Rhode Island Apprenticeship Programs
Rhode Island's registered-apprenticeship system is small — 3,800 active apprentices across 185 programs as of September 2026 — so its structure, not its size, is the story below.
- Active apprentices
- 3,800
- National rank
- #41 / 51
- Completion rate
- 61.2%
- Completion wage
- $32
Rhode Island ranks #41 of 51 jurisdictions by active registered apprentices - about 0.4% of all U.S. registered apprentices. Its 61.2% completion rate sits 3 pts above the 58.2% national average, and apprentices who finish raise their pay by 80% - from $18 to $32 an hour.
Apprenticeship filing desk
Jurisdiction RH · Rhode Island
Rhode Island registered-apprenticeship filing: 3,800 active apprentices (rank 41/51), 185 programs, 61.2% completion.
- BOOK-TRACE 3,800
- RANK-LOWER #41
- PROG-SPARSE 185
- COMP-MID 61.2%
- WAGE-STRONG +80%
- SHARE-SMALL 0.4%
- NEW-FY 1,000
Nearest enrollment peer: Mississippi (200 apprentice gap)
U.S. Department of Labor registered-apprenticeship filing stamps for this jurisdiction. Read: future proof careers
Where Rhode Island sits among all 51 jurisdictions
Enrollment by jurisdiction; Rhode Island is marked near the small end. Inventory size is not a quality ranking.
Rhode Island vs all states by active apprentices
Where this state's DOL registered-apprenticeship enrollment sits among every tracked jurisdiction
3,800 41st of 51 higher than 10 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 Rhode Island'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: program size
Rhode Island's most unusual number is how thinly enrollment spreads: only 20.5 apprentices per program, a smaller program size than 86% of states.
Above-average completion
61.2% of apprentices finish their programs, 3 points above the 58.2% national average — the clearest quality signal in this filing.
Where the scale sits
3,800 active apprentices rank 41 of 51 nationally, 0.4% of all registered enrollment.
Flatter wage progression
The wage arc is comparatively flat: $17.75/hour rising 80.3% to $32.00, a bottom-tercile progression (national norm 82.7%).
Fast intake pipeline
New registrations are running hot: 1,000 in the latest fiscal year equals 26.3% of the active base (national pace 25.9%). If completions keep up, this system is compounding.
Rhode Island'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 Rhode Island have?
About 3,800 active registered apprentices, one of the smaller state totals (rank 41 of 51), in roughly 185 programs.
What is the apprenticeship completion rate in Rhode Island?
61.2% — 3 points above the 58.2% national average, one of the stronger completion records among the states.
How much do apprentices earn in Rhode Island?
Apprentices start near $17.75/hour and finish near $32.00. The 80.3% progression is flatter than in most states.
What are the top apprenticeship trades in Rhode Island?
The dataset's largest registered-apprenticeship occupations for Rhode Island are Electrician, Plumber, Iron Worker, Carpenter, Operating Engineer — construction trades dominate registered apprenticeship in every state.
Is apprenticeship growing in Rhode Island?
The intake numbers say yes: 1,000 new apprentices registered in the latest fiscal year, 26.3% of the current active base and above the 25.9% national pace.
Compare other states
Where this leaves you
Use Rhode Island'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
- 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).