The trades are not aging. Leadership is.
Federal data contradicts the most repeated claim in commercial trades hiring. Of the 18 trades where the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a median age, 12 are younger than the American workforce as a whole. What is actually aging is the layer above them, and that changes what hiring has to solve.
Median age by trade
The median age of all employed people in the United States is 42.1. Every trade below is measured against that number.
| Trade | BLS occupation | Median age | vs. US workforce |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Roofing | Roofers | 36.6 | 5.5 yrs younger |
| Insulation | Insulation workers | 39.0 | 3.1 yrs younger |
| Physical Security | Security and fire alarm systems installers | 39.1 | 3.0 yrs younger |
| Fire Protection | Security and fire alarm systems installers (proxy) | 39.1 | 3.0 yrs younger |
| Welding & Fabrication | Welding, soldering, and brazing workers | 39.3 | 2.8 yrs younger |
| Commercial Pest Control | Pest control workers | 39.4 | 2.7 yrs younger |
| Commercial Electrical | Electricians | 39.6 | 2.5 yrs younger |
| HVAC & Mechanical | Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers | 39.9 | 2.2 yrs younger |
| Commercial Plumbing | Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters | 40.2 | 1.9 yrs younger |
| Commercial Flooring | Carpet, floor, and tile installers and finishers | 41.0 | 1.1 yrs younger |
| Commercial Landscaping | Landscaping and groundskeeping workers | 41.7 | 0.4 yrs younger |
| Commercial Irrigation | Landscaping and groundskeeping workers (proxy) | 41.7 | 0.4 yrs younger |
| Masonry & Concrete | Brickmasons, blockmasons, and stonemasons | 42.5 | 0.4 yrs older |
| Paving & Asphalt | Highway maintenance workers (proxy) | 42.9 | 0.8 yrs older |
| Commercial Painting | Painters and paperhangers | 43.1 | 1.0 yrs older |
| Commercial Construction | Construction managers | 45.2 | 3.1 yrs older |
| Commercial Trucking | Driver/sales workers and truck drivers | 46.4 | 4.3 yrs older |
| Commercial Cleaning & Facilities Maintenance | Janitors and building cleaners | 46.7 | 4.6 yrs older |
| Elevator Maintenance | Elevator and escalator installers and repairers | Not published | — |
| LED & Solar | Solar photovoltaic installers | Not published | — |
Two trades are genuinely older than the national workforce by a wide margin: commercial cleaning and trucking. For the rest, the aging-workforce claim does not survive contact with the data.
The layer that is actually aging
These are the roles commercial contractors most often struggle to fill. They are consistently older than the trades that feed them.
| Role | Median age | vs. US workforce |
|---|---|---|
| Helpers, construction trades (entry) | 29.9 | 12.2 yrs younger |
| Construction managers | 45.2 | 3.1 yrs older |
| First-line supervisors, construction trades | 46.4 | 4.3 yrs older |
| First-line supervisors, landscaping | 46.8 | 4.7 yrs older |
| First-line supervisors, mechanics and installers | 47.6 | 5.5 yrs older |
From helper at 29.9 to first-line supervisor of mechanics and installers at 47.6 is a spread of 17.7 years inside the same industry. That gap is the hiring problem, and it is not a headcount problem.
The pipeline is filling, not emptying
The second half of the aging-workforce claim is that nobody is entering the trades. That is also not what the data shows.
- Registered apprenticeships are up roughly 88% since 2015, from 359,776 to about 680,000 active apprentices. Construction accounts for roughly 36% of them.
- Vocational two-year enrollment reached 871,000 in spring 2025, up nearly 40% since 2022 and up about 20% since 2020, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
- Mechanic and repair technologies grew 10.4% in a single year, with engineering technologies up 8.3% — among the fastest-growing programs in American higher education.
- Helpers in the construction trades have a median age of 29.9, the youngest occupation in this analysis. The entry tier is young and it is growing.
None of that produces a superintendent. A first-year apprentice is 10 to 15 years from running a commercial job, which means the leadership gap of the next decade is already fixed regardless of how many people enter the trade this year.
What this means for hiring
If the shortage were a headcount shortage, job boards would solve it. It is a tenure shortage, and tenure cannot be posted for.
- The scarce hire is the experienced one. Foremen, superintendents, service managers and project managers are the roles where the age curve bites, not entry technicians.
- The people you need are employed. A 46-year-old superintendent with 20 years in is not browsing listings. Reaching them is outbound work, not inbound.
- Timing beats advertising. Someone worth hiring is available for a narrow window every few years. Being in contact when that window opens is the whole job.
- It differs by trade. Roofing at 36.6 and commercial cleaning at 46.7 are not the same hiring problem and should not get the same strategy.
Common questions
Is the commercial trades workforce actually aging?
Mostly no. Against a median age of 42.1 for all employed people in the United States, roofers are 36.6, electricians 39.6, HVAC mechanics 39.9 and plumbers 40.2. Most commercial trades are younger than the national workforce. The exceptions are building cleaning at 46.7 and trucking at 46.4, which are genuinely older.
Which trades really are aging?
Two, clearly. Janitors and building cleaners have a median age of 46.7 and truck drivers 46.4, both well above the 42.1 national median. Commercial painting at 43.1 and masonry at 42.5 sit modestly above it. Every other trade we staff is at or below the national workforce median.
If the trades are young, why is skilled hiring so hard?
Because the shortage is in tenure, not headcount. Construction managers have a median age of 45.2, first-line construction supervisors 46.4, and supervisors of mechanics and installers 47.6, while helpers sit at 29.9. The people who can run a crew are 15 to 18 years further along than the people entering.
Will more apprentices fix the shortage?
Not this decade. Registered apprenticeships have already grown roughly 88% since 2015, to about 680,000 active apprentices, and vocational two-year enrollment reached 871,000 in spring 2025. But a first-year apprentice does not become a superintendent for 10 to 15 years, so today intake does not relieve today leadership gap.
Where does this data come from?
Median ages come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey, Table 11b, 2025 annual averages. Apprenticeship counts come from the U.S. Department of Labor. Enrollment figures come from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. All three are public and free to verify.
Why is there no median age for elevator mechanics?
BLS suppresses the median where an occupation has fewer than roughly 50,000 workers. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers number about 24,200 nationally, and solar photovoltaic installers about 22,000. The suppression is itself informative: these are among the smallest licensed trades in the country.
Methodology and sources
Median ages come from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Table 11b (2025 annual averages), published at bls.gov. Apprenticeship counts come from the U.S. Department of Labor. Enrollment figures come from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Where BLS suppresses a median because an occupation has fewer than roughly 50,000 workers, we report it as not published rather than substituting a proxy figure. Where one of our industries has no dedicated federal occupation code, the mapping is marked as a proxy and stated in the table. Median ages are national and are not metro-specific.
This data is free to cite with attribution. Last verified against BLS on 8 September 2026.