North Dakota Apprenticeship Programs
North Dakota's registered-apprenticeship system is small — 3,200 active apprentices across 155 programs as of September 2026 — so its structure, not its size, is the story below.
- Active apprentices
- 3,200
- National rank
- #44 / 51
- Completion rate
- 63.5%
- Completion wage
- $28
North Dakota ranks #44 of 51 jurisdictions by active registered apprentices - about 0.4% of all U.S. registered apprentices. Its 63.5% completion rate sits 5.3 pts above the 58.2% national average, and apprentices who finish raise their pay by 84% - from $15 to $28 an hour.
Apprenticeship filing desk
Jurisdiction NO · North Dakota
North Dakota registered-apprenticeship filing: 3,200 active apprentices (rank 44/51), 155 programs, 63.5% completion.
- BOOK-TRACE 3,200
- RANK-LOWER #44
- PROG-SPARSE 155
- COMP-HIGH 63.5%
- WAGE-STRONG +84%
- SHARE-SMALL 0.4%
- NEW-FY 850
Nearest enrollment peer: New Hampshire (200 apprentice gap)
U.S. Department of Labor registered-apprenticeship filing stamps for this jurisdiction. Read: future proof careers
Where North Dakota sits among all 51 jurisdictions
Enrollment by jurisdiction; North Dakota is marked near the small end. Inventory size is not a quality ranking.
North Dakota vs all states by active apprentices
Where this state's DOL registered-apprenticeship enrollment sits among every tracked jurisdiction
3,200 44th of 51 higher than 7 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 North Dakota'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: 63.5% completion, better than 94% of states.
One of the smallest systems
At rank 44 of 51 with 3,200 active apprentices (0.4% of the national total), this is one of the country's smallest registered systems — which makes the per-program and intake figures above the more telling comparison.
Many small programs
Enrollment is unusually distributed: 155 programs averaging 20.6 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: 850 in the latest fiscal year equals 26.6% of the active base (national pace 25.9%). If completions keep up, this system is compounding.
Strong wage progression
Wages move further here than in most states: $15.25/hour at entry to $28.00 at completion, a 83.6% climb versus the 82.7% national norm.
North Dakota'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%
- 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 North Dakota have?
About 3,200 active registered apprentices, one of the smaller state totals (rank 44 of 51), in roughly 155 programs.
What is the apprenticeship completion rate in North Dakota?
63.5% — 5.3 points above the 58.2% national average, one of the stronger completion records among the states.
How much do apprentices earn in North Dakota?
Starting pay averages $15.25/hour and completion pay $28.00 — a 83.6% increase, among the strongest wage progressions of any state.
What are the top apprenticeship trades in North Dakota?
The dataset's largest registered-apprenticeship occupations for North Dakota are Electrician, Plumber, Pipefitter, Operating Engineer, Carpenter — construction trades dominate registered apprenticeship in every state.
Is apprenticeship growing in North Dakota?
The intake numbers say yes: 850 new apprentices registered in the latest fiscal year, 26.6% of the current active base and above the 25.9% national pace.
Compare other states
What to do with this
Use North Dakota'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
- See which occupations are projected to add the most jobs through 2034. 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).