2016 Merit Badge Rankings unveiled: These were the most and least popular

By Bryan Wendell | March 24, 2017

Scouts and Scouters, meet your repeat champion: the First Aid merit badge.

After losing its top spot to the Cooking merit badge in 2014, First Aid retook the crown in 2015 and defended its title in 2016.

That means more Scouts earned the First Aid merit badge in 2016 than any other badge.

It was something of a runaway victory. The badge outranked second place by nearly 8,000 merit badges earned.

First Aid: 2016’s king of merit badges

Exactly 1,919,912 merit badges were earned in 2016; First Aid accounted for 75,256 — nearly 4 percent.

That’s a lot of young men trained to assist someone in an emergency.

Swimming was second, third place went to Environmental Science, and Citizenship in the World and Citizenship in the Nation rounded out the top five.

Citizenship in the Nation is a newcomer in the top five, taking a spot previously held by Cooking, which dropped to sixth.

Here’s the complete top 10. Notice any commonality? All are Eagle-required.

First Aid
Swimming
Environmental Science
Citizenship in the World
Citizenship in the Nation
Cooking
Camping
Communication
Personal Fitness
Citizenship in the Community

OK, but what about non-Eagle-required badges?

Good point. Of course the rankings will be top-heavy with Eagle-required badges. Scouts who want to advance toward Eagle must earn most of the badges from this required list. The remaining merit badges are electives, and the choices are as diverse as the interests of modern Scouts.

The top 10 elective badges were:

Rifle Shooting
Fingerprinting
Archery
Leatherwork
Wilderness Survival
Wood Carving
Kayaking
Canoeing
Chess
Fishing

Many of those merit badges are summer camp staples, meaning Scouts can have fun completing them at one of the awesome local council camps across the country.

I’m always pleased to see Chess so high on the list. It was No. 22 overall last year and this year, which is a strong showing for a badge that’s been around only since 2011. There are many physical merit badges available, but Chess is a reminder that there mental ones as well.

Which were the least popular?

The 10 rarest, starting with the least earned, were:

Computers
Bugling
American Business
Stamp Collecting
American Labor
Cinematography
Journalism
Surveying
Drafting
Gardening

The Computers phase-out began in 2014, and Cinematography was changed to Moviemaking in 2013. Scouts who started work before those badges’ official end dates are allowed to finish their work.

Both discontinued merit badges will continue to fall until they disappear from the list.

Which merit badges are gaining or falling in popularity?

Which merit badges saw the biggest jumps? Which saw the biggest falls? Here goes …

Top 5 gains:

Animation, 322 percent increase
Signs, Signals and Codes, 132 percent increase
Whitewater, 20 increase
Surveying, 17 percent increase
Fly Fishing, 15 percent increase

The top two on this list — Animation and Signs, Signals and Codes — were released in 2015. So it makes sense that, when given a full year to shine, they’d do so.

As for the other three, your guess is as good as mine. Normal fluctuations in popularity? An abnormally strong year for surveying the country’s rivers and streams? Nobody could know.

Top 5 falls:

Computers, 79 percent decrease
Insect Study, 34 percent decrease
Cinematography, 33 percent decrease
Composite Materials, 27 percent decrease
American Labor, 27 percent decrease

Computers and Cinematography have been discontinued, so their presence is no surprise. I have no theory for why Insect Study, Composite Materials or American Labor fell in popularity last year.

Where did I get these numbers?

As with my 2016 analysis of the 2015 data, these figures come from Local Council Charter Applications. That means they’re based on the actual number earned, not on sales of the badges. Some troops purchase extra emblems in anticipation of future badge earnings, so sales numbers can mislead.

Special thanks to the BSA’s Lynn Adcock for providing these numbers.

The raw numbers

OK, here are the full lists. Get ready to do a lot of scrolling.

You’ll find

2016 rankings
Merit badge popularity in last five years
Lifetime rankings, 1911 to 2016
Rise and fall: percent change from 2015 to 2016

2016 rankings

Blue signifies Eagle-required. Green means the merit badge is new (introduced in 2011 or later). Orange means the badge is both new and Eagle-required.

Rank	Merit Badge	2016 earned
1	First Aid	75,256
2	Swimming	67,446
3	Environmental Science	60,026
4	Citizenship in the World	59,363
5	Citizenship in the Nation	57,919
6	Cooking	55,841
7	Camping	53,534
8	Communication	53,367
9	Personal Fitness	52,079
10	Citizenship in the Community	51,975
11	Personal Management	50,251
12	Family Life	50,177
13	Emergency Preparedness	47,004
14	Rifle Shooting	41,444
15	Fingerprinting	40,700
16	Archery	39,419
17	Leatherwork	37,920
18	Wilderness Survival	35,221
19	Wood Carving	34,938
20	Kayaking	33,137
21	Canoeing	28,288
22	Chess	27,416
23	Fishing	25,256
24	Art	22,990
25	Lifesaving	22,382
26	Mammal Study	21,303
27	Climbing	21,171
28	Shotgun Shooting	20,912
29	Space Exploration	20,137
30	Geology	18,516
31	Indian Lore	18,234
32	Astronomy	16,355
33	Pioneering	15,959
34	Basketry	15,282
35	Geocaching	15,210
36	Photography	15,142
37	Aviation	14,477
38	Robotics	14,264
39	Small Boat Sailing	14,108
40	Orienteering	13,753
41	Game Design	13,689
42	Nature	13,635
43	Weather	12,665
44	Fish & Wildlife Management	12,647
45	Metalwork	12,639
46	Forestry	12,519
47	Fire Safety	12,257
48	Music	11,689
49	Engineering	11,429
50	Chemistry	10,865
51	Moviemaking	10,851
52	Automotive Maintenance	10,748
53	Welding	10,737
54	Search and Rescue	10,361
55	Soil and Water Conservation	10,341
56	Electricity	9,762
57	Motor Boating	9,515
58	Horsemanship	9,457
59	Rowing	9,408
60	Digital Technology	9,344
61	Sculpture	8,900
62	Oceanography	8,499
63	Pottery	8,230
64	Signs, Signals and Codes	8,025
65	Electronics	7,814
66	Sports	7,626
67	Public Speaking	7,497
68	Hiking	7,485
69	Archaeology	7,388
70	Snow Sports	7,177
71	Nuclear Science	7,005
72	Sustainability	6,813
73	Railroading	6,599
74	Radio	6,442
75	Reptile and Amphibian Study	6,411
76	Cycling	6,334
77	Crime Prevention	6,178
78	Pulp and Paper	6,081
79	Traffic Safety	6,072
80	Salesmanship	6,031
81	Disabilities Awareness	5,833
82	Scouting Heritage	5,266
83	Law	5,226
84	Bird Study	5,199
85	Woodwork	4,975
86	American Heritage	4,952
87	Animation	4,637
88	Fly Fishing	4,577
89	Genealogy	4,570
90	Plumbing	4,510
91	Scholarship	4,316
92	Pets	4,278
93	Safety	4,267
94	Mining in Society	4,224
95	Coin Collecting	4,135
96	Programming	4,085
97	Backpacking	3,963
98	Animal Science	3,852
99	Painting	3,829
100	Medicine	3,767
101	Collections	3,753
102	Golf	3,605
103	Reading	3,574
104	Whitewater	3,476
105	Entrepreneurship	3,365
106	Home Repairs	3,325
107	Graphic Arts	3,251
108	Architecture	3,230
109	Athletics	3,125
110	Water Sports	3,123
111	Energy	2,955
112	Dentistry	2,910
113	Inventing	2,834
114	Model Design and Building	2,770
115	Veterinary Medicine	2,580
116	Theater	2,543
117	Textile	2,480
118	Dog Care	2,414
119	Truck Transportation	2,391
120	Farm Mechanics	2,368
121	Plant Science	2,363
122	Insect Study	2,341
123	American Cultures	2,218
124	Skating	1,953
125	Public Health	1,837
126	Scuba Diving	1,792
127	Composite Materials	1,597
128	Landscape Architecture	1,494
129	Gardening	1,375
130	Drafting	1,168
131	Surveying	1,028
132	Journalism	970
133	Cinematography*	841
134	American Labor	812
135	Stamp Collecting	793
136	American Business	627
137	Bugling	479
138	Computers**	354

*Cinematography became Moviemaking merit badge in 2013, but Scouts who began work on the older version were still able to earn it in 2016.

**Computers was discontinued on Dec. 31, 2014, but Scouts who began work on or before that date were still able to earn it in 2016.

Merit badge popularity in last five years

Merit Badge	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
American Business	679	805	650	587	627
American Cultures	2,883	2,649	2,174	2,233	2,218
American Heritage	6,626	6,195	5,333	5,599	4,952
American Labor	811	1,090	992	1,106	812
Animal Science	4,503	4,174	4,042	4,414	3,852
Animation	0	0	0	1,099	4,637
Archaeology	10,316	8,913	8,652	7,590	7,388
Archery	48,229	43,879	43,238	41,879	39,419
Architecture	3,631	3,956	4,019	3,362	3,230
Art	29,273	28,031	25,438	24,374	22,990
Astronomy	17,308	16,332	15,758	16,706	16,355
Athletics	3,465	3,709	3,241	3,604	3,125
Automotive Maintenance	10,784	10,084	9,763	9,961	10,748
Aviation	20,751	18,330	17,522	15,170	14,477
Backpacking	4,878	4,114	4,169	3,973	3,963
Basketry	22,073	19,364	17,531	17,158	15,282
Bird Study	6,952	6,405	5,641	5,587	5,199
Bugling	613	515	606	492	479
Camping*	60,772	58,982	54,265	54,342	53,534
Canoeing	39,042	33,409	31,833	29,461	28,288
Chemistry	9,692	10,731	10,594	10,560	10,865
Chess	29,298	27,315	25,266	27,235	27,416
Cinematography	8,308	8,465	4,026	1,260	841
Citizenship in the Community*	57,951	56,928	51,728	52,071	51,975
Citizenship in the Nation*	64,120	61,272	56,490	57,161	57,919
Citizenship in the World*	67,486	64,452	61,303	60,171	59,363
Climbing	24,609	22,861	23,200	21,574	21,171
Coin Collecting	6,043	5,667	5,303	4,715	4,135
Collections	5,077	4,966	4,295	4,004	3,753
Communication*	59,345	57,111	54,081	55,738	53,367
Composite Materials	1,610	1,817	1,614	2,183	1,597
Computers	14,474	15,149	12,973	1,686	354
Cooking*	23,384	44,903	99,908	67,691	55,841
Crime Prevention	8,331	7,274	6,917	6,581	6,178
Cycling**	7,053	6,551	6,268	6,626	6,334
Dentistry	4,403	4,213	3,416	3,485	2,910
Digital Technology	0	0	3,014	9,383	9,344
Disabilities Awareness	7,230	6,690	6,204	6,153	5,833
Dog Care	3,330	3,351	2,955	2,666	2,414
Drafting	1,377	1,440	1,318	1,339	1,168
Electricity	11,350	10,968	10,460	10,035	9,762
Electronics	8,060	8,753	8,860	8,352	7,814
Emergency Preparedness***	51,035	50,153	46,069	47,879	47,004
Energy	3,907	3,989	3,669	3,190	2,955
Engineering	9,682	10,445	11,624	11,735	11,429
Entrepreneurship	1,932	1,900	2,496	2,927	3,365
Environmental Science****	76,238	71,609	67,218	63,783	60,026
Family Life*	56,210	55,080	49,516	51,008	50,177
Farm Mechanics	2,457	2,421	2,486	2,244	2,368
Fingerprinting	46,594	45,140	43,820	43,743	40,700
Fire Safety	14,517	12,988	12,395	12,782	12,257
First Aid*	92,312	87,477	80,917	80,716	75,256
Fish & Wildlife Management	15,528	13,411	13,749	13,164	12,647
Fishing	31,932	29,788	28,119	26,050	25,256
Fly Fishing	4,291	4,690	4,537	3,981	4,577
Forestry	16,309	14,874	14,465	12,905	12,519
Game Design	0	2,657	11,853	12,313	13,689
Gardening	2,258	1,972	1,641	1,582	1,375
Genealogy	5,641	5,740	5,474	5,316	4,570
Geocaching	18,711	17,031	16,785	15,582	15,210
Geology	24,015	22,103	21,282	22,180	18,516
Golf	5,128	4,921	3,955	3,826	3,605
Graphic Arts	3,505	3,140	3,189	3,356	3,251
Hiking**	8,132	7,856	7,344	6,967	7,485
Home Repairs	4,413	3,790	3,866	3,288	3,325
Horsemanship	12,670	10,977	11,905	10,878	9,457
Indian Lore	26,705	24,535	22,997	22,241	18,234
Insect Study	4,120	3,613	3,164	3,550	2,341
Inventing	2,592	2,704	2,902	3,369	2,834
Journalism	1,184	945	955	1,037	970
Kayaking	21,765	36,217	35,533	34,054	33,137
Landscape Architecture	1,618	1,872	1,496	1,434	1,494
Law	7,274	6,946	5,463	5,633	5,226
Leatherwork	48,674	44,344	42,565	40,805	37,920
Lifesaving***	28,228	25,945	24,474	23,983	22,382
Mammal Study	28,309	24,064	24,060	23,427	21,303
Medicine	4,507	3,990	3,725	3,807	3,767
Metalwork	13,674	13,259	12,949	12,340	12,639
Mining in Society	0	0	3,519	4,613	4,224
Model Design and Building	3,120	3,628	2,612	2,795	2,770
Motor Boating	12,004	11,012	10,748	9,880	9,515
Moviemaking	0	0	6,195	10,064	10,851
Music	15,088	14,223	12,903	12,369	11,689
Nature	18,114	16,164	15,046	14,679	13,635
Nuclear Science	7,114	7,666	6,657	6,728	7,005
Oceanography	10,636	10,769	9,991	9,892	8,499
Orienteering	18,989	16,909	16,871	15,642	13,753
Painting	5,412	4,911	4,346	4,245	3,829
Personal Fitness*	56,908	56,295	50,693	52,499	52,079
Personal Management*	54,529	53,273	48,299	51,105	50,251
Pets	5,904	5,659	4,821	4,645	4,278
Photography	18,879	17,800	17,804	16,931	15,142
Pioneering	21,550	19,525	18,117	17,341	15,959
Plant Science	2,593	2,712	2,680	2,922	2,363
Plumbing	5,785	5,178	4,982	4,960	4,510
Pottery	10,157	9,869	9,050	8,384	8,230
Programming	0	480	2,970	3,577	4,085
Public Health	1,783	2,006	1,821	1,780	1,837
Public Speaking	6,987	7,289	7,091	7,793	7,497
Pulp and Paper	7,495	7,034	6,250	7,379	6,081
Radio	6,957	7,208	6,665	6,709	6,442
Railroading	8,681	7,191	6,694	7,651	6,599
Reading	5,676	5,216	4,712	4,179	3,574
Reptile and Amphibian Study	9,772	8,483	7,547	6,700	6,411
Rifle Shooting	50,435	47,054	45,839	43,196	41,444
Robotics	13,262	13,401	13,708	13,700	14,264
Rowing	13,769	10,944	10,557	9,995	9,408
Safety	3,824	4,349	3,778	3,937	4,267
Salesmanship	6,425	6,438	6,648	6,412	6,031
Scholarship	6,310	5,956	5,362	4,911	4,316
Scouting Heritage	5,394	5,660	5,572	5,558	5,266
Scuba Diving	2,594	2,370	1,989	2,135	1,792
Sculpture	12,829	11,493	9,887	10,042	8,900
Search and Rescue	725	10,552	12,359	11,725	10,361
Shotgun Shooting	26,173	24,603	23,970	21,895	20,912
Signs, Signals and Codes	0	0	0	3,453	8,025
Skating	2,220	2,406	2,010	1,972	1,953
Small Boat Sailing	18,740	16,857	16,511	15,092	14,108
Snow Sports	8,636	9,134	8,227	7,251	7,177
Soil and Water Conservation	14,553	11,697	11,296	10,437	10,341
Space Exploration	23,557	23,290	22,625	21,607	20,137
Sports	9,112	8,950	8,032	8,272	7,626
Stamp Collecting	1,045	1,131	863	996	793
Surveying	1,235	1,307	1,065	879	1,028
Sustainability ****	0	590	5,428	6,625	6,813
Swimming**	80,376	72,946	72,503	71,821	67,446
Textile	4,681	4,673	3,694	3,225	2,480
Theater	2,776	2,320	2,273	2,665	2,543
Traffic Safety	7,450	7,582	7,088	5,604	6,072
Truck Transportation	2,928	2,847	2,182	2,157	2,391
Veterinary Medicine	3,460	3,455	2,875	2,764	2,580
Water Sports	4,291	3,935	3,594	3,389	3,123
Weather	17,869	15,958	15,846	14,622	12,665
Welding	4,022	10,919	11,061	11,019	10,737
Whitewater	4,149	3,252	3,565	2,888	3,476
Wilderness Survival	46,829	43,158	40,395	37,581	35,221
Wood Carving	44,927	41,120	38,749	36,890	34,938
Woodwork	4,962	5,602	5,198	5,242	4,975
Total	2,175,878	2,110,848	2,077,550	2,011,860	1,919,912

* On required list for Eagle Rank

** Required for Eagle (must complete Cycling, Hiking or Swimming)

*** Required for Eagle (must complete Emergency Preparedness or Lifesaving)

**** Required for Eagle (must complete Environmental Science or Sustainability)

Merit badge lifetime rankings

Note: This list includes only merit badges that could be earned in 2016.

Also, the rankings are interesting but don’t tell the whole story. That’s because a merit badge released more recently will have been earned less than one of the original 1911 merit badges.

For example, Wood Carving is No. 18 lifetime, but it was released in 1923. Rifle Shooting, No. 30 lifetime, is more popular than Wood Carving today, but its 1988 release hurts its historic popularity.

Rank	Merit Badge	1911 to 2016
1	First Aid*	7,137,872
2	Swimming**	6,454,034
3	Camping*	4,770,588
4	Cooking*	4,461,893
5	Citizenship in the Community*	3,565,802
6	Citizenship in the Nation*	3,319,817
7	Lifesaving***	3,083,773
8	Canoeing	3,081,383
9	Safety	2,943,218
10	Environmental Science****	2,836,396
11	Fire Safety	2,632,691
12	Personal Fitness*	2,603,805
13	Leatherwork	2,525,804
14	Basketry	2,472,315
15	Pioneering	2,446,508
16	Home Repairs	2,421,783
17	Citizenship in the World*	2,388,293
18	Wood Carving	2,359,486
19	Communication*	2,165,233
20	Fishing	2,040,255
21	Emergency Preparedness***	1,932,212
22	Personal Management*	1,913,342
23	Fingerprinting	1,758,841
24	Rowing	1,737,241
25	Wilderness Survival	1,708,130
26	Nature	1,693,756
27	Archery	1,685,142
28	Public Health	1,521,262
29	Reading	1,490,797
30	Rifle Shooting	1,412,619
31	Art	1,356,174
32	Hiking**	1,344,669
33	Music	1,342,815
34	Scholarship	1,285,941
35	Family Life*	1,261,530
36	Mammal Study	1,240,078
37	Indian Lore	1,238,343
38	Forestry	1,176,369
39	Sports	1,161,287
40	Metalwork	1,159,618
41	Soil and Water Conservation	1,143,023
42	Athletics	1,071,734
43	Woodwork	982,143
44	Orienteering	846,536
45	Electricity	824,602
46	Geology	687,818
47	Small Boat Sailing	681,509
48	Fish & Wildlife Management	679,019
49	Astronomy	672,315
50	Pets	667,586
51	Horsemanship	662,054
52	Reptile and Amphibian Study	661,213
53	Public Speaking	657,793
54	Aviation	634,144
55	Motor Boating	605,733
56	Weather	605,245
57	Space Exploration	601,615
58	Bird Study	592,971
59	Cycling**	588,138
60	Painting	570,198
61	Shotgun Shooting	563,087
62	Photography	537,582
63	Computers	520,848
64	Coin Collecting	505,994
65	Snow Sports	465,646
66	Climbing	459,255
67	Dog Care	436,542
68	Plumbing	400,848
69	Pottery	400,565
70	Stamp Collecting	391,296
71	Gardening	390,470
72	Chemistry	371,888
73	Salesmanship	337,273
74	Sculpture	321,350
75	Oceanography	306,737
76	Water Sports	256,566
77	Railroading	251,605
78	Genealogy	241,524
79	Electronics	232,671
80	Drafting	227,165
81	Model Design and Building	225,741
82	Farm Mechanics	225,414
83	Architecture	223,037
84	Backpacking	222,212
85	Law	195,624
86	Automotive Maintenance	187,794
87	Nuclear Science	187,469
88	Radio	185,633
89	Skating	177,285
90	Golf	174,201
91	Bugling	171,045
92	Insect Study	170,974
93	Archaeology	170,968
94	Engineering	169,700
95	American Heritage	169,372
96	Traffic Safety	169,247
97	Kayaking	160,706
98	Surveying	153,555
99	Collections	149,615
100	Crime Prevention	149,427
101	Textile	148,715
102	Chess	142,532
103	Truck Transportation	142,125
104	Dentistry	141,779
105	Disabilities Awareness	133,462
106	Pulp and Paper	128,067
107	Journalism	108,389
108	Geocaching	107,271
109	Cinematography	106,216
110	Whitewater	94,816
111	Theater	88,870
112	Energy	86,538
113	Landscape Architecture	84,639
114	Veterinary Medicine	81,429
115	Medicine	80,122
116	Robotics	73,742
117	American Cultures	72,220
118	Animal Science	69,343
119	Graphic Arts	57,550
120	American Business	54,354
121	Plant Science	50,086
122	Welding	47,758
123	Search and Rescue	45,722
124	Game Design	40,512
125	Scouting Heritage	37,671
126	Fly Fishing	35,737
127	Entrepreneurship	28,734
128	Moviemaking	27,110
129	American Labor	24,726
130	Digital Technology	21,741
131	Sustainability ****	19,456
132	Inventing	17,296
133	Composite Materials	17,025
134	Scuba Diving	16,987
135	Mining in Society	12,356
136	Signs, Signals and Codes	11,478
137	Programming	11,112
138	Animation	5,736