Construction Apprenticeship Statistics: Apprentices by Trade, State and Completion, FY2025

What do the latest construction apprenticeship statistics show?

FY2025 is the latest complete fiscal year. Construction-industry programs had 264,064 active apprentices, 110,450 new starts and 32,968 completers.

In FY2025 (October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025), 264,064 registered apprentices were active in programs sponsored by construction employers, according to the Department of Labor Apprentices by State dashboard. That is 38.0% of the 695,381 active apprentices in all industries.

Construction-industry programs registered 110,450 new apprentices, recorded 32,968 completions and 50,746 cancellations in FY2025 (RAPIDS dashboard data).

Registered apprenticeship: A program registered with the U.S. Department of Labor or a State Apprenticeship Agency that combines paid on-the-job learning, related instruction and a progressively increasing wage schedule, and ends with a nationally recognized credential.

Active, new, completer and cancelled: DOL counts an apprentice as active if they took part at any point in the fiscal year, new if they started in it, a completer if they finished in it, and cancelled if they left without completing in it.

How many construction apprentices are there in the U.S.?

Between 264,064 and 322,644 in FY2025, depending on whether apprentices are counted by employer industry or by occupation; DOL's headline figure is 480,399.

The dashboard gives two defensible counts. By sponsor industry (NAICS 23), there were 264,064 active construction apprentices in FY2025. By the apprentice's occupation, 322,644 were in construction and extraction occupations (SOC 47), including 314,925 in construction trades occupations (RAPIDS). The occupation count is larger partly because 98,669 apprentices in construction and extraction occupations have sponsors outside the construction industry or no industry code.

Both counts are floors. New York, Washington and Oregon report no records under the construction industry code, and 153,078 active apprentices nationwide have no occupation group recorded.

DOL's construction industry page reports 480,399 apprentices served in construction in 2025, a 28% increase over five years. That headline is 216,335 above the dashboard's industry count, and DOL does not publish how it is defined. Trade groups estimate 324,000 participants (ABC) and 313,000 to 336,000 active apprentices (IEC) for FY2025.

How has the number of construction apprentices changed since 2016?

Up 62.7% in active apprentices and 78.8% in new starts from FY2016 to FY2025, but slower than apprenticeship in other industries.

Active construction-industry apprentices rose from 162,347 in FY2016 to 264,064 in FY2025. Growth stalled between FY2019 and FY2022, when the count held near 202,363 to 205,363, then accelerated: up 30.5% from FY2020 to FY2025 (RAPIDS).

New starts dropped from 80,591 in FY2019 to 63,259 in FY2020 and reached 101,712 in FY2024. Across all industries, active apprentices grew 78.5% over the same decade, so construction's share fell from 41.7% to 38.0%.

Relative to the workforce, construction-industry apprentices rose from 24.1 to 31.9 per 1,000 construction employees between FY2016 and FY2025 (CB&C calculation using BLS CES employment).

What is the most common construction apprenticeship?

Electrician: 116,957 active apprentices in FY2025, more than plumbers and pipefitters (57,418) and carpenters (33,972) combined.

Electricians are the largest registered apprenticeship occupation in the United States in any industry. In FY2025 they accounted for 116,957 active apprentices, 42,800 new starts and 14,450 completers (RAPIDS, SOC detailed groups).

Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters follow with 57,418 active apprentices, then carpenters (33,972), construction laborers (32,734), line installers (20,809) and sheet metal workers (14,039).

Relative to the size of each trade, apprenticeship is most concentrated among elevator installers (252.8 active apprentices per 1,000 jobs), structural iron and steel workers (151.0) and electricians (142.5), and least among painters (17.6) and construction equipment operators (20.4), where most workers learn on the job outside registered programs (BLS employment, 2025).

Are enough construction apprentices starting to fill projected openings?

Not in most trades: 21.5 new construction-occupation apprentices started in FY2025 for every 100 openings BLS projects each year.

BLS projects 587,000 openings a year in construction and extraction occupations from 2025 to 2035, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers (BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.10). Registered programs started 126,349 apprentices in those occupations in FY2025 and graduated 41,621, or 7.1 completers per 100 openings.

The ratio varies by trade. Elevator installers (75.3 new apprentices per 100 openings), structural iron and steel workers (67.9) and electricians (58.9) rely heavily on registered programs. Carpenters (21.3), roofers (29.0), construction laborers (16.1), HVAC mechanics (11.1) and painters (9.1) fill most openings through other routes.

Openings count every hire into an occupation, including experienced workers moving between employers' payrolls and trainees from schools, so a ratio below 100 does not by itself measure a shortage. For the demand side, see the construction labor shortage tracker.

How many construction apprentices finish their program?

44.6% of the FY2024 construction cohort completed within a year of the expected end date, slightly below the 46.5% all-industry rate.

DOL's completion-rate dashboard reports a construction-industry completion rate of 44.6% for the FY2024 cohort, with 29,357 completers in the numerator. The all-industry rate was 46.5%.

The construction rate was 46.2% for the FY2013 cohort, dropped to 39.8% for FY2021 and recovered to 44.6% for FY2024.

Completion rate (Circular 2026-03): Apprentices in a cohort who complete by their expected completion date plus one year, divided by the cohort minus those who left during the probationary period (DOL Circular 2026-03).

Annual flows tell a similar story. In FY2025, construction-industry programs recorded 50,746 cancellations against 32,968 completions, 1.54 cancellations per completion, and 29.8 completions per 100 new starts. These flows mix cohorts that started years apart, so they are not completion rates.

Which states have the most construction apprentices?

Texas (25,932), California (21,510), Illinois (18,582), Ohio (17,836) and Indiana (16,970) by count; Hawaii and Arkansas per worker.

By number of active construction-industry apprentices in FY2025, the top five states were Texas (25,932), California (21,510), Illinois (18,582), Ohio (17,836) and Indiana (16,970). Another 5,871 were in multi-state programs registered with DOL's national office (RAPIDS, state workload view).

Scaled to construction employment, Hawaii (126.7 apprentices per 1,000 construction employees), Arkansas (121.8), Indiana (97.0) and Rhode Island (90.2) rank highest. North Carolina (8.7) and Maine (9.9) rank lowest among states with usable data. Texas, the largest by count, has 28.8 per 1,000 (BLS CES state employment, 2025).

How long is a construction apprenticeship?

Most construction apprenticeships last 4 or 5 years; federal rules set a floor of 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning for time-based programs.

BLS reports that most electricians and most plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters train through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship, with about 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training each year plus technical instruction (OOH: Electricians; OOH: Plumbers).

Federal program standards require a term of at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning for time-based programs, or a competency-based or hybrid term (29 CFR 29.5). DOL's completion-rate method allows one extra year beyond the expected end date (Circular 2026-03). Career paths into these trades are covered on the construction careers page.

Do construction apprentices get paid?

Yes. Registered programs must pay a rising wage; the median recorded wage of active construction-industry apprentices was $20.00 an hour in FY2025.

Every registered program must include a progressively increasing schedule of wages, with an entry wage of at least the applicable minimum wage (29 CFR 29.5).

In FY2025, the median hourly wage recorded in RAPIDS was $20.00 for active construction-industry apprentices, $21.34 for new apprentices in construction and extraction occupations and $38.77 for those completing in those occupations (RAPIDS). Union apprentices in construction-industry programs had a median of $20.80, against $17.00 for non-union apprentices.

For comparison, BLS reports a May 2025 median annual wage of $63,190 for electricians and $60,580 for carpenters (OOH; OOH). Apprentice wage data are recorded by sponsors and some groups show implausible values, so treat RAPIDS medians as indicative.

Who are construction apprentices?

Mostly young and mostly in union programs: 51.1% were 24 or under and 67.7% were in union programs in FY2025.

• Age: 134,865 of 264,064 active construction-industry apprentices (51.1%) were 24 or under in FY2025 (RAPIDS).
• Program type: 178,684 (67.7%) were in union programs and 82,778 in non-union programs; IEC puts the union share at nearly 68% (IEC). Membership data are on the construction union membership page.
• Sex: 13,470 (5.1%) were women; see women in construction for workforce-wide figures.

North America's Building Trades Unions says its programs had a record 316,000 registered apprentices in 2025 and over 88,000 new apprentices that year (NABTU; NABTU). These are the union's own figures and are not directly comparable with RAPIDS counts.

Why do construction apprentice counts differ by source?

Because sources count by employer industry, by occupation, by program affiliation or by an unpublished definition.

• Industry vs occupation: the dashboard's construction industry (264,064) counts sponsors in NAICS 23; SOC 47 (322,644) counts trades apprentices with any employer.
• Coverage: some State Apprenticeship Agencies report aggregates or leave industry and occupation blank, which removes their apprentices from industry and occupation counts.
• Active vs point-in-time: DOL's active measure counts anyone enrolled at any time in the year, so it exceeds a count on a single date.
• Union and trade-group figures cover their own programs or use their own estimation methods.

Earlier DOL reports used a point-in-time active count; since FY2021 DOL also reports total apprentices served (DOL FY2021 statistics page).

The numbers in one list

1. 264,064 active registered apprentices were in construction-industry programs in the United States in FY2025 (DOL RAPIDS dashboard).^[2]
2. 110,450 people started a construction-industry registered apprenticeship in FY2025, up 78.8% from 61,771 in FY2016.^[2]
3. 32,968 construction-industry apprentices completed in FY2025, up 111.6% from 15,583 in FY2016.^[2]
4. 322,644 active apprentices were in construction and extraction occupations (SOC 47) in FY2025 across all sponsor industries.^[2]
5. Electricians had 116,957 active apprentices nationwide in FY2025, the most of any occupation in the registered apprenticeship system.^[2]
6. The FY2024 construction cohort completion rate was 44.6%, against 46.5% for all industries (DOL completion-rate dashboard).^[4]
7. The construction completion rate fell from 46.2% (FY2013 cohort) to a low of 39.8% (FY2021) before recovering to 44.6% (FY2024).^[4]
8. There were 31.9 construction-industry apprentices per 1,000 construction employees in FY2025, up from 24.1 in FY2016 (CB&C calculation).^[2][12]
9. Texas (25,932) and California (21,510) had the most construction-industry apprentices in FY2025; New York, Washington and Oregon report none under the industry code.^[2]
10. Electrician new starts (42,800) equal 58.9 per 100 projected annual openings; carpenters 21.3, HVAC 11.1 and construction laborers 16.1.^[2][10]
11. 67.7% of active construction-industry apprentices were in union programs in FY2025 (178,684 of 264,064).^[2]
12. The median recorded hourly wage of active construction-industry apprentices was $20.00 in FY2025; apprentices completing in construction occupations had a median of $38.77.^[2]
13. DOL's own construction page reports 480,399 apprentices served in 2025, 216,335 more than the dashboard's construction-industry active count; DOL does not publish the headline's definition.^[6][2]

Calculations

Download the calculations (CSV)

Summary

• 264,064 registered apprentices were active in construction-industry programs in FY2025, 38.0% of 695,381 apprentices across all industries (DOL RAPIDS).
• Counted by occupation instead of sponsor industry, 322,644 active apprentices were in construction and extraction occupations in FY2025, 46.4% of all apprentices.
• Electricians are the largest construction apprenticeship, with 116,957 active apprentices in FY2025, about twice the 57,418 in plumbing and pipefitting.
• Construction-industry active apprentices grew 62.7% from FY2016 to FY2025, slower than the 78.5% growth across all industries, so construction's share fell from 41.7% to 38.0%.
• 44.6% of the FY2024 construction cohort completed on time, 1.9 percentage points below the all-industry rate of 46.5%.
• In FY2025, construction-industry programs recorded 50,746 cancellations and 32,968 completions, 1.54 cancellations per completion.
• New apprentices in construction and extraction occupations (126,349) equal 21.5 per 100 of the 587,000 openings BLS projects each year from 2025 to 2035.

Frequently asked questions

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Methodology

Selection: Tier 1 government sources were used for every count. Apprentice counts come from DOL's Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Database System (RAPIDS) as published in the Apprentices by State and Completion Rate Analysis dashboards on Apprenticeship.gov. CB&C read the dashboards' underlying Tableau Public views on 2026-10-07 and saved every extract in raw/. Employment comes from BLS Current Employment Statistics and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2025 to 2035 (released 2026-08-27).

Inclusion and exclusion: construction is defined two ways and both are shown: sponsor industry (NAICS 23) and apprentice occupation (SOC 47 and detailed SOC groups). The trades table counts apprentices in all industries. Trade-group and union figures are shown only as published headlines. Australian and other non-U.S. counts that rank for the same searches were excluded.

Conflicts: DOL's construction page reports 480,399 apprentices served in 2025, a figure DOL does not define and that the dashboard does not reproduce. It is reported separately and not used in calculations.

Derived metrics: apprentices per 1,000 employees divide fiscal-year apprentice counts by calendar-year average CES employment. New apprentices per 100 openings divide FY2025 new starts by BLS projected annual openings. State ratios use CES state construction employment (mining, logging and construction for Delaware, the District of Columbia and Hawaii). All formulas and inputs are in derived_metrics.csv.

Limitations: RAPIDS coverage is incomplete for State Apprenticeship Agencies that report aggregates. New York, Washington and Oregon have no construction-industry records and 22% of active apprentices have no occupation group, so all construction counts are lower bounds. Eight states are excluded from state rankings. Wage fields are sponsor-entered and some medians are implausible. The completion-rate dashboard is labelled BETA. FY2026 counts are partial (through 2026-09-03).

Last updated 2026-10-07. Next update: after DOL refreshes the dashboard with complete FY2026 data.

This report presents published data with its limitations. It is not legal, financial or investment advice.

Sources, ranked by quality

Tier 1: primary and official sources (17)

• [1] U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship (Apprenticeship.gov). Apprentices by State Dashboard (FY2016 to FY2026, data through 2026-09-03). FY2016 to FY2026 (through 2026-09-03). Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [2] U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship. Apprentices by State, Tableau Public workbook behind the DOL dashboard (RAPIDS). FY2016 to FY2026 (through 2026-09-03). Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [3] U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship (Apprenticeship.gov). Apprentice Completion Rate Analysis (BETA) dashboard. FY2013 to FY2024 cohorts. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [4] U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship. Completion Rate Analysis, Tableau Public workbook behind the DOL dashboard. FY2013 to FY2024 cohorts. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [5] U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship. Circular No. 2026-03: Registered Apprenticeship Program Completion Rates. issued 2026-03-09. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [6] U.S. Department of Labor, Apprenticeship.gov. Apprenticeship Industries: Construction. FY2025. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [7] U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. Construction industry fact sheet (updated February 2026). FY2021 to FY2025. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [8] U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. Registered Apprenticeship data and statistics (FY2021 national results and measure definitions). FY2021. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [9] U.S. Department of Labor. US Department of Labor issues guidance on Registered Apprenticeship (news release, 2026-03-09). 2026-03-09. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [10] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Projections, Table 1.10: Occupational separations and openings, projected 2025 to 2035. 2025 to 2035 (released 2026-08-27). Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [11] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Projections, occupation.xlsx (Tables 1.2 and 1.10). 2025 to 2035 (released 2026-08-27). Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [12] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics, construction all employees (CEU2000000001), annual averages. 2015 to 2025 annual averages. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [13] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. State and Area Employment (CES), construction all employees by state, 2025 (BLS Public Data API). January to December 2025. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [14] Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (National Archives). 29 CFR 29.5: Program standards. current regulation, accessed 2026-10-07. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [15] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Electricians. 2025 to 2035 edition. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [16] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters. 2025 to 2035 edition. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [17] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Carpenters. 2025 to 2035 edition. Accessed 2026-10-07.

Tier 2: trade bodies, market research, company data (4)

• [18] tED magazine (reporting Associated Builders and Contractors). Merit Shop Apprenticeship Program Enrollment Up 60% (reports ABC's FY2025 estimate). FY2025. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [19] Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC). Merit Shop Apprenticeship Growth Accelerates, but Construction Workforce Gap Persists. FY2025 (published 2026-04-13). Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [20] North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU). NABTU statement on National Apprenticeship Day 2025. 2025. Accessed 2026-10-07.
• [21] North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU). Building Trades union membership in the U.S. continues to grow despite industry disruption. 2025. Accessed 2026-10-07.