The Plumbing Workforce Report: 2026 Edition, Employment, Wages and the Shortage Ratio
The short answer
Plumbing and HVAC contractors employed 1,355,400 people in July 2026, while 465,840 people worked in the occupation of plumber, pipefitter or steamfitter in May 2025. The two figures differ by roughly a factor of three because they count different populations.
What this page is. An annual aggregation of federal employment and wage data for the US plumbing trade, built entirely from Bureau of Labor Statistics series. Each series is named by its identifier so the figures can be reproduced. This edition also addresses a persistent measurement problem in coverage of this trade: the industry figure and the occupation figure describe different populations and differ by roughly a factor of three. Both are reported here with their definitions attached. For a closer look at how this definitional split plays out geographically, see state-by-state plumber wage rankings.
What we measured and found
- Employment at US plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors averaged 1,317,200 in 2025 and reached 1,355,400 in July 2026.
- Employment in the occupation of plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters was 465,840 in May 2025.
- Those two figures differ by a factor of approximately 2.9 because one counts everyone employed by an industry and the other counts people doing a specific job. They are routinely conflated in coverage of the trade.
- The median annual wage for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters was 63,800 dollars in May 2025, with a median hourly wage of 30.67 dollars.
- Industry employment grew 28.9 percent between 2016 and 2025, faster than construction employment overall at 22.9 percent.
- Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors accounted for 15.93 percent of all US construction employment in 2025, up from 15.19 percent in 2016.
- BLS projects 7 percent employment growth in the occupation between 2025 and 2035, with about 42,000 openings projected per year.
- Those projected openings equal approximately 9.0 percent of current occupational employment each year, which is the clearest single measure of the replacement pressure on the trade.
- Production and nonsupervisory workers have held steady at roughly 73 percent of industry employment since 2016, so the sector’s growth has not come from adding supervisory headcount.
Measured values, sourced
- Employment at plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors averaged 1,317,200 in 2025. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, NAICS 238220, series CEU2023822001.
- The same series reached 1,355,400 in July 2026. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, series CEU2023822001.
- Industry employment averaged 1,022,200 in 2016, making the 2016 to 2025 change plus 28.9 percent. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, series CEU2023822001.
- Industry employment rose 15.4 percent between 2019 and 2025. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, series CEU2023822001.
- Total US construction employment averaged 8,266,700 in 2025, up 22.9 percent from 2016. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, construction supersector, series CEU2000000001.
- Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors were 15.93 percent of US construction employment in 2025, against 15.19 percent in 2016. Source: calculated from BLS series CEU2023822001 and CEU2000000001.
- Production and nonsupervisory employees in the industry averaged 960,300 in 2025. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, series CEU2023822006.
- That group was 72.9 percent of industry employment in 2025, against 73.9 percent in 2016. Source: calculated from BLS series CEU2023822006 and CEU2023822001.
- Employment in the occupation of plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters was 465,840 in May 2025. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, SOC 47-2152.
- The median annual wage for that occupation was 63,800 dollars in May 2025. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, May 2025.
- The mean annual wage for that occupation was 72,170 dollars in May 2025. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, May 2025.
- The median hourly wage was 30.67 dollars in May 2025. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, May 2025.
- BLS projects 7 percent employment growth for the occupation between 2025 and 2035. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- BLS projects about 42,000 openings per year in the occupation over that decade. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- The May 2025 OEWS estimates were released on 15 May 2026. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Section 1: Two numbers, two populations
Coverage of this trade routinely cites either 1.3 million or 465,000 as the size of the plumbing workforce. Both figures are correct. They measure different things.
| Figure | Value | Period | What it counts | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industry 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, dispatchers and management | CEU2023822001 |
| Occupational employment | 465,840 | May 2025 | People employed in the occupation of plumber, pipefitter or steamfitter, in any industry | OEWS SOC 47-2152 |
Why the gap is so wide. The industry classification combines plumbing with heating and air conditioning, so a large share of those 1.3 million people are HVAC workers rather than plumbers. The industry figure also includes every non-field role. Meanwhile the occupation figure captures plumbers working in industries other than 238220, such as manufacturing plants or institutional maintenance departments, which the industry figure misses.
Practical rule. Use the industry figure when writing about plumbing and HVAC contracting businesses. Use the occupation figure when writing about plumbers as workers. Do not describe either as the number of plumbers in America without stating which definition is in use.
Section 2: Employment trend
| Year | NAICS 238220 all employees | Production and nonsupervisory | All US construction | 238220 share of construction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,022,200 | 755,600 | 6,728,000 | 15.19 percent |
| 2017 | 1,057,600 | 779,900 | 6,968,900 | 15.18 percent |
| 2018 | 1,106,400 | 805,000 | 7,288,400 | 15.18 percent |
| 2019 | 1,141,000 | 819,000 | 7,493,200 | 15.23 percent |
| 2020 | 1,120,900 | 807,700 | 7,256,800 | 15.45 percent |
| 2021 | 1,165,600 | 846,800 | 7,435,600 | 15.68 percent |
| 2022 | 1,214,700 | 887,500 | 7,762,500 | 15.65 percent |
| 2023 | 1,257,500 | 917,600 | 8,008,500 | 15.70 percent |
| 2024 | 1,296,800 | 946,000 | 8,205,300 | 15.80 percent |
| 2025 | 1,317,200 | 960,300 | 8,266,700 | 15.93 percent |
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, series CEU2023822001, CEU2023822006 and CEU2000000001. Annual figures are twelve-month averages of published monthly values. Share calculated by The Plumbing Brief.
What the trend shows. The industry lost employment in 2020, recovered it by 2021, and has grown every year since. It is the only year in the series with a decline. Growth since 2022 has slowed: the 2024 to 2025 increase was 20,400, against 42,800 from 2022 to 2023.
Section 3: Wages
| Measure | Value | Period | Occupation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median annual wage | 63,800 dollars | May 2025 | Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters |
| Mean annual wage | 72,170 dollars | May 2025 | Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters |
| Median hourly wage | 30.67 dollars | May 2025 | Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters |
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, released 15 May 2026.
Why mean exceeds median by 8,370 dollars. The mean sits above the median because the upper tail of this occupation is long. Residential service plumbing, commercial pipefitting and industrial steamfitting all report under the same occupation code, and the industrial end of that range pays substantially more than the residential end. A single national median should not be read as a typical residential service plumber’s pay.
Derived measures
Derived finding 1: The industry-to-occupation ratio is approximately 2.9
Formula. Industry employment divided by occupational employment, at the nearest comparable periods.
Calculation. 1,317,200 divided by 465,840 equals 2.83. Using the July 2026 industry figure of 1,355,400 gives 2.91.
Finding. For every person employed in the occupation of plumber, pipefitter or steamfitter, there are approximately 2.9 people on the payroll of plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors. Citing one figure as the other overstates or understates the workforce by roughly a factor of three.
Inputs. BLS series CEU2023822001. BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-2152.
Limitations. The two sources use different reference periods, different survey instruments and different universes. The ratio is a rough indicator of the definitional gap, not a measurement of how many workers in the industry are plumbers. It cannot be used to estimate the HVAC share of the industry.
Derived finding 2: The Plumber Replacement Ratio is 9.0 percent
Formula. Projected annual occupational openings divided by current occupational employment.
Calculation. 42,000 divided by 465,840 equals 9.0 percent.
Finding. BLS-projected annual openings equal approximately 9.0 percent of current employment in the occupation each year. Sustaining the occupation at its present size requires filling roughly one position in every eleven, every year, for the decade to 2035.
Inputs. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook projected openings. BLS OEWS May 2025 employment.
Limitations. BLS projected openings combine growth with replacement need from workers who leave the occupation permanently, including retirements and transfers to other work. This ratio is deliberately a simple quotient rather than a weighted shortage index. It does not incorporate apprenticeship completions or workforce age, because combining those into a single score would require a weighting this publication cannot source.
Derived finding 3: The trade is taking share of construction employment
Formula. Industry employment divided by total construction employment, each year.
Calculation. The share moved from 15.19 percent in 2016 to 15.93 percent in 2025, a gain of 0.74 percentage points. Industry employment grew 28.9 percent over that period against 22.9 percent for construction overall.
Finding. Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contracting has grown faster than US construction as a whole in every year since 2019 and now accounts for close to one in six construction jobs.
Inputs. BLS series CEU2023822001 and CEU2000000001.
Limitations. This measures employment share, not revenue or output share. Because the industry classification includes heating and air conditioning, the trend reflects HVAC demand as well as plumbing demand and the two cannot be separated in this series.
Recommended charts
- Two workforce numbers compared. Data: 1,317,200 industry against 465,840 occupation, with definitions labelled. Sources: BLS CES and OEWS. Insight: why coverage of this trade disagrees with itself. Citation-worthy because it settles a recurring reporting error.
- Industry employment 2016 to 2026. Data: the trend table. Source: BLS CES. Insight: one down year, then unbroken growth that is now decelerating.
- Share of construction employment. Data: the share column. Source: calculated from BLS. Insight: a steady climb toward one in six construction jobs.
- The replacement ratio. Data: 42,000 annual openings against 465,840 employed. Source: BLS. Insight: one position in eleven, every year, to 2035.
How this report was built
Methodology
Source selection. Every figure is a published Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate, identified by series ID or by survey and reference period so it can be reproduced.
Series verification. Each series identifier was checked against its published industry classification before use. BLS Current Employment Statistics identifiers embed the NAICS code, and 238220 is Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors. Series IDs are printed in full throughout so any reader can retrieve the same values.
Inclusion rules. Annual values are means of twelve complete published monthly values. Years with fewer than twelve published months are not reported as annual averages, which is why 2026 appears only as a single labelled month.
Handling the two workforce definitions. Rather than selecting one figure, both are published with their definitions and universes stated, and the ratio between them is reported as a derived finding with its limitations. Anyone weighing those competing workforce counts may also want context on injury and fatality rates in the trade and how plumber concentration varies by state.
Estimates. The construction share, the production and nonsupervisory share, the industry-to-occupation ratio and the replacement ratio are calculated by this publication from the BLS series named. All are simple quotients. No weighted composite index is constructed, because no sourced weighting exists for one.
Retrieval date. 18 September 2026. Latest industry data point: July 2026. Latest wage data: May 2025 reference period, released 15 May 2026.
Revision policy. BLS revises Current Employment Statistics. Figures reflect values published as of the retrieval date and this report will be restated annually from current published values.
Data limitations
- NAICS 238220 combines plumbing with heating and air conditioning. No BLS series separates plumbing employment from HVAC employment within this industry, so every industry figure on this page describes both trades together.
- Occupational employment under SOC 47-2152 combines plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters, which have materially different pay ranges. The national median should not be read as a typical residential service plumber’s wage.
- Current Employment Statistics count payroll jobs, not people. A worker holding two jobs is counted twice, and self-employed plumbers are not counted at all.
- The exclusion of self-employed workers is material in this trade, where sole proprietor operations are common. Industry employment figures therefore understate the total number of people working in plumbing.
- Industry and occupational figures come from different surveys with different reference periods and cannot be combined arithmetically beyond the rough ratio stated.
- Projected openings are BLS projections, not measurements, and combine growth with permanent separations from the occupation.
- All figures are national. State and metropolitan variation is substantial and is not presented in this edition.
Source quality ranking
Tier 1. US Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics series CEU2023822001, CEU2023822006 and CEU2000000001. US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook and Employment Projections programme.
Tier 2. None used.
Tier 3. None used.
Excluded. Trade association workforce estimates, recruiter salary surveys, job-board wage aggregations, and any series whose industry classification could not be confirmed.
Headline measurements
- 1,355,400 people worked for US plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors in July 2026, but only 465,840 were employed as plumbers, pipefitters or steamfitters in May 2025. The two figures describe different populations.
- The plumbing and HVAC trades now account for 15.93 percent of all US construction employment, up from 15.19 percent in 2016.
- BLS-projected annual openings equal about 9.0 percent of the occupation each year, roughly one position in eleven.
- The median plumber wage was 63,800 dollars in May 2025, but the mean was 72,170 dollars, because industrial pipefitting pulls the top of the range well above residential service work.
- Payroll employment figures exclude self-employed plumbers entirely, so the real workforce is larger than any BLS industry series shows.
Briefing note
Employment at United States plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors reached 1,355,400 in July 2026, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics. Employment in the separate occupational category of plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters was 465,840 in May 2025. The two figures differ by roughly a factor of three because one counts every employee of an industry that includes heating and air conditioning, and the other counts people performing a specific job in any industry. Industry employment grew 28.9 percent between 2016 and 2025, outpacing US construction employment overall at 22.9 percent, and the trade now accounts for 15.93 percent of all construction jobs. The median annual wage in the occupation was 63,800 dollars in May 2025. BLS projects about 42,000 openings per year through 2035, equal to approximately 9.0 percent of current occupational employment annually. Payroll series exclude self-employed plumbers.
Story angles
- There are either 1.3 million or 465,000 plumbers in America, depending on which federal number you use
- Plumbing and HVAC now account for one in six US construction jobs
- The trade needs to fill one job in eleven every year until 2035
- Plumbing employment has grown every year since 2020
- Why the average plumber wage is higher than the typical plumber’s wage
Questions about the measurements
How many plumbers are there in the United States? It depends which federal definition is used. 465,840 people were employed in the occupation of plumber, pipefitter or steamfitter in May 2025. Separately, 1,355,400 people worked for plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors in July 2026. Neither is wrong, and they count different populations.
What does a plumber earn in the United States? The median annual wage was 63,800 dollars in May 2025, and the median hourly wage was 30.67 dollars. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Why is the average plumber wage higher than the median? The mean was 72,170 dollars against a median of 63,800 dollars in May 2025. Industrial steamfitting and commercial pipefitting report under the same occupation code as residential service plumbing and pay substantially more, which pulls the mean up.
Is plumbing employment growing? Yes. Industry employment rose 28.9 percent between 2016 and 2025 and has increased every year since 2020. Growth is decelerating: the 2024 to 2025 increase was 20,400 against 42,800 from 2022 to 2023.
How does plumbing compare to construction overall? Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors were 15.93 percent of US construction employment in 2025, up from 15.19 percent in 2016. The trade has grown faster than construction as a whole.
How many plumbing jobs open each year? BLS projects about 42,000 openings per year in the occupation over the decade to 2035, which equals approximately 9.0 percent of current occupational employment each year.
Is there a plumber shortage? Federal data shows projected annual openings equal to about one job in eleven, and 7 percent projected employment growth to 2035. This page reports that ratio rather than declaring a shortage, because shortage is a judgment about whether supply meets demand and BLS does not publish that judgment.
Do these numbers include self-employed plumbers? No. Current Employment Statistics count payroll jobs only. Self-employed plumbers are excluded, which is material in a trade with many sole proprietors.
Do the industry figures include HVAC workers? Yes. NAICS 238220 is Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors, and no BLS series separates plumbing from HVAC employment within it.
Which BLS series does this report use? CEU2023822001 for industry employment, CEU2023822006 for production and nonsupervisory employees, CEU2000000001 for total construction, and Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for SOC 47-2152.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-18.
How to cite this report
The Plumbing Brief, “The Plumbing Workforce Report: 2026 Edition, Employment, Wages and the Shortage Ratio”, https://theplumbingbrief.com/plumbing-workforce-report/, accessed [date].
