Chemistry Merit Badge History

Earned through 2020412,187

Best year201911,745 earned

All-time popularity#74official, as of 2020#74by 2025 (estimate)

Earned by Year

First earned in 1911. Peak year 2019 with 11,745. Hover over or tap a year for its numbers.

19112 earned#11 of 22

191223 earned#26 of 51

191362 earned#25 of 56

1914128 earned#26 of 58

191588 earned#32 of 58

191669 earned#37 of 56

1917158 earned#33 of 58

1918174 earned#33 of 58

1919478 earned#32 of 59

1920413 earned#32 of 59

1921773 earned#31 of 61

1922853 earned#34 of 61

1923984 earned#33 of 63

1924838 earned#36 of 64

19251,144 earned#33 of 64

19261,845 earned#32 of 65

19273,091 earned#31 of 68

19282,804 earned#43 of 88

19292,408 earned#40 of 89

19302,533 earned#43 of 92

19312,840 earned#44 of 96

19323,083 earned#42 of 98

19333,679 earned#38 of 101

19343,009 earned#40 of 101

19353,430 earned#43 of 101

19362,897 earned#39 of 101

19373,069 earned#41 of 102

19383,407 earned#44 of 105

19393,503 earned#45 of 106

19403,583 earned#44 of 106

19413,403 earned#41 of 106

19422,912 earned#43 of 110

19433,219 earned#45 of 112

19443,576 earned#51 of 111

19453,292 earned#52 of 111

19462,766 earned#50 of 111

19472,594 earned#51 of 111

19482,321 earned#54 of 111

19492,296 earned#56 of 111

19502,323 earned#58 of 111

19512,864 earned#57 of 111

19522,433 earned#66 of 120

19532,242 earned#62 of 105

19542,306 earned#65 of 103

19552,409 earned#67 of 100

19562,591 earned#66 of 100

19572,681 earned#66 of 100

19582,984 earned#64 of 101

19593,374 earned#64 of 101

19604,193 earned#59 of 100

19614,636 earned#58 of 101

19624,283 earned#58 of 101

19634,522 earned#58 of 102

19644,977 earned#56 of 107

19654,291 earned#59 of 109

19664,778 earned#57 of 110

19674,989 earned#57 of 112

19685,110 earned#57 of 112

19695,244 earned#58 of 113

19705,040 earned#58 of 113

19714,596 earned#60 of 113

19723,517 earned#79 of 124

19735,390 earned#67 of 122

19744,371 earned#84 of 121

19754,111 earned#86 of 128

19763,513 earned#88 of 130

19773,251 earned#88 of 130

19782,881 earned#86 of 131

19791,979 earned#87 of 132

19801,531 earned#85 of 132

19811,901 earned#87 of 134

1982No data available

1983No data available

1984No data available

1985No data available

1986No data available

1987No data available

1988No data available

1989No data available

1990No data available

1991No data available

1992No data available

19932,935 earned#83 of 123

1994No data available

1995No data available

19963,661 earned#79 of 134

1997No data available

1998No data available

1999No data available

20004,310 earned#78 of 128

20015,396 earned#71 of 129

20025,053 earned#74 of 129

20035,070 earned#75 of 130

20045,345 earned#74 of 121

20055,592 earned#69 of 121

20066,063 earned#64 of 121

20075,944 earned#65 of 121

20086,456 earned#64 of 121

20098,248 earned#57 of 122

20108,661 earned#59 of 125

20119,569 earned#55 of 129

20129,692 earned#53 of 132

201310,731 earned#38 of 129

201410,594 earned#56 of 136

201510,560 earned#53 of 138

201610,865 earned#50 of 138

201710,248 earned#51 of 139

201811,140 earned#51 of 139

201911,745 earned#46 of 139

20207,166 earned#44 of 137

2021No data available#58 of 137

2022No data available#45 of 138

2023No data available#45 of 138

2024No data available#52 of 138

2025No data available#41 of 141

Known count No data available

"—" means merit badges were earned that year but the exact number is not currently known. "#41 of 141" means the badge was number 41 of the 141 merit badges earned that year. National counts have not been published since 2020, but the rankings have. The grand total comes from official reports and includes the years without a known count. The 2025 all-time place is an estimate, because the counts for 2021 to 2025 are worked out from each year's official ranking and the total number of merit badges earned that year.

19112#11 of 22

191223#26 of 51

191362#25 of 56

1914128#26 of 58

191588#32 of 58

191669#37 of 56

1917158#33 of 58

1918174#33 of 58

1919478#32 of 59

1920413#32 of 59

1921773#31 of 61

1922853#34 of 61

1923984#33 of 63

1924838#36 of 64

19251,144#33 of 64

19261,845#32 of 65

19273,091#31 of 68

19282,804#43 of 88

19292,408#40 of 89

19302,533#43 of 92

19312,840#44 of 96

19323,083#42 of 98

19333,679#38 of 101

19343,009#40 of 101

19353,430#43 of 101

19362,897#39 of 101

19373,069#41 of 102

19383,407#44 of 105

19393,503#45 of 106

19403,583#44 of 106

19413,403#41 of 106

19422,912#43 of 110

19433,219#45 of 112

19443,576#51 of 111

19453,292#52 of 111

19462,766#50 of 111

19472,594#51 of 111

19482,321#54 of 111

19492,296#56 of 111

19502,323#58 of 111

19512,864#57 of 111

19522,433#66 of 120

19532,242#62 of 105

19542,306#65 of 103

19552,409#67 of 100

19562,591#66 of 100

19572,681#66 of 100

19582,984#64 of 101

19593,374#64 of 101

19604,193#59 of 100

19614,636#58 of 101

19624,283#58 of 101

19634,522#58 of 102

19644,977#56 of 107

19654,291#59 of 109

19664,778#57 of 110

19674,989#57 of 112

19685,110#57 of 112

19695,244#58 of 113

19705,040#58 of 113

19714,596#60 of 113

19723,517#79 of 124

19735,390#67 of 122

19744,371#84 of 121

19754,111#86 of 128

19763,513#88 of 130

19773,251#88 of 130

19782,881#86 of 131

19791,979#87 of 132

19801,531#85 of 132

19811,901#87 of 134

1982—

1983—

1984—

1985—

1986—

1987—

1988—

1989—

1990—

1991—

1992—

19932,935#83 of 123

1994—

1995—

19963,661#79 of 134

1997—

1998—

1999—

20004,310#78 of 128

20015,396#71 of 129

20025,053#74 of 129

20035,070#75 of 130

20045,345#74 of 121

20055,592#69 of 121

20066,063#64 of 121

20075,944#65 of 121

20086,456#64 of 121

20098,248#57 of 122

20108,661#59 of 125

20119,569#55 of 129

20129,692#53 of 132

201310,731#38 of 129

201410,594#56 of 136

201510,560#53 of 138

201610,865#50 of 138

201710,248#51 of 139

201811,140#51 of 139

201911,745#46 of 139

20207,166#44 of 137

2021—#58 of 137

2022—#45 of 138

2023—#45 of 138

2024—#52 of 138

2025—#41 of 141

Grand total through 2020:

This page keeps growing. More of this badge's history, including its patches and pamphlets, is being checked and will be added once it is confirmed.

Chemistry: workbook data

Printings (103)

Have	Year	Month	Cover	Back	Run	©	BSA #	UPC	SKU	HC	Notes
c	1920		1C								HB 20th Edition reference
x	1920		2								20c Wireless
c	1920		2								20c Radio
x	1920		2								15c Radio
	1921	not made
	1922	not made
	1923	not made
	1924	not made
x	1925		3A	back-3			3326
x	1926		3A	back-3			3326
	1927		3A	back-3			3326
x	1928		3B	back-3			3326
	1929	December	3B	back-3			3326
	1930	May	3B	back-3			3326
x	1931	March	3B	back-3			3326
x	1931	October	3B	back-3			3326
x	1932	November	3B	back-3	1M		3326
c	1933	November	3B	back-3	1M		3326
x	1934	December	3B	back-3	1M		3326
x	1935	September	3B	back-3	1M		3326
x	1936	July	3B	back-3	1M		3326
x	1937	April	3C	back-3	1M	1937	3326
	1938	March	3B	back-3	1M	1937	3326
x	1939	January	3D	back-3	1M	1937	3326
x	1939	June	3D	back-3	2M	1937	3326
x	1939	June	4	back-4	2M	1937	3326
	1940	not made
x	1941	March	4	back-4	2M	1937	3326
x	1942	April	4	back-4	2M	1937	3326
x	1943	March	4	back-4	2M	1937	3326
x	1944	April	5A	back-5a	3M	1937	3326
x	1945	February	5B	blank	3.5M	1937	3326
x	1945	November	5B	blank	2M	1937	3326
x	1946	April	5B	blank	3M	1937	3326
	1947	not made
x	1948	April	5B	blank	2M	1937	3326
x	1949	May	5B	blank	2M	1937	3326
x	1950	September	5B	blank	2M	1937	3326			HCH
x	1951	May	5B	back-6a	2M	1937	3326
x	1952	April	5B	back-6b-1	1.5M	1937	3326
x	1953	April	5B	back-6b-1	2M	1937	3326
c	1953	August	6A		2M	1937	3326			HCI
x	1954	January	6A	back-6b-2	3M	1937	3326
x	1955	January	6A	back-6b-2	5M	1937	3326
x	1955	September	6A	back-6b-2	6M	1937	3326			HCJV1
x	1956	July	6A	back-6b-2	6M	1937	3326
x	1957	February	6A	back-6b-2	4M	1937	3326
x	1957	November	6B	back-6b-2	8M	1957	3326
x	1958	May	6B	back-6c-2	7M	1957	3326			HCJV1
x	1958	December	6B	back-6c-2	8M	1957	3326			HCT
x	1959	May	6B	back-6c-2	10M	1957	3326
x	1960	August	6B	back-6d	10M	1957	3326
x	1961	July	6B	back-6e	10M	1957	3326			HCJV2
x	1962	August	6B	back-6f	10M	1957	3326
x	1963	July	6B	back-6g	10M	1957	3326			HCJV2
x	1964	August	6B	back-6h	10M	1957	3326			HCK
x	1965	July	6B	back-6i	10M	1957	3326			HCK
x	1966	October	7	back-7	10M	1957	3326
x	1967	October	7	back-7	10M	1957	3326
x	1968	November	7	back-7	10M	1957	3326			HCL
x	1969	October	7	back-7	11M		3326			HCL
	1970	not made
c	1971	February	7	back-7	10M		3326
x	1972	May	7	back-7	8M		3326
x	1973	September	8	back-8a	10M	1973	3367
	1974	not made
x	1975	November	8	back-8c-1	5M	1973	3367
x	1976	October	8	back-8c-1	4.6M	1973	3367
	1977	not made
x	1978	January	8	back-8d	4M	1973	3367
x	1979	July	8	back-8d	3.2M	1973	3367
x	1980	August	9A	back-9a	3.2M	1973	3367
x	1981	September	9A	back-9a	3M	1973	3367
x	1982	September	9A	back-9a	2.7M		3367
x	1983	August	9A	back-9a	3M		3367
	1984	August	9A		3M		3367
x	1985	June	9A	back-9b-2	3M		3367
x	1986	May	9A	back-9b-2	3.5M		3367
x	1987	April	9A	back-9b-2	3M		3367
c	1988	January	9A	back-9b-2	4M		3367
x	1989	May	9A	back-9b-2	3.5M		3367
x	1990	March	9A	back-9b-2	3.5M		3367
x	1991	July	9A	back-9c-1	3.5M		3367
x	1992	August	9B-1	back-9c-2	3.5M	1992	33367	730176333670
x	1993	August	9B-1	back-9d	4M	1992	33367	730176333670
x	1994	August	9B-1	back-9d	3.5M		33367	730176333670
x	1995	July	9B-1	back-9d	4M		33367	730176333670
x	1996	September	9B-2	back-9d	4M		33382	730176333823
x	1997		9B-2	back-9d			33382	730176333823			front shows only ©1992 Revised 1996 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
x	1998		9B-2	back-9f			33382	730176333823			front shows only ©1992-1998 Printing of the 1992 Edition-back of book date states MB list current thru January 1, 1999
	1999	not made
x	2000		9B-2	back-9f			33382	730176333823
x	2001		9B-2	back-9f			33382	730176333823
x	2002		9B-2	back-9g			33382	730176333823
x	2003		9B-2	back-9g			33382	730176333823
x	2004		9C	back-9g			33382A	730176333823
x	2005		9C	back-9g			33382A	730176333823
x	2006		9C	back-9g			33382A	730176333823
x	2007		9C	back-9h-2			33382A	730176333823
x	2008		10A	back-1008b1			35868	730176358680
	2009	not made
x	2010		10C-1A	back-1010b1			35868	730176358680
x	2011		10C-1A	back-1010b1			35868	730176358680
x	2012		10C-1B	back-1010b1			35868	730176358680
x	2013		10C-1B	back-1013b1			35868	730176358680			01268-AL
x	2014		10C-1B	back-1013b1			35868	730176358680			01268-AL
x	2015		10C-2	back-1015b1			35868	730176358680			01268-PSF
x	2015		10C-2	back-1015b1			35868	730176358680			00358-AL
x	2015		10D	back-1015b1			35868	730176358680			358
	2016	not made
	2017	not made
x	2018		10D	back-1019b1				730176347103	641574		358
x	2019		10D	back-1019b1				730176351230	654571		358
	2020	not made
	2021	not made
x	2022		10D	back-1019b1				730176351230	654571		358
x	2023		10D	back-1019b1				730176351230	654571		358
x	2024		10D	back-1019b1		2023	35908	7301766603942	660394		358
	2025	not made

Earned and rank by year

Year	Earned	Rank	Of
1911	2	11	22
1912	23	26	51
1913	62	25	56
1914	128	26	58
1915	88	32	58
1916	69	37	56
1917	158	33	58
1918	174	33	58
1919	478	32	59
1920	413	32	59
1921	773	31	61
1922	853	34	61
1923	984	33	63
1924	838	36	64
1925	1,144	33	64
1926	1,845	32	65
1927	3,091	31	68
1928	2,804	43	88
1929	2,408	40	89
1930	2,533	43	92
1931	2,840	44	96
1932	3,083	42	98
1933	3,679	38	101
1934	3,009	40	101
1935	3,430	43	101
1936	2,897	39	101
1937	3,069	41	102
1938	3,407	44	105
1939	3,503	45	106
1940	3,583	44	106
1941	3,403	41	106
1942	2,912	43	110
1943	3,219	45	112
1944	3,576	51	111
1945	3,292	52	111
1946	2,766	50	111
1947	2,594	51	111
1948	2,321	54	111
1949	2,296	56	111
1950	2,323	58	111
1951	2,864	57	111
1952	2,433	66	120
1953	2,242	62	105
1954	2,306	65	103
1955	2,409	67	100
1956	2,591	66	100
1957	2,681	66	100
1958	2,984	64	101
1959	3,374	64	101
1960	4,193	59	100
1961	4,636	58	101
1962	4,283	58	101
1963	4,522	58	102
1964	4,977	56	107
1965	4,291	59	109
1966	4,778	57	110
1967	4,989	57	112
1968	5,110	57	112
1969	5,244	58	113
1970	5,040	58	113
1971	4,596	60	113
1972	3,517	79	124
1973	5,390	67	122
1974	4,371	84	121
1975	4,111	86	128
1976	3,513	88	130
1977	3,251	88	130
1978	2,881	86	131
1979	1,979	87	132
1980	1,531	85	132
1981	1,901	87	134
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993	2,935	83	123
1994
1995
1996	3,661	79	134
1997
1998
1999
2000	4,310	78	128
2001	5,396	71	129
2002	5,053	74	129
2003	5,070	75	130
2004	5,345	74	121
2005	5,592	69	121
2006	6,063	64	121
2007	5,944	65	121
2008	6,456	64	121
2009	8,248	57	122
2010	8,661	59	125
2011	9,569	55	129
2012	9,692	53	132
2013	10,731	38	129
2014	10,594	56	136
2015	10,560	53	138
2016	10,865	50	138
2017	10,248	51	139
2018	11,140	51	139
2019	11,745	46	139
2020	7,166	44	137
2021		58	137
2022		45	138
2023		45	138
2024		52	138
2025		41	141