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Plumber shortage in Arkansas: the licensed-supply numbers
What the Arkansas register actually shows, by tier and per capita, updated nightly.
As of 2026-08-09, Arkansas carries 8,846 licensed plumbers
on its state register, or 288.4 per 100,000 residents.
8,846
licensed plumbers
288.4
per 100k residents
#13
density rank of 42
0.61
apprentice : journeyman
The apprentice-to-journeyman pipeline behind them runs at 0.61 in Arkansas, against 0.492 nationally, a read on whether the plumbers supply is being replenished.
By credential tier
Every plumber license on the Arkansas register, normalized to one ladder.
Tier
Licensed
Share
Apprentice
1,784
20%
Intermediate
683
8%
Journeyman
2,939
33%
Master
2,780
31%
Contractor / business
4
0%
Inspector
656
7%
Against comparable states
States nearest Arkansas on licensed plumbers per capita.
State
Licensed plumbers
Per 100k
Arkansas
8,846
288.4
Minnesota
17,925
312.4
West Virginia
5,514
311.5
South Dakota
2,677
291.2
Hawaii
3,329
232.0
Connecticut
7,110
196.6
Indiana
12,526
182.5
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 a plumbers shortage in Arkansas?
Reporting on the shortage rarely states how many are actually licensed. Arkansas carries 8,846 licensed plumbers on its register as of 2026-08-09, or 288.4 per 100,000 residents. Readers can weigh that supply against demand directly.
How many licensed plumbers does Arkansas have?
8,846 on the state register as of 2026-08-09, including 2,780 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.
New licenses, ladder upgrades, classification changes and lapses, by market and credential tier. Read the quarterly free, or license the underlying data.