Plumbing Contractors by State: Firms, Jobs and Average Pay in 2025
The short answer
There were 123,866 plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor businesses in the US in 2025, employing 1,315,566 people at an average annual pay of $82,153, according to the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. Average pay was highest in the District of Columbia ($104,776) and lowest in Arkansas ($63,013). Idaho had the highest concentration of the industry in its workforce.
What the table shows
The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages is not a survey. It is a count of every business that pays unemployment insurance, which makes it the most complete federal record of the contractor industry itself: how many firms, how many workers on their payrolls and what those workers are paid. This report covers private-sector plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors (NAICS 23822) in every state for 2025, with the residential and nonresidential split BLS publishes for the industry. See the county-level view in our report on where plumbing and HVAC jobs grew fastest by county. Revenue for the same industry, from the 2022 Economic Census, is broken out by trade in plumbing industry revenue. How those businesses break down by headcount and annual revenue is shown in how big plumbing businesses are.
| State | Businesses | Employees | Avg annual pay | Location quotient | Residential share | Jobs change 2019 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 13,023 | 125,858 | $90,211 | 0.82 | 58% | +3.6% |
| Texas | 10,012 | 121,180 | $79,776 | 1.02 | 46% | +25.4% |
| Florida | 10,921 | 106,398 | $68,502 | 1.27 | 64% | +19.2% |
| New York | 7,059 | 68,210 | $88,341 | 0.82 | 54% | -2.6% |
| North Carolina | 4,630 | 50,010 | $72,251 | 1.20 | 62% | +19.8% |
| Pennsylvania | 4,294 | 46,317 | $87,516 | 0.91 | 49% | +12.8% |
| Ohio | 3,479 | 45,951 | $81,068 | 0.98 | 44% | +20.1% |
| Illinois | 4,146 | 40,882 | $91,432 | 0.80 | 49% | +9.4% |
| Georgia | 3,750 | 38,437 | $79,340 | 0.93 | 47% | +22.2% |
| Virginia | 2,817 | 36,599 | $78,054 | 1.04 | 49% | +9.2% |
| Arizona | 3,011 | 36,519 | $81,356 | 1.34 | 56% | +33.8% |
| Michigan | 2,854 | 33,446 | $87,822 | 0.90 | 48% | +23.0% |
| Massachusetts | 3,144 | 31,954 | $102,272 | 1.04 | 47% | +9.3% |
| New Jersey | 3,488 | 31,058 | $89,531 | 0.86 | 57% | +6.0% |
| Maryland | 1,945 | 31,020 | $90,127 | 1.33 | 41% | +2.9% |
| Indiana | 2,244 | 30,984 | $82,730 | 1.15 | 45% | +21.4% |
| Washington | 2,305 | 29,601 | $97,945 | 0.97 | 50% | +10.3% |
| Tennessee | 2,348 | 29,228 | $78,458 | 1.06 | 47% | +29.9% |
| Colorado | 2,781 | 28,509 | $83,894 | 1.17 | 56% | +11.7% |
| Wisconsin | 2,115 | 25,360 | $87,784 | 1.02 | 47% | +20.9% |
| Missouri | 2,199 | 23,800 | $83,445 | 0.97 | 47% | +21.9% |
| Minnesota | 1,848 | 22,629 | $91,684 | 0.91 | 47% | +16.2% |
| Alabama | 2,114 | 19,101 | $71,419 | 1.07 | 46% | +20.8% |
| South Carolina | 1,831 | 18,374 | $71,465 | 0.94 | 56% | +6.0% |
| Kentucky | 1,776 | 17,889 | $73,074 | 1.06 | 50% | +17.7% |
| Utah | 1,758 | 17,464 | $73,550 | 1.19 | 65% | +29.9% |
| Nevada | 1,058 | 16,394 | $86,090 | 1.24 | 49% | +30.0% |
| Oklahoma | 1,874 | 16,229 | $66,620 | 1.13 | 57% | +24.5% |
| Oregon | 1,577 | 16,083 | $90,206 | 0.96 | 54% | +10.6% |
| Iowa | 1,142 | 16,044 | $80,112 | 1.22 | 44% | +17.4% |
| Louisiana | 1,974 | 15,439 | $72,255 | 0.95 | 48% | +19.9% |
| Kansas | 1,047 | 13,255 | $81,570 | 1.10 | 50% | +24.3% |
| Connecticut | 1,480 | 13,025 | $90,377 | 0.91 | 48% | +15.2% |
| Arkansas | 1,434 | 11,396 | $63,013 | 1.03 | 60% | +32.1% |
| Nebraska | 920 | 11,160 | $73,442 | 1.29 | 48% | +18.5% |
| Idaho | 1,137 | 10,516 | $74,123 | 1.42 | 69% | +56.4% |
| Mississippi | 1,039 | 8,612 | $66,045 | 0.87 | 37% | +30.3% |
| New Mexico | 737 | 7,150 | $66,518 | 0.97 | 48% | +32.0% |
| New Hampshire | 838 | 5,981 | $85,388 | 1.03 | 57% | +23.4% |
| Maine | 876 | 5,604 | $77,855 | 1.02 | 56% | +24.5% |
| Montana | 789 | 5,452 | $74,530 | 1.26 | 65% | +30.3% |
| Delaware | 482 | 5,253 | $80,870 | 1.29 | 52% | +15.1% |
| Hawaii | 546 | 5,060 | $88,562 | 0.93 | 41% | +8.1% |
| Rhode Island | 549 | 4,655 | $85,427 | 1.10 | 49% | +28.1% |
| South Dakota | 462 | 4,567 | $69,467 | 1.17 | 47% | +26.8% |
| West Virginia | 549 | 4,181 | $68,423 | 0.71 | 54% | +17.0% |
| North Dakota | 401 | 3,889 | $78,991 | 1.07 | 44% | +24.6% |
| Vermont | 332 | 2,507 | $76,930 | 0.96 | 50% | +13.2% |
| Wyoming | 380 | 2,453 | $69,462 | 1.03 | 52% | +21.5% |
| Alaska | 263 | 2,092 | $95,990 | 0.74 | 44% | n/a |
| District of Columbia | 88 | 1,794 | $104,776 | 0.29 | 15% | n/a |
Source: BLS QCEW, 2025 and 2019 annual averages, private ownership, NAICS 23822, 238221 (residential) and 238222 (nonresidential). Residential share: residential employment as a share of residential plus nonresidential, where both are disclosed. Location quotient and changes as published or calculated by The Plumbing Brief.
Sourced figures
- US plumbing and HVAC contractor businesses, 2025: 123,866; employees: 1,315,566; average annual pay $82,153. Source: BLS QCEW.
- Largest state industries by employment: California 125,858, Texas 121,180, Florida 106,398, New York 68,210. Source: BLS QCEW.
- Highest average pay: District of Columbia $104,776, Massachusetts $102,272, Washington $97,945. Lowest: Arkansas $63,013. Source: BLS QCEW.
- Highest location quotient: Idaho 1.42, then Arizona 1.34 and Maryland 1.33. Lowest: District of Columbia 0.29. Source: BLS QCEW.
- Fastest employment growth 2019 to 2025: Idaho +56.4 percent, Arizona +33.8, Arkansas +32.1. Slowest: New York -2.6 percent. Source: calculated from BLS QCEW.
- US employment change 2019 to 2025: +15.8 percent. Source: calculated from BLS QCEW.
What we calculated
Firm size varies threefold by state
Formula. Annual average employment divided by annual average establishments.
Calculation. US 10.6 employees per business. Largest average: District of Columbia 20.4, Maryland 15.9. Smallest: Maine 6.4, Wyoming 6.5.
Finding. In some states the industry is built on large mechanical contractors; in others on small owner-operated shops. Self-employed plumbers without employees are not counted at all, so states with many sole proprietors look smaller than their trade is.
Limitations. Establishments are worksites, not companies. A firm with three branches counts three times.
Pay ranges by $41,763 between states
Formula. Highest minus lowest state average annual pay.
Calculation. $104,776 (District of Columbia) minus $63,013 (Arkansas).
Finding. Average pay includes office staff, owners on payroll and overtime, so it is higher than occupation medians for plumbers. It is the cost of labour to the contractor, not a plumber’s wage.
Limitations. QCEW pay covers all payroll employees of the industry, including HVAC technicians, estimators and administrative staff.
If you quote one number
- 123,866 plumbing and HVAC contractor businesses employ 1,315,566 people in the US (2025).
- Average pay in the industry: $82,153 a year.
- Idaho grew plumbing and HVAC contractor employment 56 percent from 2019 to 2025.
Download the data
All states and DC. Published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Attribution: The Plumbing Brief.
Plumbing and HVAC contractors by state, 2025: businesses, jobs, pay, concentration and growth (CSV)
How this report was built
Methodology
Source. BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025 and 2019 annual averages by industry, files for NAICS 23822, 238221 and 238222, private ownership, all establishment sizes, downloaded from data.bls.gov on 4 October 2026.
Derived figures. Employees per establishment, residential share and 2019 to 2025 change are calculated by The Plumbing Brief. Location quotients are as published by BLS (employment basis).
Retrieval date. 4 October 2026.
Data limitations
- NAICS 23822 combines plumbing with heating and air conditioning. No federal business count separates plumbing contractors.
- QCEW covers employers paying unemployment insurance. The self-employed are excluded.
- BLS withholds some state residential or nonresidential figures to protect confidentiality; those states show n/a.
- 2025 annual figures are the first published and can be revised.
Source quality ranking
Tier 1. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW.
Tier 2. None used. Tier 3. None used.
Excluded. Business-directory counts and lead-generation platform listings, which double-count and include inactive businesses.
Summary for reporters
The US had 123,866 plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor businesses in 2025, employing 1,315,566 people at an average annual pay of $82,153, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. Pay was highest in District of Columbia ($104,776) and lowest in Arkansas ($63,013). Employment in the industry grew fastest from 2019 to 2025 in Idaho (+56.4 percent) and Arizona (+33.8 percent), according to an analysis by The Plumbing Brief.
Angles this supports
- How many plumbing companies are there in your state
- Idaho leads the plumbing contractor boom
- Plumbing contractors pay most in District of Columbia
- The states built on small plumbing shops
Questions this answers
How many plumbing companies are there in the US? 123,866 plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor businesses with employees in 2025 (BLS QCEW).
How many people work for plumbing contractors? 1,315,566 in 2025, including HVAC and office staff.
Which state has the most plumbing contractor jobs? California, with 125,858.
Where do plumbing contractors pay the most? District of Columbia, averaging $104,776 a year.
Does this include self-employed plumbers? No. QCEW counts employers only.
How to cite this report
The Plumbing Brief, “Plumbing Contractors by State: Firms, Jobs and Average Pay in 2025”, https://theplumbingbrief.com/plumbing-contractors-by-state/, accessed [date].
Last reviewed: 2026-10-04.
