National Averages

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, reports that there were about 400,970 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters employed in 2009. These workers earned an average wage of about $23.97 per hour or about $49,870 per year. The top 10 percent of plumbers earned an average of about $38.21 per hour or about $79,470 per year, while the lowest 10 percent of earners made an average of $13.27 an hour or about $27,600 per year.
  
  

Most Common Sectors

• The building equipment contractors sector of the industry employed the highest number pf plumbers in 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The estimated 16,670 workers in this sector earned an average wage of about $23.03 per hour or about $47,910 per year. The second most common industry for plumbers, utility system construction, employed about 14,540 workers, who earned an average of about $23.93 an hour or about $49,770 per year.
  
  

Highest Paying Sectors

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that plumbers employed in the glass and glass product manufacturing sector of the industry had the highest average wages in 2009. These workers made an average of $33.87 per hour or about $70,450 per year. Plumbers in the motor vehicle manufacturing sector of the industry had the second-highest average salaries, earning about $32.28 per hour or about $67,150 per year.
  
  

Geographic Differences

• The five states or districts with the highest average plumber salaries in 2009 were, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Illinois, Alaska, Massachusetts, New Jersey and the District of Columbia. Plumbers in the highest-paying state, Illinois, earned an average wage of about $32.51 an hour or about $67,610 per year, while those in the fifth-highest-paying state or district, the District of Columbia, earned an average of $29.16 an hour or about $60,650 per year.