ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska's skilled trades workforce is growing faster than all but two states. A new national report ranks Alaska third in the country for skilled trades employment growth, with jobs up 16.8% from 2019 to 2025.
But Alaska's story is different from the other states near the top of the list. Its trades workforce is small, and employer demand currently rates as moderate. The biggest variable in the state's labor market is a project that has not yet been approved: the Alaska LNG gas pipeline.
The ranking comes from the Alliance for America's Skilled Trades, a coalition formed this year by BlackRock, Carhartt, Ford Motor Company and Google, which more than a dozen other companies have since joined. Its growth figures are based on federal Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational employment data.
How Alaska compares
Rank | State | Growth, 2019–2025 |
|---|---|---|
1 | Arizona | 22.6% |
2 | Utah | 19.9% |
3 | Alaska | 16.8% |
4 | Idaho | 16.3% |
5 | Nevada | 12.0% |
6 | Alabama | 11.3% |
7 | Florida | 11.1% |
8 | Delaware | 10.9% |
9 | South Dakota | 10.7% |
10 | Tennessee | 10.4% |
Sixteen states lost skilled trades workers over the same period.
Alaska by the numbers
The report counts 43,930 skilled trades workers in Alaska, by far the smallest workforce among the top five states. Arizona, by comparison, has nearly 386,000. A smaller base means a modest number of new hires can produce a large percentage gain.
Alaska also stands out for its demand score. The report rates each state on demand pressure, based on projected and actual demand, the mix of occupations and wage trends. Alaska scored 46, ranking 29th of 51. Arizona and Idaho, which also made the top five for growth, ranked second and fourth for demand.
The report defines skilled trades broadly. It covers 124 occupations, including electricians, plumbers and pipefitters, carpenters, roofers and sheet metal workers, along with maintenance technicians, machinists, welders, transportation workers and engineering technicians.
Where the work is now
The annual construction spending forecast prepared by McKinley Research Group for the Associated General Contractors of Alaska shows a mixed picture for 2026. The forecast's sector estimates add up to roughly $6.7 billion.
Some categories are rising, including airports, ports, harbors and rail at about $900 million, and utilities at about $750 million. Others are falling, including oil and gas at about $1.4 billion and national defense at about $515 million. The forecast warned that highway and road spending, estimated at about $690 million, could fall short if the state does not fully fund the match needed to draw federal transportation money.
The wildcard: Alaska LNG
The project that could reshape Alaska's trades market is Alaska LNG, a proposed roughly 800-mile pipeline that would carry natural gas from the North Slope to a liquefaction plant in Nikiski. Glenfarne leads the project's development toward a final investment decision, which has not yet been made.
In an August 2026 presentation to the Alaska Workforce Investment Board, the board's executive director and the head of Northern Industrial Training laid out the project's labor needs:
Phase | Work | Projected peak workforce | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
Phase one | Pipeline, heavy civil, welding | About 4,200 | Third quarter of 2027 |
Phase two | Mechanical and electrical facility work | About 4,500 | Second quarter of 2029 |
Alaska LNG alone could need up to 6,600 construction workers at peak. Combined with other projects running at the same time, statewide demand could reach about 8,670 workers, roughly a quarter of Alaska's construction workforce. Once built, the project would need about 900 operations workers.
The presentation warned that Alaska's training system is not ready for that surge. Instructors are hard to hire because industry pays more than teaching. Housing, travel and child care costs keep many rural Alaskans out of training. And registered apprenticeships take two to five years, too long to fill late-2020s demand on their own. It recommended expanding short training programs such as commercial driving, heavy equipment and entry-level welding now, before the investment decision, and moving to multi-year training funding.
The apprenticeship pipeline
Alaska's registered apprenticeships pay off for those who finish. According to the state's 2026 apprenticeships report, the state served nearly 3,500 apprentices in fiscal 2025. New registrations dipped slightly from the year before to 1,056 but remained among the highest since 2018. Electricians made up 28% of apprentices, plumbers 10% and carpenters 6%.
Apprentices who completed their programs in fiscal 2024 earned an average of more than $97,000 the following year, compared with about $53,500 for the average Alaska worker, and 92% stayed with Alaska employers.
The challenge is finishing. Only about 30% of people who start an apprenticeship in Alaska complete it, a rate that has barely changed over the years. Most apprentices, about 83%, are in Anchorage or the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
The national shortage
Alaska's situation plays out against a national shortfall. The Alliance's report finds that training programs nationwide produce about 55 workers for every 100 that employers need, and it projects about 1.7 million trades job openings every year through 2035.
What to watch
Two decisions will shape Alaska's trades market over the next few years: whether Alaska LNG reaches a final investment decision, and whether the state funds the match for federal highway money. If the pipeline moves forward, demand for welders, equipment operators, electricians and pipefitters could jump quickly, and Alaska's training programs would need to grow well before the 2027 peak.