Plumbing Industry Statistics 2026: Verified Federal Data and Why Published Figures Disagree

What this page is. The statistics hub for The Plumbing Brief. Every figure carries a reference period, a geography and a source link. Where published figures conflict, this page explains why rather than picking one, because most disagreement in this subject comes from comparing different definitions rather than from anyone being wrong. A related piece works through New York City permit volume, a case study in how definitional choices shape a single metric over time.

Start here if you are citing a number. Three of the most quoted plumbing statistics measure different things and are routinely used interchangeably. The workforce reconciliation table below is the fastest way to check you are using the one you mean.

The three workforce numbers, reconciled

Published sources variously state that the US plumbing workforce is 1.3 million, 742,000, or 465,840. All three can be sourced. They count different populations.

Figure	Value	Period	What it counts	Source
Industry payroll employment	1,317,200	2025 annual average	Everyone on the payroll of establishments classified as plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors, including HVAC technicians, office staff and management	BLS Current Employment Statistics, NAICS 238220
Occupational employment	465,840	May 2025	People employed in the occupation of plumber, pipefitter or steamfitter, in any industry	BLS OEWS, SOC 47-2152
Market-research employment	approximately 742,000	2026 estimate	A commercial estimate of industry employment on its own definition	Market research (see note)

How to choose. Use 1,317,200 when writing about plumbing and HVAC contracting businesses. Use 465,840 when writing about plumbers as workers. Do not describe either as “the number of plumbers in America” without saying which definition applies. Neither federal figure includes self-employed plumbers, which is material in a trade with many sole proprietors.

Market size, and why the two headline figures differ by more than double

Figure	Value	What it measures
Industry economic impact	approximately 442 billion dollars	A total economic contribution figure published by a trade association, covering plumbing manufacturing as well as plumbing services
Contractor industry revenue	approximately 191.4 billion dollars	A commercial market research estimate of revenue for plumbing contractors

These are not competing estimates of the same quantity. One is a broad economic impact measure including manufacturing, the other is contractor revenue. Citing them as alternative answers to “how big is the plumbing industry” misrepresents both. Neither is a federal statistic. For federal measures of the contracting sector, the Census Bureau’s Economic Census and County Business Patterns cover NAICS 238220 directly. The 2022 Economic Census puts revenue of plumbing-primary contractors with employees at $75.1 billion; the method and state figures are in our plumbing industry revenue report.

Wages and workforce

• Median annual wage for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters: 63,800 dollars, May 2025. Source: BLS OEWS.
• Mean annual wage: 72,170 dollars, May 2025. The mean exceeds the median because industrial steamfitting and commercial pipefitting report under the same occupation code as residential service work.
• Median hourly wage: 30.67 dollars. Mean hourly wage: 34.70 dollars.
• 10th percentile: 44,150 dollars. 90th percentile: 108,420 dollars.
• State range: from 48,660 dollars in Arkansas to 101,020 dollars in the District of Columbia. See our state-by-state breakdown.
• Plumber pay spans 44,150 to 108,420 dollars across the federal percentile range, and varies from 103,380 in Chicago to 52,000 in Tampa. See Plumber Salary by Metro and The Plumber Wage Ladder.
• Projected employment growth: 7 percent, 2025 to 2035, with about 42,000 annual openings. Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
• Industry employment grew 28.9 percent between 2016 and 2025, against 22.9 percent for US construction overall. Plumbing and HVAC contractors are now 15.93 percent of construction employment.
• Women are 3.1 percent of plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters and Hispanic workers 30.3 percent; median age 40.2, younger than the median US worker (BLS CPS, 2025). See Plumber Demographics.

Full detail in The Plumbing Workforce Report and Plumber Pay vs Other Skilled Trades.

Residential water use

• Indoor water use in single-family homes: 38.5 gallons per capita per day, down 44.4 percent from 69.3 in 1999. Source: Water Research Foundation, Residential End Uses of Water, Version 3, 2026.
• Average measured toilet flush volume: 1.84 gallons, which remains above the 1.6 gallon federal maximum in force since 1994.
• Household leaks waste approximately 1 trillion gallons nationally each year. Source: US EPA WaterSense.
• Commercial and multifamily buildings in New York disclosure filings show a median of 41.5 gallons per square foot per year, ranging from 88.9 for lodging to 0.6 for self-storage. See Commercial Building Water Use.
• Domestic per-capita water use: 82 gallons per capita per day, 2015. Source: USGS Circular 1441. This includes outdoor use and is not comparable to the indoor figure above.

Full detail in The American Residential Water Use Report.

Infrastructure

• National drinking water infrastructure need: 625 billion dollars over 20 years. Source: US EPA, 7th DWINSA, 2023.
• Projected lead and galvanized service lines requiring replacement: 3,956,383. Of that, 32.8 percent is galvanized pipe, not lead. Source: US EPA, 2025 Update to the 7th DWINSA.
• Water main breaks: approximately 260,000 per year across the US and Canada, not 240,000 in the US alone. Source: Utah State University, 2023.
• Pipe beyond useful life: approximately 20 percent, 452,000 miles.
• California’s urban water systems lost 91.6 billion gallons to leaks in 2023, 6.0 percent of supply (CA DWR validated audits). See How Much Water Is Lost to Leaks.

Full detail in The Lead Service Line Report, Lead Pipes by State and Water Main Break Statistics.

Prices and costs

• Plumbing materials prices have risen 60.6 percent since 2019 on The Plumbing Cost Index, reaching 160.6 in August 2026 against a 2019 base of 100.
• Copper and brass mill shapes reached an index value of 207.1, more than double 2019, and account for about 59 percent of the index’s rise while carrying one third of its weight. Source: BLS Producer Price Index.
• Household water and sewer costs rose 22.1 percent between 2019 and 2024, against 22.7 percent for all items. The common claim that water bills consistently outrun inflation does not hold for that period, though the relationship inverted by 2026. Source: BLS Consumer Price Index.

Full detail in The Plumbing Cost Index.

Water quality and health

• In school year 2016 to 2017, 43 percent of US school districts tested drinking water for lead. Among those that tested, 37 percent found elevated levels. Source: GAO-18-382, 2018. No comparable national survey has been published since.
• EPA enforcement records cover 431,258 public water systems with 68,281 violations in the latest three-year window. See Drinking Water Violations by State and Clean Water Act Violations by State.
• EPA has provided more than 200 million dollars since 2018 for lead testing in schools and child care facilities. Source: US EPA.

Full detail in The School Drinking Water Report.

Homes, equipment and workforce data

• How common are plumbing leaks?: 8.4% of homes had an inside leak last year (AHS 2023).
• Household plumbing breakdowns: 4.6 million homes lose running water each quarter.
• Well water and septic by region: 13.9 million homes on wells, 24.6 million on septic.
• What homeowners spend on plumbing: Census project counts, median costs and DIY shares.
• Water heaters by state: fuel, running cost, tankless share and age (EIA RECS).
• Bathrooms in new homes, 1973 to 2025: the one-bath new home went from 40% to 4%.
• Plumber pay after inflation: real hourly earnings since 1990, deflated with CPI-W.
• Water heater and fixture price index: water heater producer prices up 304% since 2000.
• How dangerous is plumbing?: injury rates and fatality counts from BLS.
• Where plumbers are concentrated: plumbers per 1,000 jobs and helper ratios by state.

Households, contractors and equipment

• Plumbing problems by metro: leak and outage rates in the 15 largest metros.
• Is tap water safe to drink?: 12.2 million households say theirs is not.
• Average water bill by region: median $57 a month for water and sewer.
• Homes without plumbing: 392,000 homes lack complete plumbing.
• Plumbing contractors by state: 123,866 businesses, 1.32 million jobs in 2025.
• Residential and commercial plumbing firms: 25 years of business counts and pay.
• Plumbing and HVAC employment by county: where contractor jobs grew fastest since 2019.
• Dishwashers and washing machines by state: appliance hookups by state (EIA).
• Water heating fuel since 2009: the gas to electric shift, measured.
• NYC boiler inspections: 889,703 reports, defects and late filings.

Industry economics and infrastructure

• Plumbing industry revenue: $75.1 billion for plumbing-primary contractors (2022 Economic Census).
• Revenue by building type: residential work is just over half of plumbing and HVAC revenue.
• Contractor cost structure: materials 31.5 cents, payroll 27.0 cents per revenue dollar.
• How big plumbing businesses are: 58 percent of shops have fewer than five employees.
• Self-employed plumbers: 178,663 solo plumbing and HVAC businesses by state.
• Industry consolidation: the top 50 firms’ revenue share, 2017 to 2022.
• Household plumbing problems, 2015 to 2023: leaks flat, water outages up.
• Wastewater needs by state: EPA’s $630 billion clean-water backlog.
• Water systems over the lead action level: 52 now, 168 under the 2027 rule.
• Energy Star water heaters: what 1,261 certified models show.

How to cite figures from this industry safely

1. State the reference period. Most plumbing salary pages carrying 2026 dates report the May 2024 BLS period. A stale page typically shows a national median of 62,970 dollars.
2. State which workforce definition you mean. Industry and occupation figures differ by roughly a factor of three.
3. State the geography. The water main break figure covers the US and Canada, not the US alone.
4. Check the scope on market size. Economic impact and contractor revenue are different quantities.
5. Check who published it. Several widely circulated industry figures originate with trade associations or commissioned market research rather than federal statistical programmes. That does not make them wrong, but it should be disclosed alongside the number.

How this report was built

Methodology

Source selection. Federal statistical programmes are used wherever they cover the question. Where only non-federal figures exist, the publisher type is stated alongside the figure.

Inclusion rules. Every statistic carries a reference period and a geography. Figures that could not be traced to a named source with a date are excluded.

Conflicts. Where published figures disagree, this page presents the definitions side by side rather than selecting one. That applies to the workforce count, the market size and the water main break figure.

Scope of this page. It is a hub. Each section links to the full report where the derived metrics, formulas and limitations are published.

Last updated. 25 September 2026.

Data limitations

• NAICS 238220 combines plumbing with heating and air conditioning. No federal series separates them.
• SOC 47-2152 combines plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters, which have different pay ranges.
• Federal payroll series exclude self-employed plumbers entirely.
• The most recent complete USGS national water use report presents 2015 data.
• The only national survey of school lead testing describes school year 2016 to 2017.
• Market size figures on this page are non-federal and are labelled as such.
• Lead service line counts are EPA projections, not verified counts, and include galvanized pipe.

Source quality ranking

Tier 1. BLS (OEWS, CES, PPI, CPI, OOH); US EPA; USGS; GAO; Census Bureau.

Tier 2. Water Research Foundation; Utah State University Utah Water Research Laboratory; AWWA.

Tier 3. Trade association economic impact studies and commercial market research, used only where labelled and where no federal equivalent exists. When association figures need a real-world check, municipal complaint logs offer one angle worth comparing, as seen in 311 water and plumbing complaint data.

Excluded. Unsourced statistics roundups and any figure whose original source could not be reached.

If you quote one number

• There are either 1,317,200 or 465,840 people in American plumbing, depending on whether you count an industry or an occupation.
• Almost a third of America’s 4 million lead service lines are galvanized pipe, not lead.
• Indoor household water use has fallen 44.4 percent since 1999.
• Plumbing materials cost 60.6 percent more than they did in 2019, and copper is most of the reason.
• The last time anyone measured lead testing in US schools nationally, 37 percent of districts that tested found elevated levels. That was school year 2016 to 2017.

Summary for reporters

The US plumbing sector employed 1,317,200 people on the payrolls of plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors in 2025, while 465,840 people were employed in the specific occupation of plumber, pipefitter or steamfitter in May 2025, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The two figures are routinely used interchangeably despite counting different populations, and neither includes self-employed plumbers. Median pay in the occupation was 63,800 dollars, ranging from 48,660 dollars in Arkansas to 101,020 dollars in the District of Columbia. Indoor residential water use has fallen 44.4 percent since 1999 to 38.5 gallons per capita per day. EPA projects 3,956,383 lead and galvanized service lines requiring replacement by 2037, of which 32.8 percent is galvanized pipe rather than lead. Plumbing materials prices have risen 60.6 percent since 2019.

Angles this supports

1. America has either 1.3 million plumbers or 466,000, depending who is counting
2. The plumbing industry is worth 442 billion dollars, or 191 billion, depending what you measure
3. Five checks before you cite a plumbing statistic
4. Indoor water use has fallen 44 percent since 1999
5. A third of America’s lead pipes are not lead

Questions this answers

How many plumbers are there in the United States? 465,840 people were employed in the occupation of plumber, pipefitter or steamfitter in May 2025. Separately, 1,317,200 worked for plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors in 2025. Neither figure includes self-employed plumbers.

How big is the US plumbing industry? Published figures range from about 191.4 billion dollars for contractor revenue to about 442 billion dollars for total economic impact including manufacturing. They measure different things and neither is a federal statistic.

What is the average plumber salary? The median was 63,800 dollars and the mean 72,170 dollars in May 2025, per BLS.

Which state pays plumbers the most? The District of Columbia at 101,020 dollars nominal. Adjusted for cost of living, Illinois ranks first. See our state breakdown.

How much water does a US home use? 38.5 gallons per capita per day indoors, down 44.4 percent since 1999, per the Water Research Foundation.

How many lead pipes are there? EPA projects 3,956,383 lead and galvanized service lines, of which 32.8 percent is galvanized rather than lead.

How many water main breaks are there each year? Approximately 260,000 across the United States and Canada. The commonly quoted 240,000 US figure misstates both the value and the geography.

Is there a plumber shortage? BLS projects about 42,000 annual openings against 465,840 employed, roughly one position in eleven each year. Widely quoted shortage totals come from commissioned research rather than federal statistics and should be attributed accordingly.

Are plumbing costs rising? Materials prices have risen 60.6 percent since 2019 on our index, driven mainly by copper.

Why do plumbing statistics disagree so much? Mostly because sources use different definitions, scopes and reference periods rather than because any one is wrong. The reconciliation tables on this page show the main cases.

Last reviewed: 2026-09-25.