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Plumber shortage in Maryland: the licensed-supply numbers
What the Maryland register actually shows, by tier and per capita, updated nightly.
As of 2026-08-09, Maryland carries 6,521 licensed plumbers
on its state register, or 105.5 per 100,000 residents.
6,521
licensed plumbers
105.5
per 100k residents
#28
density rank of 42
0.98
apprentice : journeyman
The apprentice-to-journeyman pipeline behind them runs at 0.98 in Maryland, against 0.492 nationally, a read on whether the plumbers supply is being replenished.
By credential tier
Every plumber license on the Maryland register, normalized to one ladder.
Tier
Licensed
Share
Apprentice
3,210
49%
Journeyman
3,274
50%
Master
24
0%
Inspector
13
0%
Against comparable states
States nearest Maryland on licensed plumbers per capita.
State
Licensed plumbers
Per 100k
Maryland
6,521
105.5
Oregon
6,346
149.9
Kentucky
6,298
139.1
Illinois
15,751
125.5
Delaware
925
89.6
New Jersey
6,931
74.6
Virginia
5,618
64.5
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 Maryland?
Reporting on the shortage rarely states how many are actually licensed. Maryland carries 6,521 licensed plumbers on its register as of 2026-08-09, or 105.5 per 100,000 residents. Readers can weigh that supply against demand directly.
How many licensed plumbers does Maryland have?
6,521 on the state register as of 2026-08-09, including 24 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.