Plumber Pay vs Other Skilled Trades: Six Occupations Compared on the Same Federal Data

By The Plumbing Brief Editorial Team · September 25, 2026 · Last reviewed: 2026-09-25

The short answer

Plumbers earned a median of 63,800 dollars in May 2025 against 63,190 for electricians, a gap of 610 dollars. At the 90th percentile electricians lead by 90 dollars. Plumbing has the highest 10th percentile of the six trades compared, at 44,150 dollars.

What this page is. A like-for-like comparison of pay across six skilled trades, drawn from a single Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics reference period, May 2025. Most published trade comparisons mix reference periods, or compare a union figure in one trade against a national average in another. This page uses one release, one method and one date for every occupation, and reports the 10th and 90th percentiles alongside the median, because the median alone hides where these trades actually differ.

The short answer, expanded

Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters had a median annual wage of 63,800 dollars in May 2025. Electricians had 63,190 dollars. The gap is 610 dollars, or 1.0 percent.
At the 90th percentile the order reverses. Electricians reach 108,510 dollars and plumbers 108,420 dollars, a difference of 90 dollars.
At the 10th percentile plumbers lead all six trades at 44,150 dollars, 1,510 dollars above electricians and 4,100 dollars above HVAC mechanics.
Plumbing has the highest entry floor of the six trades compared, while electrical has a marginally higher ceiling. The two are close enough that geography and employer matter more than the choice of trade.
HVAC mechanics sit 2,790 dollars below plumbers at the median but 13,210 dollars below at the 90th percentile. The ceiling gap is nearly five times the median gap.
Electricians outnumber plumbers by 62 percent, at 757,220 against 465,840.
General maintenance and repair workers, the largest group at 1,529,700, earn a median of 49,590 dollars, 14,210 dollars below plumbers.

Six trades at one reference period

Plumbing has the highest entry floor of the six trades compared.

All figures are BLS May 2025 estimates, released 15 May 2026. Ceiling ratio is the 90th percentile divided by the median, calculated by The Plumbing Brief.

Occupation	SOC code	Employment	10th percentile	Median	Mean	90th percentile	Ceiling ratio
Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters	47-2152	465,840	44,150	63,800	72,170	108,420	1.70
Electricians	47-2111	757,220	42,640	63,190	71,490	108,510	1.72
HVAC mechanics and installers	49-9021	409,670	40,050	61,010	64,780	95,210	1.56
Carpenters	47-2031	670,090	40,410	60,580	65,630	99,910	1.65
Operating engineers	47-2073	478,090	42,190	59,850	66,290	101,090	1.69
General maintenance and repair	49-9071	1,529,700	35,350	49,590	53,780	77,180	1.56

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national estimates.

The evidence

Plumber median: 63,800 dollars, May 2025. Source: BLS OEWS, SOC 47-2152.
Electrician median: 63,190 dollars, May 2025. Source: BLS OEWS, SOC 47-2111.
The median gap between the two is 610 dollars, or 1.0 percent. Source: calculated from BLS OEWS.
Plumber 90th percentile: 108,420 dollars. Electrician 90th percentile: 108,510 dollars. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Plumber 10th percentile: 44,150 dollars, the highest of the six trades compared. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Electrician 10th percentile: 42,640 dollars. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
HVAC median: 61,010 dollars, and 90th percentile 95,210 dollars. Source: BLS OEWS, SOC 49-9021.
Carpenter median: 60,580 dollars. Source: BLS OEWS, SOC 47-2031.
Operating engineer median: 59,850 dollars. Source: BLS OEWS, SOC 47-2073.
General maintenance and repair median: 49,590 dollars. Source: BLS OEWS, SOC 49-9071.
Electrician employment: 757,220, against 465,840 plumbers, a difference of 62 percent. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Plumber employment is projected to grow 7 percent from 2025 to 2035, with about 42,000 annual openings. Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.

Apprentice plumber tightening a brass fitting under a kitchen sink with wrench — An apprentice tightens a fitting while a senior plumber lends a light.

What the numbers imply

Derived finding 1: plumbing has the highest floor of the six trades

Formula. Comparison of 10th percentile annual wages across occupations at one reference period.

Finding. Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters have a 10th percentile wage of 44,150 dollars, higher than electricians at 42,640, operating engineers at 42,190, carpenters at 40,410, HVAC mechanics at 40,050 and general maintenance workers at 35,350. Of the six trades compared, plumbing pays the most at the bottom of its distribution.

Inputs. BLS OEWS May 2025, six SOC codes.

Limitations. The 10th percentile is not the same as a starting wage. Apprentices under registered programmes may be paid on a separate schedule, and OEWS does not identify apprenticeship status.

Derived finding 2: the plumber and electrician gap inverts across the distribution

Formula. Difference between the two occupations at the 10th percentile, median and 90th percentile.

Calculation. At the 10th percentile plumbers lead by 1,510 dollars. At the median plumbers lead by 610 dollars. At the 90th percentile electricians lead by 90 dollars.

Finding. The plumber advantage narrows steadily as you move up the distribution and reverses at the top. Coverage that answers “which trade pays more” with a single median figure misses that the answer depends on where in the trade you are.

Inputs. BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-2152 and 47-2111.

Limitations. A 90 dollar difference at the 90th percentile is well inside the sampling error of the survey and should be read as “effectively identical”, not as electricians earning more.

Derived finding 3: the ceiling ratio separates the trades more than the median does

Formula. 90th percentile divided by median, per occupation.

Finding. Electricians and plumbers have the widest ceilings at 1.72 and 1.70. HVAC mechanics and general maintenance workers have the narrowest at 1.56 each. HVAC sits only 2,790 dollars below plumbing at the median but 13,210 dollars below at the 90th percentile, so the trades diverge far more at the top than the headline comparison suggests.

Inputs. BLS OEWS May 2025, six SOC codes.

Limitations. A wide ceiling reflects the mix of work inside an occupation code, including industrial and commercial segments that pay more than residential service. It is not a measure of individual progression.

How this report was built

Methodology

Source selection. All figures come from one BLS OEWS release, May 2025, retrieved through the BLS public API on 25 September 2026. Using a single release is the point of this page: mixed vintages are the most common flaw in published trade comparisons.

Occupation definitions. Each SOC code is printed in the table so readers can verify what is being compared. SOC 47-2152 combines plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters and is not a plumbers-only series.

Estimates. Ceiling ratios and the percentile gaps are calculated by this publication. Both formulas are stated.

What this page does not compare. Union against non-union pay. OEWS does not code union status, and comparisons that set a union figure in one trade against a national figure in another are not like for like.

Last updated. 25 September 2026. Next update on release of the May 2026 OEWS estimates.

Data limitations

OEWS covers wage and salary workers. Self-employed tradespeople are excluded, which is material in all six occupations.
Each SOC code bundles segments with different pay. 47-2152 includes industrial steamfitting alongside residential service plumbing.
These are wages, not total compensation. Pension contributions, health benefits and overtime practice differ between trades and between union and non-union employers, and none are captured here.
Differences smaller than a few hundred dollars are within survey sampling error and should not be reported as one trade outearning another.
National figures only. State variation within each trade is larger than the differences between trades at the national level.
Employment projections are BLS projections, not measurements.

Source quality ranking

Tier 1. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook. The same pay data adjusted for prices is in our analysis of plumber pay after inflation.

Tier 2. None used.

Tier 3. None used.

Excluded. Trade school marketing comparisons, recruiter surveys, job-board aggregations, and any comparison that does not state one reference period for all occupations.

Figures worth quoting

Plumbers and electricians are 610 dollars apart at the median and 90 dollars apart at the 90th percentile. They are, in practice, the same wage.
Plumbing has the highest entry floor of six skilled trades at 44,150 dollars.
HVAC sits 2,790 dollars below plumbing at the median but 13,210 dollars below at the top.
There are 62 percent more electricians than plumbers in the United States.
General maintenance and repair is the largest of the six trades and the lowest paid, at a median of 49,590 dollars.

Plumber soldering copper pipe beside an electrician pulling wire through studs — A plumber solders copper pipe as an electrician runs wire nearby.

Briefing note

Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters earned a median of 63,800 dollars in May 2025 and electricians 63,190 dollars, a difference of 610 dollars, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The gap inverts higher up the distribution: at the 90th percentile electricians reach 108,510 dollars against 108,420 for plumbers, a difference of 90 dollars that is inside the survey’s sampling error. At the 10th percentile plumbers lead all six trades compared at 44,150 dollars, ahead of electricians at 42,640 and HVAC mechanics at 40,050. HVAC mechanics sit 2,790 dollars below plumbers at the median but 13,210 dollars below at the 90th percentile, so the trades diverge more at the top than the median comparison implies. Electricians outnumber plumbers by 62 percent. All figures are drawn from a single reference period.

How reporters could frame this

Plumbers and electricians earn the same wage, within 610 dollars
Plumbing has the highest starting floor of any major skilled trade
Which trade pays more depends entirely on where in it you are
HVAC keeps pace with plumbing at the middle and falls behind at the top
There are 62 percent more electricians than plumbers in America

How to cite this report

The Plumbing Brief, “Plumber Pay vs Other Skilled Trades: Six Occupations Compared on the Same Federal Data”, https://theplumbingbrief.com/plumber-pay-vs-other-trades/, accessed [date].