New Jersey Apprenticeship Programs
As of September 2026, New Jersey operates one of the larger registered-apprenticeship systems in the country: 18,000 active apprentices in 720 programs, with completion pay near $34.00/hour.
- Active apprentices
- 18,000
- National rank
- #16 / 51
- Completion rate
- 58.1%
- Completion wage
- $34
New Jersey ranks #16 of 51 jurisdictions by active registered apprentices - about 2.1% of all U.S. registered apprentices. Its 58.1% completion rate sits 0.1 pts below the 58.2% national average, and apprentices who finish raise their pay by 81% - from $19 to $34 an hour.
Apprenticeship filing desk
Jurisdiction NE · New Jersey
New Jersey registered-apprenticeship filing: 18,000 active apprentices (rank 16/51), 720 programs, 58.1% completion.
- BOOK-MID 18,000
- RANK-MID #16
- PROG-MID 720
- COMP-MID 58.1%
- WAGE-STRONG +81%
- SHARE-SMALL 2.1%
- NEW-FY 4,600
Nearest enrollment peer: North Carolina (500 apprentice gap)
U.S. Department of Labor registered-apprenticeship filing stamps for this jurisdiction. Read: fastest growing occupations 2034
Where New Jersey sits among all 51 jurisdictions
Enrollment by jurisdiction; New Jersey sits in the top tercile. Inventory size is not a quality ranking.
New Jersey vs all states by active apprentices
Where this state's DOL registered-apprenticeship enrollment sits among every tracked jurisdiction
18,000 16th of 51 higher than 35 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 New Jersey'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 New Jersey is a slow front door: new registrations equal just 25.6% of the active base, a slower pipeline than 80% of states.
Where the scale sits
18,000 active apprentices rank 16 of 51 nationally, 2.1% of all registered enrollment.
Fewer, larger programs
The state's 720 registered programs average 25 apprentices each, above the 23.6 national norm — enrollment concentrates in larger sponsors rather than spreading across many small ones.
Flatter wage progression
The wage arc is comparatively flat: $18.75/hour rising 81.3% to $34.00, a bottom-tercile progression (national norm 82.7%).
Completion near the average
A 58.1% completion rate holds within two points of the national average (58.2%).
New Jersey'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%
- Iron Worker -
- Pipefitter -
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 New Jersey have?
18,000 active registered apprentices — rank 16 of 51 jurisdictions — spread over about 720 registered programs.
What is the apprenticeship completion rate in New Jersey?
Roughly 58.1%, effectively at the national average of 58.2%.
How much do apprentices earn in New Jersey?
Apprentices start near $18.75/hour and finish near $34.00. The 81.3% progression is flatter than in most states.
What are the top apprenticeship trades in New Jersey?
The dataset's largest registered-apprenticeship occupations for New Jersey are Electrician, Plumber, Iron Worker, Operating Engineer, Pipefitter — construction trades dominate registered apprenticeship in every state.
Why is New Jersey's apprentice pipeline slow?
The data shows the symptom, not the cause: 4,600 new registrations against 18,000 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
Where this leaves you
Use New Jersey'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
- Check wage and AI exposure for a specific trade in the full occupation directory. 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).