The average plumber in the United States earns $72,170 a year, and the median, which is the figure that describes a typical worker rather than one dragged around by the top end, is $63,800. That works out at about $34.70 an hour. Where you work moves that a long way: Oregon averages $98,450 and Arkansas $50,640. Everything below is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 release, not from job ads or self-reported surveys.
What a plumber actually does for that money
BLS counts plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters as one occupation, which pulls the average up, because industrial pipefitting pays more than residential service work. Most residential plumbers work for small contractors, and the trade has one of the highest rates of eventual self-employment in construction.
What plumbers earn, from bottom to top
An average hides the spread, and the spread is what matters when you are deciding whether to enter the trade or what to pay someone. Here is the full range BLS publishes.
| Percentile | Annual | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% | $44,150 | Starting out, or an apprentice rate |
| 25th | $50,190 | Still building speed and a customer base |
| Median | $63,800 | The middle of the trade |
| 75th | $85,110 | Experienced, licensed, in demand |
| Top 10% | $108,420 | Specialists, supervisors and owners |
Plumbing salary by state
Oregon pays the most at $98,450 a year, and Arkansas the least at $50,640. Cost of living explains part of that gap and licensing rules explain a good deal of the rest.
| # | State | Average annual | Median annual | Hourly | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon | $98,450 | $97,050 | $47.33 | 5,370 |
| 2 | Illinois | $93,400 | $99,950 | $44.91 | 16,750 |
| 3 | New Jersey | $92,590 | $78,240 | $44.51 | 8,750 |
| 4 | District of Columbia | $91,200 | $101,020 | $43.85 | 1,010 |
| 5 | Alaska | $90,460 | $93,920 | $43.49 | 1,200 |
| 6 | Massachusetts | $90,410 | $93,880 | $43.46 | 13,460 |
| 7 | Washington | $88,800 | $81,030 | $42.69 | 12,470 |
| 8 | Minnesota | $86,700 | $94,410 | $41.68 | 10,720 |
| 9 | Wisconsin | $84,720 | $81,210 | $40.73 | 10,210 |
| 10 | New York | $83,790 | $77,490 | $40.29 | 23,210 |
| 11 | Hawaii | $82,810 | $78,060 | $39.81 | 2,500 |
| 12 | California | $82,320 | $72,830 | $39.58 | 47,660 |
| 13 | Rhode Island | $81,610 | $76,470 | $39.23 | 1,820 |
| 14 | Montana | $78,190 | $79,960 | $37.59 | 1,860 |
| 15 | Michigan | $77,250 | $80,190 | $37.14 | 14,120 |
| 16 | Pennsylvania | $77,050 | $68,080 | $37.05 | 13,620 |
| 17 | Indiana | $75,660 | $76,320 | $36.37 | 11,280 |
| 18 | Connecticut | $75,400 | $77,280 | $36.25 | 5,410 |
| 19 | Missouri | $75,010 | $66,790 | $36.06 | 8,310 |
| 20 | Maryland | $73,510 | $65,400 | $35.34 | 11,420 |
| 21 | Nevada | $71,510 | $61,610 | $34.38 | 5,370 |
| 22 | Kansas | $71,410 | $65,220 | $34.33 | 4,590 |
| 23 | Iowa | $70,030 | $63,890 | $33.67 | 5,730 |
| 24 | Ohio | $69,700 | $63,330 | $33.51 | 16,390 |
| 25 | Colorado | $69,090 | $63,240 | $33.22 | 10,080 |
| 26 | Vermont | $68,980 | $62,170 | $33.16 | 980 |
| 27 | Kentucky | $68,870 | $64,160 | $33.11 | 6,360 |
| 28 | Delaware | $68,110 | $64,720 | $32.75 | 1,590 |
| 29 | Arizona | $67,940 | $62,070 | $32.66 | 11,810 |
| 30 | Maine | $66,570 | $64,000 | $32.00 | 2,710 |
| 31 | New Hampshire | $66,230 | $66,810 | $31.84 | 1,950 |
| 32 | North Dakota | $66,160 | $63,560 | $31.81 | 1,620 |
| 33 | Nebraska | $65,710 | $60,970 | $31.59 | 4,110 |
| 34 | Utah | $64,210 | $61,900 | $30.87 | 7,030 |
| 35 | Louisiana | $62,620 | $63,680 | $30.11 | 8,360 |
| 36 | Wyoming | $61,890 | $62,410 | $29.76 | 1,140 |
| 37 | New Mexico | $61,790 | $61,440 | $29.71 | 2,830 |
| 38 | Texas | $60,780 | $59,840 | $29.22 | 44,090 |
| 39 | Virginia | $60,650 | $60,470 | $29.16 | 13,780 |
| 40 | Tennessee | $60,500 | $58,600 | $29.09 | 9,270 |
| 41 | Oklahoma | $58,970 | $57,970 | $28.35 | 6,050 |
| 42 | West Virginia | $58,780 | $56,980 | $28.26 | 1,830 |
| 43 | Idaho | $58,450 | $52,380 | $28.10 | 3,090 |
| 44 | Georgia | $58,220 | $57,200 | $27.99 | 8,930 |
| 45 | Alabama | $57,750 | $58,670 | $27.77 | 6,950 |
| 46 | North Carolina | $56,720 | $57,080 | $27.27 | 14,510 |
| 47 | Mississippi | $56,690 | $55,480 | $27.25 | 3,360 |
| 48 | Florida | $56,030 | $52,910 | $26.94 | 29,260 |
| 49 | South Carolina | $55,890 | $53,940 | $26.87 | 5,770 |
| 50 | South Dakota | $55,530 | $51,620 | $26.70 | 1,760 |
| 51 | Arkansas | $50,640 | $48,660 | $24.35 | 3,370 |
Where the money is: highest paying metros
State averages flatten out the difference between a city and the rural county next to it. These are the metro areas paying plumbers the most.
| # | Metro area | Average annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $114,280 | $54.94 |
| 2 | Bellingham, WA | $102,860 | $49.45 |
| 3 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $100,710 | $48.42 |
| 4 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $96,430 | $46.36 |
| 5 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $96,250 | $46.27 |
| 6 | Kennewick-Richland, WA | $94,650 | $45.50 |
| 7 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $92,810 | $44.62 |
| 8 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $92,380 | $44.41 |
| 9 | Fairbanks-College, AK | $92,330 | $44.39 |
| 10 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $92,030 | $44.25 |
What moves the number
- Nearly every state licenses plumbers in tiers, apprentice to journeyman to master, and the jump from journeyman to master is usually the single biggest step change in pay in the trade.
- Emergency and after-hours work carries a premium that shows up in annual earnings rather than in the base rate. Plumbers who take the call at 2am earn materially more than those who do not.
- Medical gas, backflow certification and commercial pipefitting all pay above general residential service work, and each is a short course rather than another apprenticeship.
- The bottom ten percent of plumbers earn under $44,150 and the top ten percent clear $108,420. That gap is the trade telling you where the money is.
- Working for somebody else and working for yourself are different questions. These figures cover employed plumbers on a payroll, so they exclude the self-employed, and in this trade a large share of the best operators are exactly that.
What you can earn running the business instead
The number above is a wage. Running the business is a different calculation: you take the full ticket rather than an hourly rate, and what you keep depends on how many jobs you fit in a week, how quickly you get paid and how much of your day goes on scheduling, estimates and chasing invoices instead of on the work. That is the part software actually changes. Owners who put scheduling, estimating, invoicing and automated follow-up in one place tend to run more jobs with the same crew, which is where the gap between a plumber wage and an owner income opens up.
Plumbing salary FAQs
- How much do plumbers make a year?
- The median plumber in the United States earns $63,800 a year and the average is $72,170, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 release. Half the trade earns more than the median and half less.
- How much do plumbers make an hour?
- The mean hourly wage is $34.70. Annual earnings are usually higher than that rate multiplied by a standard year, because overtime, call-outs and premium work are not in the base rate.
- Which state pays plumbers the most?
- Oregon pays the most at an average of $98,450 a year, followed by Illinois at $93,400 and New Jersey at $92,590. Cost of living accounts for some of that and licensing rules for much of the rest.
- Which cities pay plumbers the most?
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA tops the list at an average of $114,280 a year, with Bellingham, WA at $102,860. Metro figures move a lot more than state averages, so the city matters more than the state.
- Can plumbers earn six figures?
- Yes. The top ten percent of plumbers earn $108,420 or more. Getting there usually means a combination of licensing, specialization and either supervising a crew or running the business.
- Do these figures include self-employed plumbers?
- No. The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program covers wage and salary workers, so sole proprietors and business owners are excluded. In a trade with as many owner-operators as this one, that matters when you read the number.
- Where does this plumbing salary data come from?
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, for "Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters" (SOC 47-2152). It is a survey of employers rather than of workers, which is why it is more reliable than self-reported salary sites.
All wage figures on this page are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. BLS suppresses figures in areas with too few employers to publish safely; those appear as n/a rather than an estimate.
