How much do plumbing contractors make in 2026?
Plumbing contractors are counted in the BLS first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers series: OEWS May 2025 gives the SOC 47-1011 national median as $79,920 a year ($38.42 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $53,280 and the top 10% at $128,260. Read that as the market rate for construction supervision, not as a contractor's income, because the two are different things. A plumbing contractor licence licenses the business rather than the plumber: in nearly every state a company offering plumbing work to the public must designate a qualifying individual — normally a master plumber — and carry a surety bond and insurance, and business and law examinations are commonly required alongside the trade credential. An owner's earnings therefore depend on the business, not on a wage scale: a one-van owner-operator often earns near this median once they have paid themselves, while a contractor running several crews on service and replacement work can earn multiples of the top decile — or considerably less in a bad year, since they carry the receivables, the warranty and the payroll. The wage figures above are a reasonable proxy for salaried plumbing supervisors and small-business owners drawing a wage. Employment is projected to grow 5.3% through 2034 with roughly 74,400 openings a year across the pooled series. → Full plumbing contractor career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $79,920 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Plumbing Contractors earn a national median $79,920/yr ($38.42/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-1011); the P10 to P90 range is $53,280 to $128,260.
- The BLS figure here is the pooled construction supervisors median of $79,920 — a proxy for salaried supervision, not a measure of business profit, which wage statistics do not capture.
- A plumbing contractor licence licenses the business: it normally requires a designated qualifying individual, usually a master plumber, plus a surety bond, insurance and often business and law examinations.
- Owner earnings scale with the business rather than a pay band — from around this median for an owner-operator to multiples of the $128,260 top decile for a multi-crew service company, with the downside risk that comes with ownership.
US Plumbing Contractor Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do plumbing contractors earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 47-1011; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-1011, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a plumbing contractor earn at each career stage?
Contractor earnings scale with the business rather than with a supervisory pay grade. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 47-1011.
By State
Which states pay plumbing contractors the most in 2026?
State figures are modeled estimates — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers salary-calculator state wage index — not BLS state observations, and for owner income they should be treated as indicative only. Licensing structure is the substantive state variable: whether the contractor licence is issued at state or local level, the bond amount required, and how the qualifying master plumber requirement operates. Our plumbing contractor licence hub covers those requirements.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($91,910), the highest-paying state shown. See all 51 state salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay plumbing contractors the most?
Metro figures are modeled — national median times state wage index times published metro index — not BLS MSA observations. Metro markets support higher service pricing and denser call routes, which matters more to a contractor's margin than any wage index, though they also carry higher labour, insurance and vehicle costs.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a plumbing contractor’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does plumbing contractor pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Plumbing Contractors sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify plumbing contractor wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a plumbing contractor actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Plumbing Contractor Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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