Plumber Salary in New York 2026,
$77,490 Median | BLS Data by City

The published New York median for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters is $77,490 a year, or $37.26 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025 — 21.5% above the national median of $63,800. The middle half falls between $59,960 and $101,230 and the full band runs $46,130 to $130,420. The row covers three trades, so a residential plumber should be reading the lower half rather than the median.

Binghamton at $87,990, then Glens Falls $81,820, New York-Newark-Jersey City $78,610, Albany-Schenectady-Troy $77,460 and Rochester $73,580. Two upstate markets out-paying the New York City metro is unusual for this state, and it reflects institutional and industrial pipefitting work rather than any cost-of-living effect.

There is no statewide licence — plumbing is regulated municipally in New York. The New York City Department of Buildings licenses master plumbers who may file and supervise work in the five boroughs, with journeyman and apprentice arrangements attached; other cities and counties operate separate schemes. The practical consequence is that a credential earned in one New York jurisdiction generally does not authorise work in another.

Because the wage row includes pipefitters and steamfitters, and upstate New York has institutional and industrial mechanical work — hospitals, universities, manufacturing plants and power facilities — that requires them. That work is priced on availability, code qualification and shutdown hours rather than on installation output. New York City's figure, by contrast, blends a very large volume of residential and light commercial plumbing with its high-end mechanical work.

It is the New York City requirement that construction workers on most job sites hold site safety training cards with defined hours of instruction. It is not a plumbing credential and confers no trade authority, but it is a condition of working on covered sites in the five boroughs and is enforced as such. Anyone planning to work construction in New York City needs it alongside whatever trade credential applies.

It makes geography a credential problem rather than just a wage question. In states with statewide licensure a journeyman moves freely; in New York, a master plumber licensed by the New York City Department of Buildings holds authority in the five boroughs and generally nowhere else, and a plumber qualified in a Westchester or upstate jurisdiction faces the reverse. That fragments the labour market, protects incumbents in each jurisdiction, and means career planning here starts with deciding where you intend to work rather than what tier you intend to reach. It is also part of why the New York City master plumber licence is valuable enough to sit near the top of this band.

SOC 47-2152 covers three trades, so the median describes none of them precisely — residential plumbing sits in the lower half, industrial pipefitting and steamfitting in the upper. The figure reports wages as paid, so overtime and premium time are inside it. It counts employees, leaving self-employed plumbers and small contractors outside. And the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro spans the state line, blending New York and New Jersey employment.

Trade and sector first: industrial pipefitting and steamfitting above residential plumbing, which is most of this band's width and what the Binghamton and Glens Falls figures reflect. Union membership second, since mechanical trades coverage in New York is substantial and sets published rates. The applicable municipal licence third — in New York City, the Department of Buildings master plumber licence permits filing work and is a genuine step up. Foreman responsibility and shutdown availability fourth, which is where the $130,420 ninetieth percentile sits.