How many people are in apprenticeships in the US?

There are over 830,000 apprentices, and they’re becoming more popular — the number of new apprentices increased by 82.1% between 2008 and 2021.

Published Fri, February 2, 2024 by the USAFacts Team

Home / Education / Articles / How many people are in apprenticeships in the US?

An apprenticeship is a training program that organizations use to recruit and train (or retrain) people for long-term employment. There were 593,690 active registered apprentices and 241,849 new apprentices in the US in 2021, the latest available Labor Department data.

The department’s Office of Apprenticeships provides registered apprenticeships for workers seeking higher-skilled, higher-paying jobs. These are paid roles that combine supervised on-the-job training with job-related education. It also helps program sponsors for registered apprenticeships in private industry and education to create and implement programs across a range of sectors including healthcare, cybersecurity, information technology, transportation, financial services, advanced manufacturing, hospitality, telecommunications, construction, and energy.

How have apprenticeships changed over time?

There were 22% more active apprentices in 2021 than the previous 10-year average. The number of new apprentices increased by 82.1% between 2008 and 2021.

“Active” apprentices are people currently enrolled in an ongoing registered apprenticeship, while “new” apprentices are people just entering the national apprenticeship system.

How many people work in the trades?

Which states have the most people in active apprenticeships?

In 2021, the number of active apprenticeships per state ranged from Wyoming’s low of 412 to California’s high of 79,494.

Adjusting for population, the states with the most active apprentices per 100,000 people were Hawaii at 644.1, followed by West Virginia (357.6), and Indiana (355.5). Washington, DC, had nearly 1,200 per 100,000 people.