Washington Apprenticeship Programs
As of September 2026, Washington operates one of the larger registered-apprenticeship systems in the country: 24,000 active apprentices in 920 programs, with completion pay near $33.50/hour.
- Active apprentices
- 24,000
- National rank
- #12 / 51
- Completion rate
- 57.5%
- Completion wage
- $34
Washington ranks #12 of 51 jurisdictions by active registered apprentices - about 2.8% 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 84% - from $18 to $34 an hour.
Apprenticeship filing desk
Jurisdiction WA · Washington
Washington registered-apprenticeship filing: 24,000 active apprentices (rank 12/51), 920 programs, 57.5% completion.
- BOOK-MID 24,000
- RANK-UPPER #12
- PROG-MID 920
- COMP-MID 57.5%
- WAGE-STRONG +84%
- SHARE-SMALL 2.8%
- NEW-FY 6,000
Nearest enrollment peer: Minnesota (1,000 apprentice gap)
U.S. Department of Labor registered-apprenticeship filing stamps for this jurisdiction. Read: fastest growing occupations 2034
Where Washington sits among all 51 jurisdictions
Enrollment by jurisdiction; Washington sits in the top tercile. Inventory size is not a quality ranking.
Washington vs all states by active apprentices
Where this state's DOL registered-apprenticeship enrollment sits among every tracked jurisdiction
24,000 12th of 51 higher than 39 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 Washington'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 Washington is a slow front door: new registrations equal just 25% of the active base, a slower pipeline than 96% of states.
Where the scale sits
24,000 active apprentices rank 12 of 51 nationally, 2.8% of all registered enrollment.
Fewer, larger programs
The state's 920 registered programs average 26.1 apprentices each, above the 23.6 national norm — enrollment concentrates in larger sponsors rather than spreading across many small ones.
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: $18.25/hour at entry to $33.50 at completion, a 83.6% climb versus the 82.7% national norm.
Washington'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%
- 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 Washington have?
24,000 active registered apprentices — rank 12 of 51 jurisdictions — spread over about 920 registered programs.
What is the apprenticeship completion rate in Washington?
Roughly 57.5%, effectively at the national average of 58.2%.
How much do apprentices earn in Washington?
Starting pay averages $18.25/hour and completion pay $33.50 — a 83.6% increase, among the strongest wage progressions of any state.
What are the top apprenticeship trades in Washington?
The dataset's largest registered-apprenticeship occupations for Washington are Electrician, Plumber, Operating Engineer, Carpenter, HVAC Mechanic — construction trades dominate registered apprenticeship in every state.
Why is Washington's apprentice pipeline slow?
The data shows the symptom, not the cause: 6,000 new registrations against 24,000 active apprentices is a 25% intake ratio, bottom-tercile nationally. The dataset does not record why sponsors register fewer new apprentices here.
Compare other states
Next steps here
Use Washington'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
- The full occupation directory covers wage and AI exposure for any specific trade. Browse all occupations
- See which occupations are projected to add the most jobs through 2034. 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).