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Plumber shortage in Illinois: the licensed-supply numbers
What the Illinois register actually shows, by tier and per capita, updated nightly.
As of 2026-08-09, Illinois carries 15,751 licensed plumbers
on its state register, or 125.5 per 100,000 residents.
15,751
licensed plumbers
125.5
per 100k residents
#27
density rank of 42
0.46
apprentice : journeyman
The apprentice-to-journeyman pipeline behind them runs at 0.46 in Illinois, against 0.492 nationally, a read on whether the plumbers supply is being replenished.
By credential tier
Every plumber license on the Illinois register, normalized to one ladder.
Tier
Licensed
Share
Apprentice
3,949
25%
Journeyman
8,524
54%
Contractor / business
3,013
19%
Inspector
265
2%
Against comparable states
States nearest Illinois on licensed plumbers per capita.
State
Licensed plumbers
Per 100k
Illinois
15,751
125.5
Alabama
7,867
154.0
Oregon
6,346
149.9
Kentucky
6,298
139.1
Maryland
6,521
105.5
Delaware
925
89.6
New Jersey
6,931
74.6
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 Illinois?
Reporting on the shortage rarely states how many are actually licensed. Illinois carries 15,751 licensed plumbers on its register as of 2026-08-09, or 125.5 per 100,000 residents. Readers can weigh that supply against demand directly.
How many licensed plumbers does Illinois have?
15,751 on the state register as of 2026-08-09.
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.