// PLUMBER · SOC 47-2152
Plumber wages in the United States
The median plumber is paid $30.67 an hour nationally. Here is the full spread behind that number, and what it means for what you should charge.
// THE NUMBERS
What BLS reports
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, national, all industries. Occupation 47-2152, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters.
The band is the 25th to 75th percentile: a quarter of people in this occupation are paid below $24.13, a quarter above $40.92, and the $16.79 between them is the range most of the trade sits in.
// WAGE TO CHARGE-OUT
Why $30.67 is not your rate
Working the median wage up to something you could quote. Every line is arithmetic off a published figure, and the overhead model is the same one the calculator uses, so the two cannot drift apart.
- Median hourly wage $30.67 BLS May 2025
- Plus employer FICA at 7.65% $33.02 Social Security and Medicare, published by the IRS
- Plus overhead $41.57 28% of wage, spread across vehicle, insurance, tools, software and other
- Plus non-billable hours, then margin Your number Depends on how much of your week actually bills. That is the part only you can supply.
Where that overhead goes, on a 2,080-hour year
- Vehicle$6,300
- Insurance$3,200
- Tools$3,900
- Admin and software$2,100
- Other$2,300
These splits are starting assumptions, not published statistics. They exist so the arithmetic has a beginning; replace every one with your own figure in the calculator.
// BY STATE
Where you work changes the number
The national median is a midpoint, not a market. A plumber median runs from $23.39 in Arkansas to $48.57 in District of Columbia, a difference of $25.18 an hour on the same job title. Median hourly wage, USD, May 2025.
All 51 rows are the BLS median hourly wage for SOC 47-2152 in that state, May 2025, retrieved 2026-08-27. Still a wage, not a charge-out rate.
// OTHER TRADES
Compare with the rest
Source for every figure: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Retrieved 2026-08-26. Download the full table as CSV.
// READY WHEN YOU ARE
Know your number. Now get found.
Pricing right only pays off if the right people are calling. That is the part we build.
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