Category | Avg. Hours | Range | States Reporting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psychologist | Mental Health | 5,919 | 5,000–6,973 | 51 |
| 2 | Electrician | Construction | 5,837 | 4,000–7,946 | 51 |
| 3 | Elevator Installer | Construction | 5,837 | 4,000–7,946 | 51 |
| 4 | Plumber | Construction | 5,837 | 4,000–7,946 | 51 |
| 5 | Veterinarian | Animal Care | 4,919 | 4,000–5,973 | 51 |
| 6 | Pharmacist | Healthcare | 4,689 | 4,000–5,480 | 51 |
| 7 | Optometrist | Healthcare | 4,459 | 4,000–4,986 | 51 |
| 8 | HVAC Technician | Construction | 3,837 | 2,000–5,946 | 51 |
| 9 | Physician Assistant | Healthcare | 3,689 | 3,000–4,480 | 51 |
| 10 | Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) | Mental Health | 3,459 | 3,000–3,986 | 51 |
Methodology Notes
Averages are computed live by grouping every state-profession requirement record with a non-null education-hours figure by profession, then averaging within each profession. The range column shows the lowest and highest state-reported figure for that profession; large ranges usually reflect states that count differently (for example, whether a degree program's total credit hours are converted 1:1 into "education hours" or only clinical/apprenticeship hours are counted). This ranking reflects hours as currently recorded in our database and does not distinguish classroom hours from supervised on-the-job or apprenticeship hours, both are summed under a single figure per state.
Caveats and Limitations
Reported hours exclude post-licensure continuing education and can differ in how a state's licensing board defines a countable "hour." Some professions license under different names in different states, and some states report a range or a degree requirement rather than a granular hour count, in those cases the requirement record uses the board's own stated figure. Users should verify current requirements with the relevant state licensing board before relying on a specific number. See the full profession directory for state-by-state detail.
Every figure on PlainCredential is rendered directly from NCSL and state occupational- licensing board data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on PlainCredential's own licensing-requirements database, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.