How much do plumbers make in Massachusetts in 2026?

The median plumber salary in Massachusetts is $93,880 a year, which works out to $45.13 an hour based on a 2,080-hour work year. That number sits well above the national median for the trade and reflects the state's high cost of living, strong union presence, and consistent demand from both commercial construction and residential renovation.

Where you land in the pay range depends heavily on experience, sector, and whether you're on a union ticket. The 25th percentile comes in at $61,860 a year ($29.74/hr) — that's typically where apprentices finishing their hours or newly licensed journeymen start out. The 75th percentile reaches $108,430 a year ($52.13/hr), and that's where experienced journeymen, working foremen, and licensed master plumbers with steady commercial accounts tend to cluster. These figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025.

Union pay is the clearest benchmark at the top of the scale. A journeyman plumber working under a union agreement in Massachusetts earns $112,320 a year — roughly $54.00 an hour. That rate is set through collective bargaining, typically through UA Local agreements covering Boston and surrounding counties. The union wage doesn't include the full picture either: health insurance, pension contributions, and annuity funds can add several more dollars per hour on top of the base rate, pushing total compensation meaningfully higher than the gross wage alone.

Geography within Massachusetts matters. Greater Boston — including Cambridge, Somerville, and the inner suburbs — pulls wages toward the top of the range because of intense construction activity, higher prevailing wage rates on public projects, and a concentration of union contractors. Western Massachusetts and more rural parts of the state generally see wages closer to the median or below it, though licensed master plumbers running their own businesses anywhere in the state can earn well past the 75th percentile once overhead and markup are factored in.

License level is a direct lever on pay. Massachusetts issues separate apprentice, journeyman, and master plumber licenses, and each step up opens access to higher-paying work and the ability to pull permits. A licensed master plumber who runs a service and repair business or manages field crews for a mechanical contractor is typically earning at or above the 75th percentile. Journeymen working steady commercial work will usually land between the median and 75th percentile once they have five or more years in the trade.

Sector also moves the needle. Plumbers working on large commercial and industrial projects — hospitals, universities, data centers, and life sciences facilities, all of which are active construction segments in Massachusetts — tend to earn more than those doing residential service work. Prevailing wage rules apply to public construction projects in the state, which sets a wage floor on government-funded work and often pulls pay rates up to or past union scale even for non-union workers on those jobs.

Overtime is a real factor in annual take-home pay. Plumbers in Massachusetts regularly log 45 to 55 hours a week during peak construction seasons, and overtime at 1.5x the hourly rate can add $10,000 to $20,000 to annual earnings depending on how much extra time is available and whether the worker is on a union scale that kicks in overtime premiums quickly.

The bottom line: if you're a newly licensed journeyman in Massachusetts, $61,860 to $93,880 is a realistic first-year range. If you're a few years in and working commercial or union, you're looking at $93,880 to $112,320. Master plumbers and working foremen with a full book of work are the ones pushing past $108,430 on a consistent basis.