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Plumber shortage in South Dakota: the licensed-supply numbers
What the South Dakota register actually shows, by tier and per capita, updated nightly.
As of 2026-08-09, South Dakota carries 2,677 licensed plumbers
on its state register, or 291.2 per 100,000 residents.
2,677
licensed plumbers
291.2
per 100k residents
#12
density rank of 42
1.2
apprentice : journeyman
The apprentice-to-journeyman pipeline behind them runs at 1.2 in South Dakota, against 0.492 nationally, a read on whether the plumbers supply is being replenished.
By credential tier
Every plumber license on the South Dakota register, normalized to one ladder.
Tier
Licensed
Share
Apprentice
1,097
41%
Journeyman
916
34%
Contractor / business
664
25%
Against comparable states
States nearest South Dakota on licensed plumbers per capita.
State
Licensed plumbers
Per 100k
South Dakota
2,677
291.2
New Hampshire
4,709
335.9
Minnesota
17,925
312.4
West Virginia
5,514
311.5
Arkansas
8,846
288.4
Hawaii
3,329
232.0
Connecticut
7,110
196.6
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 South Dakota?
Reporting on the shortage rarely states how many are actually licensed. South Dakota carries 2,677 licensed plumbers on its register as of 2026-08-09, or 291.2 per 100,000 residents. Readers can weigh that supply against demand directly.
How many licensed plumbers does South Dakota have?
2,677 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.