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Electrician shortage in Wisconsin: the licensed-supply numbers

What the Wisconsin register actually shows, by tier and per capita, updated nightly.

As of 2026-08-09, Wisconsin carries 28,025 licensed electricians on its state register, or 474.1 per 100,000 residents.

28,025
licensed electricians
474.1
per 100k residents
#17
density rank of 41
0.25
apprentice : journeyman

The apprentice-to-journeyman pipeline behind them runs at 0.25 in Wisconsin, against 0.492 nationally, a read on whether the electricians supply is being replenished.

By credential tier

Every electrician license on the Wisconsin register, normalized to one ladder.

TierLicensedShare
Apprentice3,16711%
Intermediate6432%
Journeyman12,66745%
Master6,96825%
Contractor / business3,41012%
Inspector1,1704%

Against comparable states

States nearest Wisconsin on licensed electricians per capita.

StateLicensed electriciansPer 100k
Wisconsin28,025474.1
Vermont3,764581.3
Montana6,462570.4
Delaware5,163500.3
Michigan46,613464.4
Oklahoma17,577433.6
Connecticut14,883411.5
Counts, not a capacity opinion. We publish the licensed supply and the pipeline ratio; whether a market can absorb a given project is a judgement for the reader, not a claim we make.

Frequently asked

Is there an electricians shortage in Wisconsin?
Reporting on the shortage rarely states how many are actually licensed. Wisconsin carries 28,025 licensed electricians on its register as of 2026-08-09, or 474.1 per 100,000 residents. Readers can weigh that supply against demand directly.
How many licensed electricians does Wisconsin have?
28,025 on the state register as of 2026-08-09, including 6,968 at master level.
Where does the shortage narrative come from?
Industry analyses project national shortfalls of hundreds of thousands of skilled-trades workers against data-center and electrification demand. Those are demand-side estimates; the figure here is the licensed supply on the register today.

Related

Count
How many electricians in Wisconsin
Market
Wisconsin licensed trades supply
Corridor
Electricians and the data-center buildout
Track Wisconsin licensed supply as it moves.

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