Nebraska Apprenticeship Programs
Nebraska's registered-apprenticeship system is small — 6,000 active apprentices across 270 programs as of September 2026 — so its structure, not its size, is the story below.
- Active apprentices
- 6,000
- National rank
- #35 / 51
- Completion rate
- 62.5%
- Completion wage
- $27
Nebraska ranks #35 of 51 jurisdictions by active registered apprentices - about 0.7% of all U.S. registered apprentices. Its 62.5% completion rate sits 4.3 pts above the 58.2% national average, and apprentices who finish raise their pay by 83% - from $15 to $27 an hour.
Apprenticeship filing desk
Jurisdiction NE · Nebraska
Nebraska registered-apprenticeship filing: 6,000 active apprentices (rank 35/51), 270 programs, 62.5% completion.
- BOOK-SMALL 6,000
- RANK-LOWER #35
- PROG-SPARSE 270
- COMP-MID 62.5%
- WAGE-STRONG +83%
- SHARE-SMALL 0.7%
- NEW-FY 1,600
Nearest enrollment peer: South Carolina (500 apprentice gap)
U.S. Department of Labor registered-apprenticeship filing stamps for this jurisdiction. Read: future proof careers
Where Nebraska sits among all 51 jurisdictions
Enrollment by jurisdiction; Nebraska is marked near the small end. Inventory size is not a quality ranking.
Nebraska vs all states by active apprentices
Where this state's DOL registered-apprenticeship enrollment sits among every tracked jurisdiction
6,000 35th of 51 higher than 16 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 Nebraska'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: completion
If one figure defines this system it is follow-through: 62.5% completion, better than 88% of states.
Where the scale sits
6,000 active apprentices rank 35 of 51 nationally, 0.7% of all registered enrollment.
Many small programs
Enrollment is unusually distributed: 270 programs averaging 22.2 apprentices apiece against a 23.6 national norm. A long tail of small sponsors carries the system.
Fast intake pipeline
New registrations are running hot: 1,600 in the latest fiscal year equals 26.7% of the active base (national pace 25.9%). If completions keep up, this system is compounding.
Typical wage progression
Pay runs $14.50/hour at the start and $26.50 at completion — a 82.8% progression near the 82.7% norm.
Nebraska'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%
- Sheet Metal Worker 23%
- 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 Nebraska have?
About 6,000 active registered apprentices, one of the smaller state totals (rank 35 of 51), in roughly 270 programs.
What is the apprenticeship completion rate in Nebraska?
62.5% — 4.3 points above the 58.2% national average, one of the stronger completion records among the states.
How much do apprentices earn in Nebraska?
Entry wages average $14.50/hour, rising to about $26.50 at completion (82.8% growth).
What are the top apprenticeship trades in Nebraska?
The dataset's largest registered-apprenticeship occupations for Nebraska are Electrician, Plumber, Carpenter, Sheet Metal Worker, HVAC Mechanic — construction trades dominate registered apprenticeship in every state.
Is apprenticeship growing in Nebraska?
The intake numbers say yes: 1,600 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
Put these numbers to use
Use Nebraska's apprenticeship numbers above to plan a specific trade path, not just compare states.
- Weigh an apprenticeship path against a college degree with real wage and growth numbers. Apprenticeships vs college
- The full occupation directory covers wage and AI exposure for any specific trade. Browse all occupations
- Through 2034, these are the occupations projected to add the most jobs. Fastest-growing occupations
Enrollment and completion vary by program and year; these figures come from the U.S. Department of Labor's Registered Apprenticeship data.
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).