American Trades Index Apply for the beta

Plumber shortage in West Virginia: the licensed-supply numbers

Everyone quotes the shortage. Here is the count West Virginia actually has, by skill level and per resident, updated every night.

Apply for the beta

As of October 6, 2026, West Virginia carries 5,612 licensed plumbers on its state register, or 317.0 per 100,000 residents.

5,612
licensed plumbers
317.0
per 100k residents
#8
density rank of 32

West Virginia does not issue a separate apprentice license for this trade, so no pipeline ratio is published here. The tier counts below are what the register itself records.

What level they hold

Every plumber license on the West Virginia register, normalized to one ladder.

TierLicensedShare
Journeyman2,15138%
Master3,46162%

How this compares to nearby states

States nearest West Virginia on licensed plumbers per capita.

StateLicensed plumbersPer 100k
West Virginia5,612317.0
Colorado21,560366.8
Massachusetts25,314361.6
New Hampshire4,979355.1
South Dakota2,691292.7
Arkansas8,924290.9
Minnesota15,091263.0
Counts, not a capacity opinion. We publish the licensed supply and the pipeline ratio; whether a market can absorb a given project is a judgment for the reader, not a claim we make.

What are plumbers worth in your market?

A free report on your market: what the trade pays, how that compares with nearby counties, and where your credential sits against the local licensed workforce. No account needed.

Thanks, we'll be in touch.
Something went wrong. Please try again.

Common questions

Is there a plumbers shortage in West Virginia?
Reporting on the shortage rarely states how many are actually licensed. West Virginia carries 5,612 licensed plumbers on its register as of October 6, 2026, or 317.0 per 100,000 residents. Readers can weigh that supply against demand directly.
How many licensed plumbers does West Virginia have?
5,612 on the state register as of October 6, 2026, including 3,461 at master level.
Where does the shortage narrative come from?
Industry analyses project national shortfalls of hundreds of thousands of skilled-trades workers against data-center and electrification demand. Those are demand-side estimates; the figure here is the licensed supply on the register today.

Related pages

Count
How many plumbers in West VirginiaMarket
West Virginia licensed trades supplyCorridor
Electricians and the data-center buildout
This number changes tonight.

This page is a free snapshot of West Virginia. Track the same market every night and see which contractors just got licensed, added a trade, or dropped off, and pull the full record, with contact details where available, on any of them. Get the weekly intelligence email on the markets you follow. ATI is in private beta; apply for access.

Apply for the betaGet the Index

Get new opportunities in your inbox.

The biggest project moves, contractor signals and market opportunities we find.

You are on the list. The next finding lands in your inbox.

Free. Unsubscribe any time. We never sell your address. See our Privacy Policy.