Pioneering Merit Badge History

Earned through 20202,492,888

Best year197449,125 earned

All-time popularity#16official, as of 2020#17by 2025 (estimate)

Earned by Year

First earned in 1912. Peak year 1974 with 49,125. Hover over or tap a year for its numbers.

19110 earned

191223 earned#26 of 51

191381 earned#21 of 56

1914202 earned#18 of 58

1915359 earned#13 of 58

1916488 earned#11 of 56

1917996 earned#9 of 58

19181,091 earned#9 of 58

19192,571 earned#8 of 59

19202,731 earned#6 of 59

19214,604 earned#7 of 61

19225,775 earned#7 of 61

19235,934 earned#8 of 63

19245,866 earned#8 of 64

19256,167 earned#14 of 64

19269,739 earned#12 of 65

192711,538 earned#12 of 68

192811,626 earned#14 of 88

192914,489 earned#13 of 89

193015,745 earned#11 of 92

193117,362 earned#12 of 96

19327,910 earned#24 of 98

193314,634 earned#18 of 101

193414,573 earned#16 of 101

193515,873 earned#15 of 101

193613,878 earned#15 of 101

193714,296 earned#15 of 102

193817,633 earned#14 of 105

193919,802 earned#12 of 106

194020,224 earned#11 of 106

194117,981 earned#12 of 106

194216,553 earned#12 of 110

194316,547 earned#15 of 112

194420,703 earned#15 of 111

194521,345 earned#12 of 111

194619,098 earned#10 of 111

194717,545 earned#10 of 111

194817,430 earned#10 of 111

194919,540 earned#10 of 111

195021,812 earned#10 of 111

195124,938 earned#10 of 111

195225,927 earned#10 of 120

195316,481 earned#17 of 105

195420,014 earned#19 of 103

195522,593 earned#19 of 100

195624,082 earned#18 of 100

195722,765 earned#19 of 100

195824,647 earned#21 of 101

195927,689 earned#19 of 101

196030,366 earned#20 of 100

196133,596 earned#20 of 101

196235,102 earned#18 of 101

196335,191 earned#19 of 102

196435,618 earned#18 of 107

196537,055 earned#17 of 109

196637,854 earned#16 of 110

196738,358 earned#16 of 112

196839,371 earned#15 of 112

196938,490 earned#15 of 113

197038,995 earned#14 of 113

197127,654 earned#21 of 113

197236,450 earned#15 of 124

197338,216 earned#14 of 122

197449,125 earned#14 of 121

197546,868 earned#16 of 128

197645,738 earned#15 of 130

197741,242 earned#15 of 130

197838,081 earned#11 of 131

197933,078 earned#15 of 132

198020,975 earned#19 of 132

198132,338 earned#19 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

19931,366 earned#111 of 123

1994No data available

1995No data available

199631,029 earned#25 of 134

1997No data available

1998No data available

1999No data available

200028,531 earned#26 of 128

200125,966 earned#28 of 129

200227,712 earned#27 of 129

200328,266 earned#27 of 130

200426,941 earned#27 of 121

200524,204 earned#27 of 121

200623,025 earned#28 of 121

200721,292 earned#29 of 121

200821,732 earned#29 of 121

200922,596 earned#30 of 122

201021,008 earned#32 of 125

201123,138 earned#27 of 129

201221,550 earned#29 of 132

201319,525 earned#23 of 129

201418,117 earned#32 of 136

201517,341 earned#32 of 138

201615,959 earned#33 of 138

201713,870 earned#37 of 139

201814,099 earned#37 of 139

201912,282 earned#43 of 139

20206,129 earned#52 of 137

2021No data available#39 of 137

2022No data available#43 of 138

2023No data available#41 of 138

2024No data available#45 of 138

2025No data available#52 of 141

Known count No data available

"—" means merit badges were earned that year but the exact number is not currently known. "#52 of 141" means the badge was number 52 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.

19110none earned

191223#26 of 51

191381#21 of 56

1914202#18 of 58

1915359#13 of 58

1916488#11 of 56

1917996#9 of 58

19181,091#9 of 58

19192,571#8 of 59

19202,731#6 of 59

19214,604#7 of 61

19225,775#7 of 61

19235,934#8 of 63

19245,866#8 of 64

19256,167#14 of 64

19269,739#12 of 65

192711,538#12 of 68

192811,626#14 of 88

192914,489#13 of 89

193015,745#11 of 92

193117,362#12 of 96

19327,910#24 of 98

193314,634#18 of 101

193414,573#16 of 101

193515,873#15 of 101

193613,878#15 of 101

193714,296#15 of 102

193817,633#14 of 105

193919,802#12 of 106

194020,224#11 of 106

194117,981#12 of 106

194216,553#12 of 110

194316,547#15 of 112

194420,703#15 of 111

194521,345#12 of 111

194619,098#10 of 111

194717,545#10 of 111

194817,430#10 of 111

194919,540#10 of 111

195021,812#10 of 111

195124,938#10 of 111

195225,927#10 of 120

195316,481#17 of 105

195420,014#19 of 103

195522,593#19 of 100

195624,082#18 of 100

195722,765#19 of 100

195824,647#21 of 101

195927,689#19 of 101

196030,366#20 of 100

196133,596#20 of 101

196235,102#18 of 101

196335,191#19 of 102

196435,618#18 of 107

196537,055#17 of 109

196637,854#16 of 110

196738,358#16 of 112

196839,371#15 of 112

196938,490#15 of 113

197038,995#14 of 113

197127,654#21 of 113

197236,450#15 of 124

197338,216#14 of 122

197449,125#14 of 121

197546,868#16 of 128

197645,738#15 of 130

197741,242#15 of 130

197838,081#11 of 131

197933,078#15 of 132

198020,975#19 of 132

198132,338#19 of 134

1982—

1983—

1984—

1985—

1986—

1987—

1988—

1989—

1990—

1991—

1992—

19931,366#111 of 123

1994—

1995—

199631,029#25 of 134

1997—

1998—

1999—

200028,531#26 of 128

200125,966#28 of 129

200227,712#27 of 129

200328,266#27 of 130

200426,941#27 of 121

200524,204#27 of 121

200623,025#28 of 121

200721,292#29 of 121

200821,732#29 of 121

200922,596#30 of 122

201021,008#32 of 125

201123,138#27 of 129

201221,550#29 of 132

201319,525#23 of 129

201418,117#32 of 136

201517,341#32 of 138

201615,959#33 of 138

201713,870#37 of 139

201814,099#37 of 139

201912,282#43 of 139

20206,129#52 of 137

2021—#39 of 137

2022—#43 of 138

2023—#41 of 138

2024—#45 of 138

2025—#52 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.

Pioneering: workbook data

Printings (105)

Have	Year	Month	Cover	Back	Run	©	BSA #	UPC	SKU	SA #	HC	Notes
c	1920		2
	1921	not made
x	1922		2
	1923	not made
	1924	not made
	1925		3A over 2									type 2 pamphlet with 3A cover
x	1925		3A
x	1926		3A
x	1927		3A
c	1928		3B
x	1929		3B
	1929	October	3B
x	1930	February	3B
x	1930	May	3B
x	1930	October	3B			1930
x	1931	May	3B
c	1931	September	3B
x	1932	June	3B
	1932	September	3B
x	1933	August	3B		2M
x	1934	June	3B		2M	1934
x	1935	February	3B		2M	1934
x	1935	August	3B		3M	1934
	1936	August	3B		3M	1934
x	1936	August	3C		3M	1934
x	1937	October	3C		3M	1934
c	1938	May	3C		4M	1934
x	1938	May	3D		4M	1934
	1939	August	3B		2M	1934
x	1939	August	3C		2M	1934
x	1939	August	3D		2M	1934
x	1940	February	3D		4M
x	1941	June	4		9M
x	1942	July	4		5M	1942
x	1943	March	4		7M	1942
x	1944	May	5A		9M	1942
x	1945	January	5B		10M	1942
x	1945	October	5B		10M	1942
x	1946	November	5B		7M	1942
	1947	not made
x	1948	January	5B		9M	1942					HCF
x	1949	March	5B		9M	1942
x	1950	April	5B		8M	1942
x	1951	February	5B		10M	1942
x	1951	September	5B		12M	1942
x	1952	October	6		12M	1942
x	1953	September	6		12M	1942
x	1954	October	6		15M	1942
x	1955	June	6		18M	1942					HCJV1
x	1956	June	6		20M	1942
x	1957	February	6		25M	1942
x	1958	September	6		25M	1942
x	1959	September	6		22M	1942
x	1960	May	6		25M	1942
x	1961	April	6		26M	1942
x	1962	March	6		26M	1942					HCJV2
x	1963	April	6		30M	1942					HCJV2
x	1963	October	6		30M	1942					HCK
	1964	not made
x	1965	March	6		30M	1942					HCP
x	1966	January	6		30M	1942
x	1967	May	7A		35M	1967					HCL
x	1968	January	7A		35M	1967
x	1968	December	7A		74M	1967					HCL, HCM
	1969	not made
x	1970	November	7B		40M	1967
	1971	not made
x	1972	February	7B		32M	1967					HCM
x	1973	March	8A		30M	1967					HCSV2
x	1974	March	8A		30M	1967
x	1975	March	8A		25M	1967
x	1976	January	8B		20M	1967
x	1976	April	8B		15M	1967
x	1977	March	8B		27M	1967					HCT
x	1978	March	8B		25M	1967
x	1979	April	8B		20M	1967
x	1980	March	9A		20M	1967
x	1981	May	9A		20M	1967
x	1982	May	9A		18M	1967
x	1983	April	9A		10M	1967
x	1984	January	9A		20M	1967
x	1985	February	9A		20M	1967
	1986	not made
x	1987	January	9A		18M	1967
x	1988	January	9A		18M	1967
c	1988	July	9A		18M	1967
x	1989	September	9A		20M	1967
	1990	not made
x	1991	March	9A		18M	1967
x	1992	February	9A		18M	1967
x	1993	April	9A		13M	1993
x	1994	January	9B		16M	1993
x	1995	January	9B		16M	1993
x	1995	November	9B		19M	1993
	1996	not made
x	1997	September	9B			1993
c	1998		9B			1993
x	1999		9B			1993
x	2000		9B			1993
x	2001		9B
x	2002		9B
x	2003		9B
	2004	not made
x	2005		9B
x	2006		9
x	2007		9C
x	2008		10A									-
	2009	not made
	2010	not made
	2011	not made
x	2012		10C									-
x	2013		10C									-
x	2014		10C
	2015	not made
x	2016		10C
x	2017		10C
	2018	not made
x	2019		10D
x	2020		10D
	2021	not made
	2022	not made
x	2023		10D
x	2024		11A	back-1125		2024	35931	7301766624190	662419	300071700		00358n
	2025	not made

Earned and rank by year

Year	Earned	Rank	Of
1911	0
1912	23	26	51
1913	81	21	56
1914	202	18	58
1915	359	13	58
1916	488	11	56
1917	996	9	58
1918	1,091	9	58
1919	2,571	8	59
1920	2,731	6	59
1921	4,604	7	61
1922	5,775	7	61
1923	5,934	8	63
1924	5,866	8	64
1925	6,167	14	64
1926	9,739	12	65
1927	11,538	12	68
1928	11,626	14	88
1929	14,489	13	89
1930	15,745	11	92
1931	17,362	12	96
1932	7,910	24	98
1933	14,634	18	101
1934	14,573	16	101
1935	15,873	15	101
1936	13,878	15	101
1937	14,296	15	102
1938	17,633	14	105
1939	19,802	12	106
1940	20,224	11	106
1941	17,981	12	106
1942	16,553	12	110
1943	16,547	15	112
1944	20,703	15	111
1945	21,345	12	111
1946	19,098	10	111
1947	17,545	10	111
1948	17,430	10	111
1949	19,540	10	111
1950	21,812	10	111
1951	24,938	10	111
1952	25,927	10	120
1953	16,481	17	105
1954	20,014	19	103
1955	22,593	19	100
1956	24,082	18	100
1957	22,765	19	100
1958	24,647	21	101
1959	27,689	19	101
1960	30,366	20	100
1961	33,596	20	101
1962	35,102	18	101
1963	35,191	19	102
1964	35,618	18	107
1965	37,055	17	109
1966	37,854	16	110
1967	38,358	16	112
1968	39,371	15	112
1969	38,490	15	113
1970	38,995	14	113
1971	27,654	21	113
1972	36,450	15	124
1973	38,216	14	122
1974	49,125	14	121
1975	46,868	16	128
1976	45,738	15	130
1977	41,242	15	130
1978	38,081	11	131
1979	33,078	15	132
1980	20,975	19	132
1981	32,338	19	134
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993	1,366	111	123
1994
1995
1996	31,029	25	134
1997
1998
1999
2000	28,531	26	128
2001	25,966	28	129
2002	27,712	27	129
2003	28,266	27	130
2004	26,941	27	121
2005	24,204	27	121
2006	23,025	28	121
2007	21,292	29	121
2008	21,732	29	121
2009	22,596	30	122
2010	21,008	32	125
2011	23,138	27	129
2012	21,550	29	132
2013	19,525	23	129
2014	18,117	32	136
2015	17,341	32	138
2016	15,959	33	138
2017	13,870	37	139
2018	14,099	37	139
2019	12,282	43	139
2020	6,129	52	137
2021		39	137
2022		43	138
2023		41	138
2024		45	138
2025		52	141