Florida shows the highest demand for skilled trades workers among all U.S. states and the District of Columbia, according to a national report released September 30 by the Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades. The report’s demand-pressure score of 95 out of 100 placed Florida at the top, with Arizona at 93 and Georgia at 80. The index combines projected and recent employment growth, the composition of trade occupations, and wage trends.

The state’s supply-position score was 26, ranking 50th of 51 states and the District of Columbia, ahead of only Maine. This measure tracks the output of training programs, program completion rates, the age of the existing workforce, and migration patterns of tradespeople.

Nationally, the report projects about 1.7 million skilled trades positions will need filling each year through 2035, while training pipelines are producing only 55 workers for every 100 needed. Florida is among nine states flagged for a combination of high demand and low supply, alongside Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.

The workforce covered by the report includes more than 1 million Floridians. Between 2019 and 2025, the sector grew by approximately 104,000 workers, an 11% increase that ranked seventh nationally. The state currently has 32 registered apprentices per 1,000 skilled trades workers. Among apprentices who exited programs between fiscal years 2021 and 2024, 38% completed their training, while college-level trade programs reported a 53% completion rate. Nationwide, about half of those who enroll in skilled trades training complete it, though some apprenticeship programs achieve completion rates above 90%.

The report identifies transportation, childcare, and the need to earn income during training as the most common barriers to program completion. Between 2020 and 2024, an average of 25,555 skilled trades workers moved to Florida annually from other states, while 21,580 left, resulting in a net annual gain of 3,975 workers. Only North Carolina and Texas recorded larger net gains. Roughly 8,000 additional workers arrived each year from outside the United States.

Occupations with the greatest filling difficulty in Florida, as measured by the Labor Shortage Index, include industrial and refractory machinery mechanics, tool and die makers, underground mining machine operators, elevator and escalator installers and repairers, precision instrument and equipment repairers, and electricians. Median pay for Florida’s skilled trades workers was $54,700 as of May 2025, ranking 42nd of 51 states. Pay ranged from roughly $38,000 at the 10th percentile to $79,000 at the 90th percentile, representing a 30.5% increase since 2019 before inflation adjustments.

On the same day as the report’s release, the Alliance added 14 new corporate members, including AT&T, Barton Malow, Blackstone, Cintas Corp., DeWalt, Dycom, The Hershey Co., ManpowerGroup, Meta, Microsoft, Milwaukee Tool, Nvidia, Verizon, and Waymo. Ford CEO Jim Farley stated that closing the skilled trades gap requires coordinated action among employers, educators, and policymakers, and that these careers deserve greater respect.

The Alliance also launched America’s Skilled Trades Dashboard, a searchable platform offering detailed state- and occupation-level profiles. Florida’s long-term projections in the dashboard anticipate a 12.3% growth in skilled trades employment from 2024 to 2034, the fourth-fastest rate in the country. — Ed. note: This story was drafted with assistance from AI. Editorial judgment, sourcing, and final review were performed by Peter Schorsch and the Florida Politics editorial team.