Colorado Apprenticeship Programs
As of September 2026, Colorado fields 16,000 active apprentices across 640 registered programs, a mid-sized system with 56.7% completion.
- Active apprentices
- 16,000
- National rank
- #18 / 51
- Completion rate
- 56.7%
- Completion wage
- $31
Colorado ranks #18 of 51 jurisdictions by active registered apprentices - about 1.9% of all U.S. registered apprentices. Its 56.7% completion rate sits 1.5 pts below the 58.2% national average, and apprentices who finish raise their pay by 82% - from $17 to $31 an hour.
Apprenticeship filing desk
Jurisdiction CO · Colorado
Colorado registered-apprenticeship filing: 16,000 active apprentices (rank 18/51), 640 programs, 56.7% completion.
- BOOK-MID 16,000
- RANK-MID #18
- PROG-MID 640
- COMP-MID 56.7%
- WAGE-STRONG +82%
- SHARE-SMALL 1.9%
- NEW-FY 4,100
Nearest enrollment peer: Arizona (500 apprentice gap)
U.S. Department of Labor registered-apprenticeship filing stamps for this jurisdiction. Read: fastest growing occupations 2034
Where Colorado sits among all 51 jurisdictions
Enrollment by jurisdiction with Colorado marked mid-field. Inventory size is not a quality ranking.
Colorado vs all states by active apprentices
Where this state's DOL registered-apprenticeship enrollment sits among every tracked jurisdiction
16,000 18th of 51 higher than 33 of 51 states
States and territories, banded by active apprentices
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Labor registered-apprenticeship data · 2026-09-25
Source: U.S. Department of Labor registered-apprenticeship data, compiled by PlainWorkforce.
Reading Colorado's numbers
What stands out in this state's DOL filing, most distinctive first. Every figure below is computed from the state's own row in the dataset.
The signature stat: intake
What separates Colorado is a slow front door: new registrations equal just 25.6% of the active base, a slower pipeline than 75% of states.
Where the scale sits
16,000 active apprentices rank 18 of 51 nationally, 1.9% of all registered enrollment.
Completion near the average
A 56.7% completion rate holds within two points of the national average (58.2%).
Fewer, larger programs
The state's 640 registered programs average 25 apprentices each, above the 23.6 national norm — enrollment concentrates in larger sponsors rather than spreading across many small ones.
Typical wage progression
Pay runs $17.00/hour at the start and $31.00 at completion — a 82.4% progression near the 82.7% norm.
Colorado's largest registered-apprenticeship occupations, ranked by AI-exposure score, most sit well below the 37% occupation-wide average (the dotted line), which is exactly why the trades are AI-resilient. Bars link to the full occupation profile where tracked.
- Electrician 13%
- Operating Engineer 25%
- Plumber 27%
- Carpenter 28%
- HVAC Mechanic -
AI-exposure scores are PlainWorkforce's analysis of O*NET task data; the 37% line is the average across all 832 tracked occupations. Lower = more AI-resilient.
Frequently asked questions
How many apprentices does Colorado have?
Colorado reports about 16,000 active registered apprentices in 640 programs, ranking 18 of 51 jurisdictions.
What is the apprenticeship completion rate in Colorado?
Roughly 56.7%, effectively at the national average of 58.2%.
How much do apprentices earn in Colorado?
Entry wages average $17.00/hour, rising to about $31.00 at completion (82.4% growth).
What are the top apprenticeship trades in Colorado?
The dataset's largest registered-apprenticeship occupations for Colorado are Electrician, Plumber, Carpenter, HVAC Mechanic, Operating Engineer — construction trades dominate registered apprenticeship in every state.
Why is Colorado's apprentice pipeline slow?
The data shows the symptom, not the cause: 4,100 new registrations against 16,000 active apprentices is a 25.6% intake ratio, bottom-tercile nationally. The dataset does not record why sponsors register fewer new apprentices here.
Compare other states
Put these numbers to use
Use Colorado's apprenticeship numbers above to plan a specific trade path, not just compare states.
- Real wage and growth numbers weigh an apprenticeship path against a college degree. Apprenticeships vs college
- Browse the full occupation directory to check wage and AI exposure for a specific trade. Browse all occupations
- Through 2034, these are the occupations projected to add the most jobs. Fastest-growing occupations
U.S. Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship data is the source here; enrollment and completion both vary by program and year.
Every figure on PlainWorkforce is rendered directly from BLS/O*NET source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Enrollment and wage figures are rounded. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these figures, or report a data error. Data current as of U.S. Department of Labor, Registered Apprenticeship.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Registered Apprenticeship (active apprentices, registered programs, completion rates, and wages by state), O*NET (occupation task data, for the linked AI-exposure scores).