Plumbing Merit Badge History

Earned through 2020417,612

Best year19937,115 earned

All-time popularity#73official, as of 2020#75by 2025 (estimate)

Earned by Year

First earned in 1912. Peak year 1993 with 7,115. Hover over or tap a year for its numbers.

19110 earned

19125 earned#44 of 51

19138 earned#49 of 56

191475 earned#39 of 58

191529 earned#45 of 58

191612 earned#52 of 56

191733 earned#49 of 58

191857 earned#46 of 58

1919134 earned#47 of 59

192089 earned#49 of 59

1921274 earned#46 of 61

1922467 earned#45 of 61

1923698 earned#38 of 63

1924976 earned#32 of 64

19251,538 earned#27 of 64

19263,248 earned#25 of 65

19273,685 earned#25 of 68

19284,689 earned#29 of 88

19293,668 earned#34 of 89

19303,826 earned#34 of 92

19314,134 earned#35 of 96

19324,353 earned#33 of 98

19334,295 earned#34 of 101

19343,501 earned#33 of 101

19353,778 earned#35 of 101

19362,867 earned#40 of 101

19372,799 earned#45 of 102

19384,043 earned#36 of 105

19393,801 earned#43 of 106

19404,060 earned#36 of 106

19413,325 earned#42 of 106

19422,624 earned#47 of 110

19433,134 earned#48 of 112

19444,286 earned#44 of 111

19454,291 earned#43 of 111

19463,459 earned#44 of 111

19473,001 earned#45 of 111

19483,051 earned#44 of 111

19493,521 earned#42 of 111

19504,731 earned#37 of 111

19515,005 earned#39 of 111

19525,126 earned#43 of 120

19534,827 earned#44 of 105

19545,663 earned#43 of 103

19555,349 earned#46 of 100

19565,116 earned#48 of 100

19574,764 earned#50 of 100

19584,553 earned#50 of 101

19594,541 earned#52 of 101

19605,238 earned#52 of 100

19615,381 earned#51 of 101

19625,299 earned#52 of 101

19635,050 earned#55 of 102

19644,855 earned#58 of 107

19654,537 earned#58 of 109

19664,038 earned#60 of 110

19673,865 earned#62 of 112

19684,072 earned#60 of 112

19693,805 earned#65 of 113

19704,247 earned#62 of 113

19713,864 earned#65 of 113

19724,580 earned#69 of 124

19734,622 earned#70 of 122

19745,991 earned#75 of 121

19756,336 earned#74 of 128

19765,490 earned#73 of 130

19774,823 earned#75 of 130

19784,254 earned#77 of 131

19793,465 earned#72 of 132

19802,168 earned#77 of 132

19812,843 earned#76 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

19937,115 earned#57 of 123

1994No data available

1995No data available

19963,769 earned#76 of 134

1997No data available

1998No data available

1999No data available

20005,383 earned#73 of 128

20015,013 earned#75 of 129

20025,776 earned#70 of 129

20035,950 earned#69 of 130

20046,473 earned#65 of 121

20055,949 earned#66 of 121

20065,914 earned#65 of 121

20075,366 earned#73 of 121

20085,414 earned#76 of 121

20097,055 earned#69 of 122

20106,233 earned#79 of 125

20116,417 earned#69 of 129

20125,785 earned#65 of 132

20135,178 earned#59 of 129

20144,982 earned#89 of 136

20154,960 earned#87 of 138

20164,510 earned#90 of 138

20174,398 earned#91 of 139

20184,862 earned#90 of 139

20194,743 earned#91 of 139

20202,761 earned#104 of 137

2021No data available#103 of 137

2022No data available#97 of 138

2023No data available#100 of 138

2024No data available#94 of 138

2025No data available#88 of 141

Known count No data available

"—" means merit badges were earned that year but the exact number is not currently known. "#88 of 141" means the badge was number 88 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

19125#44 of 51

19138#49 of 56

191475#39 of 58

191529#45 of 58

191612#52 of 56

191733#49 of 58

191857#46 of 58

1919134#47 of 59

192089#49 of 59

1921274#46 of 61

1922467#45 of 61

1923698#38 of 63

1924976#32 of 64

19251,538#27 of 64

19263,248#25 of 65

19273,685#25 of 68

19284,689#29 of 88

19293,668#34 of 89

19303,826#34 of 92

19314,134#35 of 96

19324,353#33 of 98

19334,295#34 of 101

19343,501#33 of 101

19353,778#35 of 101

19362,867#40 of 101

19372,799#45 of 102

19384,043#36 of 105

19393,801#43 of 106

19404,060#36 of 106

19413,325#42 of 106

19422,624#47 of 110

19433,134#48 of 112

19444,286#44 of 111

19454,291#43 of 111

19463,459#44 of 111

19473,001#45 of 111

19483,051#44 of 111

19493,521#42 of 111

19504,731#37 of 111

19515,005#39 of 111

19525,126#43 of 120

19534,827#44 of 105

19545,663#43 of 103

19555,349#46 of 100

19565,116#48 of 100

19574,764#50 of 100

19584,553#50 of 101

19594,541#52 of 101

19605,238#52 of 100

19615,381#51 of 101

19625,299#52 of 101

19635,050#55 of 102

19644,855#58 of 107

19654,537#58 of 109

19664,038#60 of 110

19673,865#62 of 112

19684,072#60 of 112

19693,805#65 of 113

19704,247#62 of 113

19713,864#65 of 113

19724,580#69 of 124

19734,622#70 of 122

19745,991#75 of 121

19756,336#74 of 128

19765,490#73 of 130

19774,823#75 of 130

19784,254#77 of 131

19793,465#72 of 132

19802,168#77 of 132

19812,843#76 of 134

1982—

1983—

1984—

1985—

1986—

1987—

1988—

1989—

1990—

1991—

1992—

19937,115#57 of 123

1994—

1995—

19963,769#76 of 134

1997—

1998—

1999—

20005,383#73 of 128

20015,013#75 of 129

20025,776#70 of 129

20035,950#69 of 130

20046,473#65 of 121

20055,949#66 of 121

20065,914#65 of 121

20075,366#73 of 121

20085,414#76 of 121

20097,055#69 of 122

20106,233#79 of 125

20116,417#69 of 129

20125,785#65 of 132

20135,178#59 of 129

20144,982#89 of 136

20154,960#87 of 138

20164,510#90 of 138

20174,398#91 of 139

20184,862#90 of 139

20194,743#91 of 139

20202,761#104 of 137

2021—#103 of 137

2022—#97 of 138

2023—#100 of 138

2024—#94 of 138

2025—#88 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.

Plumbing: workbook data

Printings (82)

Have	Year	Month	Cover	Back	Run	©	BSA #	UPC	HC	Notes
c	1920		1C							hb 20th edition reference
	1921	not made
	1922		2							20c Radio
	1923	not made
	1924	not made
x	1925		2							20c Radio
x	1925		3A
	1926	not made
x	1927		3A
x	1927		3A							with pasted 1928 requirements
c	1928		3B
x	1929	December	3B
	1930	May	3B			1930
x	1931	March	3B			1930
x	1932	March	3B		1M
	1933	not made
x	1934	April	3B		1M
x	1935	August	3B		1M
	1936	not made
x	1937	January	3B		1M
x	1938	March	3B		1M
x	1939	April	3B		1M
x	1940	December	4		1M
x	1941	December	4		1M
	1942	not made
x	1943	February	4		2M
x	1944	June	5A		1M
x	1945	February	5B		2M
x	1946	May	5B		2M				HCF
	1947	not made
x	1948	April	5B		2M
x	1949	October	5B		2M
	1950	not made
x	1951	January	5B		2M
c	1952	February	5B		2M				HCH
	1953	April	5B		1M
x	1953	August	6A		3M
x	1954	June	6A		3M				HCJ
x	1955	February	6A		3M
	1955	December	6A		4M
	1956	not made
x	1957	January	6A		4M
x	1958	January	6A		4M
x	1959	February	6A		4M				HCJV1
x	1960	February	6A		4M
x	1960	November	6A		4M
x	1961	December	6A		4M
	1962	not made
x	1963	January	6A		4M				HCJV2
x	1963	November	6A		4M				HCJV2
	1964	June	6		3M
x	1964	November	6A		4.5M
x	1965	October	6B		4.5M	1965			HCK
x	1966	November	7		4.5M	1965			HCL
x	1967	November	7		6M	1965
	1968	not made
x	1969	January	7		10M	1965			HCN
x	1970	June	7		4.5M	1965			HCM
x	1971	April	7		4.5M	1965
x	1972	April	7		4.5M	1965			HCM
x	1973	June	8A		5M	1965			HCSV2, HCT
x	1974	February	8A		7M				HCT
x	1975	March	8A		5M
	1976	not made
x	1977	March	8B		3.5M
	1978	not made
x	1979	February	8B		2M
x	1979	December	9A		2M
	1980	not made
	1981	April	9A		2M
x	1982	February	9A		2M
x	1983	February	9A		2M
x	1984	March	9A		2M
x	1985	March	9A		2M
	1986	not made
	1987	not made
	1988	not made
x	1989	November	9B		2M
x	1990	July	9B		3M
x	1991	February	9B	back-9c-1	4M
	1992	not made
x	1993	December	9		2.5M
	1994	not made
x	1995	October	9		3.5M
	1996	not made
	1997	not made
x	1998		9	back-9e		1989	33386	730176333861		front has Revised 1993 10 9 8 7 6 5
x	1999		9
	2000	not made
	2001	not made
x	2002		9			1989
x	2003		9	back-9g		1989	33386A	730176333861
x	2004		9			2004
	2005	not made
x	2006		9C-1
x	2007		9C-2
x	2008		10A
x	2009		10B
x	2010		10C
	2011	not made
x	2012		10C
	2013	not made
x	2014		10C
x	2015		10C
x	2016		10C
x	2017		10C
	2018	not made
x	2019		10D
x	2020		10D
	2021	not made
	2022	not made
x	2023		10D
	2024	not made
	2025	not made

Earned and rank by year

Year	Earned	Rank	Of
1911	0
1912	5	44	51
1913	8	49	56
1914	75	39	58
1915	29	45	58
1916	12	52	56
1917	33	49	58
1918	57	46	58
1919	134	47	59
1920	89	49	59
1921	274	46	61
1922	467	45	61
1923	698	38	63
1924	976	32	64
1925	1,538	27	64
1926	3,248	25	65
1927	3,685	25	68
1928	4,689	29	88
1929	3,668	34	89
1930	3,826	34	92
1931	4,134	35	96
1932	4,353	33	98
1933	4,295	34	101
1934	3,501	33	101
1935	3,778	35	101
1936	2,867	40	101
1937	2,799	45	102
1938	4,043	36	105
1939	3,801	43	106
1940	4,060	36	106
1941	3,325	42	106
1942	2,624	47	110
1943	3,134	48	112
1944	4,286	44	111
1945	4,291	43	111
1946	3,459	44	111
1947	3,001	45	111
1948	3,051	44	111
1949	3,521	42	111
1950	4,731	37	111
1951	5,005	39	111
1952	5,126	43	120
1953	4,827	44	105
1954	5,663	43	103
1955	5,349	46	100
1956	5,116	48	100
1957	4,764	50	100
1958	4,553	50	101
1959	4,541	52	101
1960	5,238	52	100
1961	5,381	51	101
1962	5,299	52	101
1963	5,050	55	102
1964	4,855	58	107
1965	4,537	58	109
1966	4,038	60	110
1967	3,865	62	112
1968	4,072	60	112
1969	3,805	65	113
1970	4,247	62	113
1971	3,864	65	113
1972	4,580	69	124
1973	4,622	70	122
1974	5,991	75	121
1975	6,336	74	128
1976	5,490	73	130
1977	4,823	75	130
1978	4,254	77	131
1979	3,465	72	132
1980	2,168	77	132
1981	2,843	76	134
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993	7,115	57	123
1994
1995
1996	3,769	76	134
1997
1998
1999
2000	5,383	73	128
2001	5,013	75	129
2002	5,776	70	129
2003	5,950	69	130
2004	6,473	65	121
2005	5,949	66	121
2006	5,914	65	121
2007	5,366	73	121
2008	5,414	76	121
2009	7,055	69	122
2010	6,233	79	125
2011	6,417	69	129
2012	5,785	65	132
2013	5,178	59	129
2014	4,982	89	136
2015	4,960	87	138
2016	4,510	90	138
2017	4,398	91	139
2018	4,862	90	139
2019	4,743	91	139
2020	2,761	104	137
2021		103	137
2022		97	138
2023		100	138
2024		94	138
2025		88	141