This page is a free snapshot. Track the same market as it changes, every night: new licenses, contractors adding a trade, and companies going dark.Start tracking
Plumber shortage in Oklahoma: the licensed-supply numbers
What the Oklahoma register actually shows, by tier and per capita, updated nightly.
As of 2026-08-09, Oklahoma carries 6,985 licensed plumbers
on its state register, or 172.3 per 100,000 residents.
6,985
licensed plumbers
172.3
per 100k residents
#21
density rank of 42
2.51
apprentice : journeyman
The apprentice-to-journeyman pipeline behind them runs at 2.51 in Oklahoma, against 0.492 nationally, a read on whether the plumbers supply is being replenished.
By credential tier
Every plumber license on the Oklahoma register, normalized to one ladder.
Tier
Licensed
Share
Apprentice
4,257
61%
Journeyman
1,693
24%
Contractor / business
1,015
15%
Inspector
20
0%
Against comparable states
States nearest Oklahoma on licensed plumbers per capita.
State
Licensed plumbers
Per 100k
Oklahoma
6,985
172.3
Michigan
17,967
179.0
Rhode Island
1,901
173.5
Wisconsin
10,198
172.5
Montana
1,900
167.7
Utah
5,722
167.4
Alabama
7,867
154.0
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 Oklahoma?
Reporting on the shortage rarely states how many are actually licensed. Oklahoma carries 6,985 licensed plumbers on its register as of 2026-08-09, or 172.3 per 100,000 residents. Readers can weigh that supply against demand directly.
How many licensed plumbers does Oklahoma have?
6,985 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.