Pipefitter Salary in Tulsa, OK 2026,
$59,440 Median | BLS + Market Data

Tulsa pipefitters earn a BLS MSA median of $59,440/yr ($28.58/hr), about 2.5% above the Oklahoma state median of $57,970 and roughly 6.8% below the $63,800 national figure. The metro range runs from about $37,990 (P10) on light service work to $80,420 (P90) for foremen and 6G-qualified fitters.

Refinery and midstream process piping is the metro's best-paying sector at roughly $74,800/yr, about $15,400 above the Tulsa median. The work demands ASME Section IX weld qualification and carries turnaround overtime, which is not counted in the BLS base wage, so real annual earnings run higher still.

UA Local 351 represents Tulsa plumbers and pipefitters and negotiates journeyman scale plus a pension, health and annuity package. Union industrial and mechanical work sits in the upper half of the metro distribution, and the hall's dispatch feeds the refinery, midstream and large industrial jobs that pay the most.

It depends what you are fitting. The Oklahoma Construction Industries Board licenses plumbers, so potable-water and building plumbing work requires a state licence. Industrial pipefitters running process piping are qualified on ASME weld tests and UA classification instead, which is why weld qualification, not licensure, drives industrial pay here.

Oklahoma runs a graduated individual income tax topping out at 4.75%. On a Tulsa journeyman's $63,600 the effective state rate lands near 3.7%, roughly $2,300 a year, which is the main difference between a Tulsa offer and an equivalent Texas offer at the same gross.

Because the national figure for SOC 47-2152 is lifted by heavily unionised industrial states such as Illinois ($99,950), Alaska ($93,920) and Massachusetts ($93,880). Tulsa has real refinery and midstream work, but a smaller union share and a lower cost base, so its median lands at $59,440. On purchasing power the gap largely closes.

It adds a steady, credential-heavy employer base that most refinery towns do not have. Tulsa's aerospace maintenance operations need facility and process mechanical work year-round, which gives fitters an alternative to the cyclical turnaround calendar, at a somewhat lower ceiling of about $64,100.

No. The BLS MSA figures are base wage only. Refinery and midstream turnarounds add overtime at 1.5x and, for travelling fitters, per-diem on top. A 6G-qualified Tulsa fitter working the outage calendar routinely earns above the $80,420 metro P90 in a busy year.