photo by Eli Duke, CC BY-SA 2.0
This is the 6th 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 brick and block masons, electricians, and carpenters. You can also see the full list of all past and future professions by clicking here.
In doing the research for this analysis, I learned something interesting about the plumbing profession. The term "plumber" comes from the Latin word "plumbum," which means lead. Seems fitting in a profession, fairly or unfairly, stereotyped for exposed butt cracks.
In Roman times, plumbers often worked with lead for conduits, drain pipes, and making baths. Plumbers now work with a variety of different materials, including copper, PVC, ductile iron, among others.
All data below comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s most recent reports from May 2016. Data for the state of Alaska was unavailable for this work category, unfortunately.
Graph of Average Hourly Wage of a Plumber, by State
click for larger image
Rankings of Average Hourly Wage of a Plumber, by State
51. Arkansas-- $18.54/hour
50. Florida--$19.56/hour
49. Alabama-- $19.93/hour
48. South Dakota-- $20.36/hour
47. North Carolina-- $20.45/hour
46. South Carolina-- $20.70/hour
45. New Mexico-- $21.18/hour
44. Georgia-- $21.30/hour
43. Mississippi-- $21.47/hour
42. Virginia-- $21.90/hour
41. Texas-- $22.16/hour
40. Arizona-- $23.31/hour
39. Iowa-- $23.39/hour
38. Wyoming-- $23.41/hour
37. Tennessee-- $23.49/hour
36. Oklahoma-- $23.65/hour
35. Colorado-- $23.85/hour
34. Idaho-- $23.93/hour
33. Louisiana-- $24.24/hour
32. Utah-- $24.37/hour
31. Vermont-- $24.53/hour
30. Kansas-- $24.56/hour
29. Maine-- $24.67/hour
28. Nevada-- $24.83/hour
27. Kentucky-- $25.44/hour
26. North Dakota-- $25.50/hour
25. Nebraska-- $25.52/hour
24. New Hampshire-- $25.67/hour
23. Ohio-- $25.98/hour
22. Maryland-- $26.68/hour
21. West Virginia-- $27.26/hour
20. Delaware-- $27.51/hour
19. Indiana-- $27.60/hour
18. Pennsylvania-- $27.99/hour
17. Montana-- $28.10/hour
16. California-- $28.23/hour
15. Michigan-- $28.47/hour
14. Rhode Island-- $28.56/hour
13. Connecticut-- $29.73/hour
12. Missouri-- $30.51/hour
11. Wisconsin-- $31.91/hour
10. Washington-- $31.92/hour
9. Hawaii-- $32.77/hour
8. Massachusetts-- $32.87/hour
7. Minnesota-- $32.90/hour
6. New Jersey-- $33.34/hour
5. Alaska-- $34.15/hour
4. District of Columbia-- $34.19/hour
3. Oregon-- $35.56/hour
2. Illinois-- $36.31/hour
1. New York-- $36.90/hour
Graph of Average Hourly Wage of a Plumber - 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.
Again, data for the state of Alaska was unavailable for this work category.
click for larger image
Rankings of Average Hourly Wage of a Plumber - Adjusted for Cost of Living, by State
51. Hawaii-- $11.01/hour
50. California--$15.36/hour
49. District of Columbia-- $15.93/hour
48. Maryland-- $19.48/hour
47. Florida-- $19.85/hour
46. South Dakota-- $20.44/hour
45. Arkansas-- $20.88/hour
44. South Carolina-- $20.99/hour
43. Virginia-- $21.42/hour
42. North Carolina-- $21.55/hour
41. Alabama-- $21.78/hour
40. Maine-- $21.78/hour
39. Rhode Island-- $22.19/hour
38. New Mexico-- $22.43/hour
37. New Hampshire-- $22.59/hour
36. Massachusetts-- $22.84/hour
35. Colorado-- $23.16/hour
34. Georgia-- $23.30/hour
33. Nevada-- $23.49/hour
32. Alaska-- $23.77/hour
31. Vermont-- $23.82/hour
30. Arizona-- $24.13/hour
29. Wyoming-- $24.23/hour
28. Texas-- $24.24/hour
27. Oregon-- $24.29/hour
26. Mississippi-- $24.58/hour
25. Connecticut-- $24.82/hour
24. New York-- $25.24/hour
23. Iowa-- $25.28/hour
22. Utah-- $25.52/hour
21. Louisiana-- $25.55/hour
20. North Dakota-- $25.78/hour
19. New Jersey-- $25.84/hour
18. Tennessee-- $25.98/hour
17. Idaho-- $26.01/hour
16. Oklahoma-- $26.06/hour
15. Delaware-- $26.90/hour
14. Kansas-- $27.09/hour
13. Kentucky-- $27.14/hour
12. Pennsylvania-- $27.54/hour
11. Nebraska-- $27.61/hour
10. Montana-- $27.90/hour
9. Ohio-- $27.98/hour
8. West Virginia-- $28.38/hour
7. Washington-- $29.37/hour
6. Indiana-- $30.14/hour
5. Michigan-- $31.23/hour
4. Wisconsin-- $32.74/hour
3. Minnesota-- $32.97/hour
2. Missouri-- $33.59/hour
1. Illinois-- $37.33/hour
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