Home / General Contractors / West Virginia
Home / General Contractors / West Virginia
How to become a general contractor in West Virginia
Most general contractors in West Virginia start in an apprenticeship or a helper job and learn on the job. The contractor license comes later, if you run your own business.
Pick your way in
Earn while you learn
A program hires you, pays you on the job and runs your classes.
- Pay
- From day one
- In WV
- 4 registered programs
Classroom first
Learn the basics, then find work to log your hours.
- Pay
- You pay tuition
- In WV
- 3 schools with programs
Start on a crew
Get hired as a helper by a licensed general contractor and log hours on the job.
- Pay
- Paid on the job
- Start
- No experience needed
The license steps
Get hired or start training
Join a registered apprenticeship, take a trade school program, or work as a helper for a licensed contractor.
Work as a general contractor
Run your own shop
West Virginia sets no work-experience requirement for the license; you qualify by passing the exams.
- Issued by
- West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board
$80,060
a year is the median for general contractors in West Virginia ($38.49 an hour, May 2025).3
Pay by city and percentile- Wheeling$46.79
- Beckley$46.75
- Charleston$38.18
- Weirton–Steubenville$37.50
- Morgantown$36.27
Questions
Do you need a license to work on your own as a general contractor in West Virginia?
Yes. West Virginia licenses general contractors through the West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board.1
Are general contractors in demand in West Virginia?
Projections Central expects about 480 general contractor openings a year in West Virginia through 2034, counting new jobs and people leaving the trade.2
Find an apprenticeship near you
4 registered programs in West Virginia. Enter your ZIP to see the closest ones and what they ask for.
Find a programMore for general contractors in West Virginia
Sources
- West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board contractor licensing (wvclboard.wv.gov, 2026-10-27)
- Projections Central, long-term occupational projections 2024-2034 (projectionscentral.org, 2024-2034)
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, West Virginia, May 2025 (bls.gov, May 2025)