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Plumber shortage in New Jersey: the licensed-supply numbers
What the New Jersey register actually shows, by tier and per capita, updated nightly.
As of 2026-08-09, New Jersey carries 6,931 licensed plumbers
on its state register, or 74.6 per 100,000 residents.
6,931
licensed plumbers
74.6
per 100k residents
#30
density rank of 42
0.04
apprentice : journeyman
The apprentice-to-journeyman pipeline behind them runs at 0.04 in New Jersey, against 0.492 nationally, a read on whether the plumbers supply is being replenished.
By credential tier
Every plumber license on the New Jersey register, normalized to one ladder.
Tier
Licensed
Share
Apprentice
5
0%
Journeyman
138
2%
Master
6,788
98%
Against comparable states
States nearest New Jersey on licensed plumbers per capita.
State
Licensed plumbers
Per 100k
New Jersey
6,931
74.6
Illinois
15,751
125.5
Maryland
6,521
105.5
Delaware
925
89.6
Virginia
5,618
64.5
Nebraska
1,087
54.9
Arizona
3,443
46.3
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 New Jersey?
Reporting on the shortage rarely states how many are actually licensed. New Jersey carries 6,931 licensed plumbers on its register as of 2026-08-09, or 74.6 per 100,000 residents. Readers can weigh that supply against demand directly.
How many licensed plumbers does New Jersey have?
6,931 on the state register as of 2026-08-09, including 6,788 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.