How much do plumbers make in New York in 2026?

Plumbers in New York earn a median $77,490 per year, which works out to $37.25 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That number sits comfortably above the national median for the trade and reflects New York's high cost of living, strong union presence, and steady commercial and residential construction demand. Here is how pay spreads out across the state.

The 25th percentile lands at $59,960 a year, or roughly $28.83 an hour. Workers at this level are typically newer to the trade — recent apprenticeship graduates, helpers who just earned their journeyman card, or plumbers working in less densely populated parts of the state where job volume and union density are lower. This is the floor for a fully licensed working plumber in New York, not an entry-level helper rate.

The median — $77,490 annually, $37.25 hourly — represents the mid-career licensed plumber working in the broader New York labor market. Half of all plumbers in the state earn more than this figure, half earn less. At this pay level, a plumber working a standard week brings home roughly $1,490 before taxes. Over a full year with steady work, that adds up to a solid middle-class income by most measures.

The 75th percentile jumps to $101,230 per year, or $48.67 an hour. Plumbers at this tier typically have years of experience, a master plumber license, or specialty skills in areas like medical gas, fire suppression, or large-scale commercial work. Supervisory roles and lead positions on major job sites also push pay into this range. Clearing $100,000 as a plumber in New York is realistic — it is not reserved for outliers.

Union journeymen are in a class of their own. A journeyman plumber working under a union agreement in New York averages $120,640 a year, equal to $58.00 an hour. That figure reflects the wage scales negotiated by locals affiliated with the United Association (UA), which represents plumbers and pipefitters. It is worth noting that union compensation packages also include pension contributions, health benefits, and annuity payments that are not counted in that wage figure — so the total value of employment is higher still. The New York City metro area in particular has some of the highest plumber wage scales in the country, driven by the sheer volume and complexity of commercial, industrial, and infrastructure work in the region.

Geography matters significantly within New York state. Plumbers working in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County tend to earn at or above the 75th percentile. Plumbers in the Hudson Valley, Capital Region, or Western New York generally earn closer to the median. The spread between the 25th and 75th percentile — nearly $41,270 per year — tells you that location, licensing level, and union affiliation all have real dollar consequences on your paycheck.

Apprentices in New York start at a percentage of journeyman scale, typically between 40% and 55% depending on their year in the program. That puts starting apprentice wages somewhere in the $24–$32 an hour range on union jobs, rising with each completed year of the five-year apprenticeship. Non-union apprentices generally start lower and progress more variably.

Overtime is common in the plumbing trade, particularly during large commercial buildouts or emergency service work. At the median hourly rate of $37.25, a single hour of overtime pays $55.88. For union journeymen at $58.00 an hour, overtime hits $87.00 an hour. Plumbers willing to work heavy schedules on large projects can meaningfully exceed the annual figures shown here.

All figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The BLS surveys employers directly, making it one of the most reliable sources for trade wage data in the country.