District of Columbia Apprenticeship Programs
District of Columbia's registered-apprenticeship system is small — 1,800 active apprentices across 92 programs as of September 2026 — so its structure, not its size, is the story below.
- Active apprentices
- 1,800
- National rank
- #51 / 51
- Completion rate
- 57.5%
- Completion wage
- $38
District of Columbia ranks #51 of 51 jurisdictions by active registered apprentices - about 0.2% of all U.S. registered apprentices. Its 57.5% completion rate sits 0.7 pts below the 58.2% national average, and apprentices who finish raise their pay by 85% - from $21 to $38 an hour.
Apprenticeship filing desk
Jurisdiction DI · District of Columbia
District of Columbia registered-apprenticeship filing: 1,800 active apprentices (rank 51/51), 92 programs, 57.5% completion.
- BOOK-TRACE 1,800
- RANK-LOWER #51
- PROG-SPARSE 92
- COMP-MID 57.5%
- WAGE-STRONG +85%
- SHARE-SMALL 0.2%
- NEW-FY 480
Nearest enrollment peer: Wyoming (100 apprentice gap)
U.S. Department of Labor registered-apprenticeship filing stamps for this jurisdiction. Read: fastest growing occupations 2034
Where District of Columbia sits among all 51 jurisdictions
Enrollment by jurisdiction; District of Columbia is marked near the small end. Inventory size is not a quality ranking.
District of Columbia vs all states by active apprentices
Where this state's DOL registered-apprenticeship enrollment sits among every tracked jurisdiction
1,800 51st of 51 the lowest 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 District of Columbia'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: scale
The defining constraint is scale: 1,800 active apprentices, fewer than 100% of states.
Many small programs
Enrollment is unusually distributed: 92 programs averaging 19.6 apprentices apiece against a 23.6 national norm. A long tail of small sponsors carries the system.
Completion near the average
A 57.5% completion rate holds within two points of the national average (58.2%).
Strong wage progression
Wages move further here than in most states: $20.50/hour at entry to $38.00 at completion, a 85.4% climb versus the 82.7% national norm.
Fast intake pipeline
New registrations are running hot: 480 in the latest fiscal year equals 26.7% of the active base (national pace 25.9%). If completions keep up, this system is compounding.
District of Columbia'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%
- Iron Worker -
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 District of Columbia have?
About 1,800 active registered apprentices, one of the smaller state totals (rank 51 of 51), in roughly 92 programs.
What is the apprenticeship completion rate in District of Columbia?
Roughly 57.5%, effectively at the national average of 58.2%.
How much do apprentices earn in District of Columbia?
Starting pay averages $20.50/hour and completion pay $38.00 — a 85.4% increase, among the strongest wage progressions of any state.
What are the top apprenticeship trades in District of Columbia?
The dataset's largest registered-apprenticeship occupations for District of Columbia are Electrician, Plumber, Iron Worker, Operating Engineer, Carpenter — construction trades dominate registered apprenticeship in every state.
Is apprenticeship growing in District of Columbia?
The intake numbers say yes: 480 new apprentices registered in the latest fiscal year, 26.7% of the current active base and above the 25.9% national pace.
Compare other states
Next steps here
Use District of Columbia's apprenticeship numbers above to plan a specific trade path, not just compare states.
- Compare an apprenticeship path against a college degree using real wage and growth numbers. 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
Apprenticeship figures come from U.S. Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship data; enrollment and completion 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).