What is the average plumber salary?

The national median wage for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters is $63,800 a year, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 wage data. Half of plumbers earn more than that and half earn less. State medians range from $48,660 to $101,020.

Which state pays plumbers the most?

District of Columbia ($101,020), Illinois ($99,950), Oregon ($97,050) lead the country on median annual pay for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters. Cost of living explains much of the spread — a higher median does not automatically mean more take-home value.

Which states pay plumbers the least?

Arkansas ($48,660), South Dakota ($51,620), Idaho ($52,380) sit at the bottom of the range. Lower-cost states cluster there, so the gap in real purchasing power is narrower than the raw numbers suggest.

Should I set pay using the national median or my state's?

Neither, on its own. Use your state median as a floor and benchmark against the metro you actually hire in — within-state variation between a major metro and a rural county is often larger than the gap between two states.

Plumber salary by state: what plumbers earn in all 50 states (2026)

What does a plumber make?

The national median is $63,800 a year for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 wage data. State medians run from $48,660 to $101,020 — a spread of roughly $52,360. 26 of 51 jurisdictions pay above the national median.

If you're hiring, that spread is the number that matters. Posting at your state median in a metro that pays well above it is the quiet reason a job sits open for weeks.

Plumber salary by state

Median annual wage, all 51 jurisdictions, ranked. The final column shows the gap against the $63,800 national median.

#	State	Median annual wage	vs. national
1	District of Columbia	$101,020	+$37,220
2	Illinois	$99,950	+$36,150
3	Oregon	$97,050	+$33,250
4	Minnesota	$94,410	+$30,610
5	Alaska	$93,920	+$30,120
6	Massachusetts	$93,880	+$30,080
7	Wisconsin	$81,210	+$17,410
8	Washington	$81,030	+$17,230
9	Michigan	$80,190	+$16,390
10	Montana	$79,960	+$16,160
11	New Jersey	$78,240	+$14,440
12	Hawaii	$78,060	+$14,260
13	New York	$77,490	+$13,690
14	Connecticut	$77,280	+$13,480
15	Rhode Island	$76,470	+$12,670
16	Indiana	$76,320	+$12,520
17	California	$72,830	+$9,030
18	Pennsylvania	$68,080	+$4,280
19	New Hampshire	$66,810	+$3,010
20	Missouri	$66,790	+$2,990
21	Maryland	$65,400	+$1,600
22	Kansas	$65,220	+$1,420
23	Delaware	$64,720	+$920
24	Kentucky	$64,160	+$360
25	Maine	$64,000	+$200
26	Iowa	$63,890	+$90
27	Louisiana	$63,680	−$120
28	North Dakota	$63,560	−$240
29	Ohio	$63,330	−$470
30	Colorado	$63,240	−$560
31	Wyoming	$62,410	−$1,390
32	Vermont	$62,170	−$1,630
33	Arizona	$62,070	−$1,730
34	Utah	$61,900	−$1,900
35	Nevada	$61,610	−$2,190
36	New Mexico	$61,440	−$2,360
37	Nebraska	$60,970	−$2,830
38	Virginia	$60,470	−$3,330
39	Texas	$59,840	−$3,960
40	Alabama	$58,670	−$5,130
41	Tennessee	$58,600	−$5,200
42	Oklahoma	$57,970	−$5,830
43	Georgia	$57,200	−$6,600
44	North Carolina	$57,080	−$6,720
45	West Virginia	$56,980	−$6,820
46	Mississippi	$55,480	−$8,320
47	South Carolina	$53,940	−$9,860
48	Florida	$52,910	−$10,890
49	Idaho	$52,380	−$11,420
50	South Dakota	$51,620	−$12,180
51	Arkansas	$48,660	−$15,140

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Figures are medians — half of plumbers in that state earn more.

What the spread actually tells you

Three things worth reading out of that table.

Cost of living explains a lot of it, but not all of it. The high-paying states cluster around expensive metros and strong union density. But the ranking isn't purely a cost-of-living ranking — licensing regimes, commercial-versus-residential mix, and how tight the local labor market is all move the number.

Within-state variation is often bigger than between-state variation. A plumber in your state's largest metro and one three hours away are frequently further apart on pay than two states are on this list. The state median is a starting point, not an answer.

The median is not the hiring rate. You don't hire the median tech. If you want someone experienced, licensed, and reliable — the kind of person who's currently employed somewhere else — you're bidding against their current employer, not against the median.

Why plumber pay keeps climbing

The BLS projects plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters employment to grow 4% from 2024 to 2034, and most annual openings exist to replace people leaving the occupation rather than to staff new growth. When the pool of licensed techs shrinks faster than demand, pay is what moves.

That's the mechanism we break down in skilled-trades wage growth — and it's why raises alone rarely fix a retention problem. If pay were the only lever, the shortage would have solved itself already.

What to do with this if you're hiring

Benchmark to your metro, not the national median. Use your state row as the floor.
Re-benchmark annually. Wage growth quietly reprices your existing crew — a tech hired at market two years ago may be under market now, which is exactly the opening a competitor needs.
Publish the range in the job post. Trades candidates filter hard on pay, and a post without a number gets skipped in favour of one that has it.
Don't compete on pay alone. The shops that hold onto techs pair market pay with consistent hours and a real growth path — see how to retain HVAC and plumbing techs.

The bottom line

Pay is the price of entry, not the differentiator. Knowing your state's number keeps you from underbidding the market and losing candidates you never even heard from — but the shops that win the good techs are the ones already talking to them before a seat opens.

That's the always-on approach we run for plumbing and HVAC businesses: a pre-screened bench, so when a seat opens you're making an offer instead of starting a search. See how done-for-you hiring works.