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Plumber shortage in Texas: the licensed-supply numbers

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

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As of August 18, 2026, Texas carries 66,699 licensed plumbers on its state register, or 218.7 per 100,000 residents.

66,699
licensed plumbers
218.7
per 100k residents
#14
density rank of 40
1.12
apprentice : journeyman

The apprentice-to-journeyman pipeline behind them runs at 1.12 in Texas, against 0.51 nationally, a read on whether the plumbers supply is being replenished.

What level they hold

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

TierLicensedShare
Apprentice27,08841%
Intermediate2,9604%
Journeyman24,24836%
Master3,7366%
Contractor / business8,66713%

How this compares to nearby states

States nearest Texas on licensed plumbers per capita.

StateLicensed plumbersPer 100k
Texas66,699218.7
South Dakota2,677291.2
Arkansas8,849288.5
Hawaii3,331232.1
Connecticut7,126197.0
Louisiana8,337182.3
Michigan18,036179.7
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.

Common questions

Is there a plumbers shortage in Texas?
Reporting on the shortage rarely states how many are actually licensed. Texas carries 66,699 licensed plumbers on its register as of August 18, 2026, or 218.7 per 100,000 residents. Readers can weigh that supply against demand directly.
How many licensed plumbers does Texas have?
66,699 on the state register as of August 18, 2026, including 3,736 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 TexasMarket
Texas licensed trades supplyCorridor
Electricians and the data-center buildout
This number changes tonight.

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