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Plumber shortage in Maryland: the licensed-supply numbers

Everyone quotes the shortage. Here is the count Maryland actually has, by skill level and per resident, updated every night.

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As of October 6, 2026, Maryland carries 6,928 licensed plumbers on its state register, or 112.1 per 100,000 residents.

6,928
licensed plumbers
112.1
per 100k residents
#27
density rank of 32
2.18
apprentice : journeyman

The apprentice-to-journeyman pipeline behind them runs at 2.18 in Maryland, against 0.555 nationally, a read on whether the plumbers supply is being replenished.

What level they hold

Every plumber license on the Maryland register, normalized to one ladder.

TierLicensedShare
Apprentice3,52551%
Journeyman1,61723%
Master1,75025%
Inspector361%

How this compares to nearby states

States nearest Maryland on licensed plumbers per capita.

StateLicensed plumbersPer 100k
Maryland6,928112.1
Oregon6,584155.5
Kentucky6,313139.5
Illinois16,023127.7
Delaware93890.9
New Jersey5,23456.3
Mississippi1,29544.1
Counts, not a capacity opinion. We publish the licensed supply and the pipeline ratio; whether a market can absorb a given project is a judgment for the reader, not a claim we make.

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Common questions

Is there a plumbers shortage in Maryland?
Reporting on the shortage rarely states how many are actually licensed. Maryland carries 6,928 licensed plumbers on its register as of October 6, 2026, or 112.1 per 100,000 residents. Readers can weigh that supply against demand directly.
How many licensed plumbers does Maryland have?
6,928 on the state register as of October 6, 2026, including 1,750 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 pages

Count
How many plumbers in MarylandMarket
Maryland licensed trades supplyCorridor
Electricians and the data-center buildout
This number changes tonight.

This page is a free snapshot of Maryland. Track the same market every night and see which contractors just got licensed, added a trade, or dropped off, and pull the full record, with contact details where available, on any of them. Get the weekly intelligence email on the markets you follow. ATI is in private beta; apply for access.

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