lapin_windstar

There can also be a big difference between the money you can make freelance and the money you can make as part of the union (it's usually more and they will look for jobs for you) - but you can't just show up and join the union.

Also, just because there isn't a state license, it doesn't mean there aren't local licenses. For instance, look here for the Pittsburgh Electrical Contact License rules: http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/bbi...s_license.html

You should look to see if your county (or the county/city you'd actually want to work in) has licenses. The links below suggest that if you get a Philadelphia license, a lot of the local townships/counties will also accept it. You might also need to show insurance proof and take a (brief) consumer law test, apparently.

Read through these links, too:

http://www.contractortalk.com/showthread.php?p=72445
http://www.contractortalk.com/showthread.php?t=20788

Don't get discouraged - I am sure if you are already a pro electrician that mastering the differences between the UK and US will not be that difficult - but it might take time. Perhaps if you can work with an existing contractor to learn the ropes under his/her license, that will make a lot easier (although you'd have to swallow a cut in pay from what you might be used to for a little while).

$80k is a decent wage, that's for sure - in the middle of nowhere in PA it's even more decenter (?).

Emma M

I was thinking more or less the same! We get by on just my hubby's wage and he earns around $30k a year, we live well on that!

nethead

Although I think it's a pretty decent wage and I'm sure they could live reasonably on it, the further north and east you get in PA the more expensive to live it is as it becomes an easier commute to NYC. And it looks like Doylestown is maybe an hour an half north of Philly.