Average Hourly Wage of Pipelayers, By State

This is the 21st installment of Construction Junkie's weekly analysis of the hourly wages of each individual construction profession by state.  The three previous professions we examined were concrete finishers, crane operators, and floor layers.  You can also see the full list of all past and future professions by clicking here.

Pipelayers, common teammates of heavy equipment operators, are responsible for laying pipe for storm, sanitary, or water systems. Pipelayers can work with a variety of different materials, including reinforced concrete panels (RCP), ductile iron, HDPE, and PVC. This is considered more of an exterior site work task, as opposed to plumbers, who run the piping on the interior side of buildings.  

Below you'll find a breakout of how each state compensates their pipelayers.  All data below comes from the BLS' most recent reports from May 2016. 

Graph of Average Hourly Wage of Pipelayers, by State

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Rankings of Average Hourly Wage of Pipelayers, by State

51. Rhode Island  --  Data Not Available/hour

50. Mississippi  --  $15.18/hour

49. North Carolina  --  $15.94/hour

48. Alabama  --  $16.45/hour

47. Texas  --  $16.62/hour

46. Arkansas  --  $16.62/hour

45. Wyoming  --  $16.81/hour

44. Tennessee  --  $16.93/hour

43. South Dakota  --  $17.10/hour

42. New Mexico  --  $17.53/hour

41. Nebraska  --  $17.62/hour

40. South Carolina  --  $17.67/hour

39. Oklahoma  --  $17.73/hour

38. Virginia  --  $18.10/hour

37. Kentucky  --  $18.29/hour

36. Utah  --  $18.39/hour

35. Idaho  --  $18.55/hour

34. Florida  --  $18.75/hour

33. Maine  --  $18.89/hour

32. Delaware  --  $19.21/hour

31. Vermont  --  $19.52/hour

30. Nevada  --  $19.63/hour

29. Georgia  --  $19.71/hour

28. Michigan  --  $20.14/hour

27. Maryland  --  $20.43/hour

26. Arizona  --  $20.43/hour

25. Colorado  --  $20.89/hour

24. West Virginia  --  $20.95/hour

23. Louisiana  --  $21.31/hour

22. Kansas  --  $21.58/hour

21. New Hampshire  --  $21.83/hour

20. Ohio  --  $21.87/hour

19. Indiana  --  $22.02/hour

18. North Dakota  --  $22.46/hour

17. Iowa  --  $22.96/hour

16. Oregon  --  $23.92/hour

15. California  --  $24.10/hour

14. Pennsylvania  --  $24.59/hour

13. Montana  --  $24.70/hour

12. District of Columbia  --  $25.31/hour

11. New York  --  $25.77/hour

10. Hawaii--$27.09/hour

9. Wisconsin  --  $28.49/hour

8. Connecticut  --  $28.65/hour

7. Washington  --  $28.73/hour

6. Missouri  --  $28.89/hour

5. Minnesota  --  $29.49/hour

4. New Jersey  --  $30.04/hour

3. Illinois  --  $31.21/hour

2. Alaska  --  $33.76/hour

1. Massachusetts  --  $36.00/hour

Graph of Average Hourly Wage of Pipelayers - Adjusted for Cost of Living, by State

Cost of living in each state also has a large impact on the amount of money construction trades actually bring home, so the graph below shows each state's adjusted hourly wage based upon the cost of living index for that state.  All cost of living index data comes from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center and was last updated for the second quarter of 2017.  The cost of living index was based upon grocery, housing, utilities, transportation, health, and miscellaneous costs for each state. 

click for larger image

click for larger image

Rankings of Average Hourly Wage of Pipelayers- Adjusted for Cost of Living, by State

51. Rhode Island  --  Data Not Available/hour

50. Hawaii  --  $9.10/hour

49. District of Columbia  --  $11.79/hour

48. California  --  $13.11/hour

47. Maryland  --  $14.91/hour

46. Oregon  --  $16.34/hour

45. Maine  --  $16.68/hour

44. North Carolina  --  $16.80/hour

43. South Dakota  --  $17.17/hour

42. Mississippi  --  $17.38/hour

41. Wyoming  --  $17.40/hour

40. New York  --  $17.63/hour

39. Virginia  --  $17.70/hour

38. South Carolina  --  $17.92/hour

37. Alabama  --  $17.98/hour

36. Texas  --  $18.18/hour

35. New Mexico  --  $18.56/hour

34. Nevada  --  $18.57/hour

33. Arkansas  --  $18.71/hour

32. Tennessee  --  $18.72/hour

31. Delaware  --  $18.79/hour

30. Vermont  --  $18.95/hour

29. Florida  --  $19.03/hour

28. Nebraska  --  $19.06/hour

27. New Hampshire  --  $19.21/hour

26. Utah  --  $19.25/hour

25. Kentucky  --  $19.52/hour

24. Oklahoma  --  $19.54/hour

23. Idaho  --  $20.16/hour

22. Colorado  --  $20.28/hour

21. Arizona  --  $21.15/hour

20. Georgia  --  $21.56/hour

19. West Virginia  --  $21.81/hour

18. Michigan  --  $22.09/hour

17. Louisiana  --  $22.46/hour

16. North Dakota  --  $22.71/hour

15. New Jersey  --  $23.28/hour

14. Alaska  --  $23.50/hour

13. Ohio  --  $23.55/hour

12. Kansas  --  $23.80/hour

11. Connecticut  --  $23.92/hour

10. Indiana--$24.05/hour

9. Pennsylvania  --  $24.20/hour

8. Montana  --  $24.53/hour

7. Iowa  --  $24.82/hour

6. Massachusetts  --  $25.02/hour

5. Washington  --  $26.43/hour

4. Wisconsin  --  $29.23/hour

3. Minnesota  --  $29.55/hour

2. Missouri  --  $31.81/hour

1. Illinois  --  $32.08/hour

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