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How to become a plumber

Most plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters learn the trade through a four- or five-year apprenticeship; most states and some localities require plumbers to be licensed, often after two to five years of experience and an exam. Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters earned a median $63,800 a year in May 2025, and BLS projects 6.8% growth in the job count from 2025 to 2035, with about 42,000 openings a year. Typical entry education: high school diploma or equivalent.

The steps

1. Finish high school or the equivalent. A high school diploma or equivalent is typically required. Vocational-technical schools offer courses in pipe system design, safety and tool use, and the welding courses some pipefitter and steamfitter apprenticeship programs require.
   BLS wording

   “A high school diploma or equivalent is typically required to become a plumber, pipefitter, or steamfitter. Vocational-technical schools offer courses in pipe system design, safety, and tool use. They also offer welding courses that are required by some pipefitter and steamfitter apprenticeship training programs.”

2. Enter an apprenticeship. Unions, trade associations and businesses sponsor the programs. Apprentices typically receive 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training and some technical instruction each year; the instruction includes safety, local plumbing codes and regulations, and blueprint reading, and apprentices also study mathematics, applied physics and chemistry. Most enter a program directly; some start as helpers or complete a pre-apprenticeship training program.
   BLS wording

   “Most plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters learn their trade through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship. Apprentices typically receive 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training, as well as some technical instruction, each year. Technical instruction includes safety, local plumbing codes and regulations, and blueprint reading. Apprentices also study mathematics, applied physics, and chemistry. Apprenticeship programs are sponsored by unions, trade associations, and businesses. Most apprentices enter a program directly, but some start out as helpers or complete a pre-apprenticeship training programs in plumbing and other trades.”

3. Pass the licensing exam where one is required. Most states and some localities require plumbers to be licensed. Requirements vary, but states and localities often require 2 to 5 years of experience and an exam that shows knowledge of the trade before plumbers may work independently. Some states require pipefitters and steamfitters to be licensed and may also require a special license to work on gas lines.
   BLS wording

   “Most states and some localities require plumbers to be licensed. Although licensing requirements vary, states and localities often require workers to have 2 to 5 years of experience and to pass an exam that shows their knowledge of the trade before allowing plumbers to work independently. ... Some states require pipefitters and steamfitters to be licensed; they may also require a special license to work on gas lines.”

4. Work at journey level, with master status as a further step. Completing an apprenticeship and passing the required licensing exam makes you a journey-level worker, qualified to perform tasks independently. Plumbers with several years of plumbing experience who pass another exam earn master status, which some states require for a plumbing contractor's license.
   BLS wording

   “Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters complete an apprenticeship program and pass the required licensing exam to become journey-level workers. Journey-level plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters are qualified to perform tasks independently. Plumbers with several years of plumbing experience who pass another exam earn master status. Some states require master plumber status in order to obtain a plumbing contractor's license.”

Steps follow the Occupational Outlook Handbook: Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters, read 2026-09-23. The state-specific hours, exams and fees are below.

How long it takes

Most learn the trade in a four- or five-year apprenticeship; states and localities often require two to five years of experience and an exam to work independently.

Counting the first license in each sourced state that takes 2,000 or more on-the-job hours, the states ask for 4,000 to 8,000 hours, about 2 to 4 years at full time, counting the minimum years some states set and the years a state gives for its hours (2,080 hours a year): NC 4,000, TX 4,000, IL 5,600, MI 6,000, WA 6,000, IN 6,400, CO 6,800, MA 6,800, MD 7,500, OR 7,700, CT 8,000, UT 8,000. The other 18 sourced states license the contractor rather than the worker, state the requirement in years, or leave licensing to cities; each state page says which.

Time-to-journeyman calculator: pick a state and your hours a week →

What it costs

Published license and application fees in the 28 sourced states with one (a city's or county's where the state licenses only locally) run from $10 to $1,365 depending on the state and tier; exam-vendor fees are separate where one applies. Apprentices typically receive paid on-the-job training each year. What it costs to start in each state is in the table below; the full tier-by-tier fees are on each state page.

License-cost calculator: every published fee for one state, itemised →

License requirements by state

Of the 30 states sourced so far for plumbers, 16 require a worker to hold a state license or certification, 4 do not at the state level and 10 are not stated on the pages read. Each row is read from the pages its record names and dated on the state page.

"State license for workers": "Required" where a state passage says a worker needs a license or certification, "None at state level" where one says none is needed, "Not stated" where the pages read do not say; the state page gives what they do say about where licensing sits. "First license after" is the on-the-job hours to the first license on the main path that takes 2,000 or more of them (a separate, narrower license a state also offers, such as a residential-only one, is not counted; the state page names it); its years are the hours at 2,080 a year (≈), a state's minimum years where it sets one (at least), or the years a state's own page gives for those hours (as published); "varies" means the state licenses contractors, states experience in years, or licenses locally. "Starting fee" is what a worker pays to start working: the published state fees for the registrations, trainee or apprentice credentials, learner's permit and federal steps held before any experience; exam-vendor fees are extra. "None required": the state licenses no one at the worker level (only contractors, or only cities and counties). "None listed": the state licenses workers but lists no credential before the first license. "Not stated": the pages read do not say whether a worker needs a license. "No state fee": the only start step is federal (EPA 608). "Not published": a start step's fee is not published. A place named beside a figure marks a city's or county's fee, a local example. The license-cost calculator also totals what it takes to hold the first license. 1. Illinois: at least 4 years. That is the apprenticeship route; approved plumbing courses can replace part or all of it. 2. Massachusetts: at least 4 years. The four-year floor is the education's: the 550 hours of theory must span at least four years. 3. North Carolina: the hours are experience, not all of it on the job: up to half from technical training. Licensing layer vintage 2026-09. The remaining 21 of the 50 states and DC carry pay and employment now and gain this section as each board is read. Compare time and cost across every sourced path →

Apprenticeships

Unions, trade associations and businesses sponsor the programs; most apprentices enter one directly, and some start as helpers or complete a pre-apprenticeship training program. The federal Apprenticeship Finder searches apprenticeship openings by occupation and by city, state or ZIP code. Apprenticeship Finder →

U.S. Department of Labor records list 45,568 registered apprentices active across the 50 states and DC in fiscal year 2024 under the occupation titles DOL maps to plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters; the state pages give each state's count and, where enough apprentices carry a wage DOL counts, the median starting and completing wages (how they are counted). Apprentice counts and wages in every state → · what those wages come to at your hours a week →

What plumbers earn, by state

Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters (SOC 47-2152) earned a national median of $63,800 a year in May 2025, $30.67 an hour, with 465,840 employed. District of Columbia paid the most, $101,020, 58% above the national median.

Top five by median annual wage: District of Columbia ($101,020), Illinois ($99,950), Oregon ($97,050), Minnesota ($94,410), Alaska ($93,920). Lowest five: Arkansas ($48,660), South Dakota ($51,620), Idaho ($52,380), Florida ($52,910), South Carolina ($53,940).

"Per 1,000 jobs" is how concentrated the trade is in that state's workforce. A state can pay well and still have few openings; the employment column and this one together say how much of a market there is.

As files: pay by state (CSV) · pay by metro area (CSV) · state licensing requirements (CSV) · all files and how to credit them.

Job outlook, 2025 to 2035

BLS projects 6.8% growth in employment from 2025 to 2035 (510,600 to 545,200 jobs) and about 42,000 openings a year over the decade, counting growth and replacement.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, Table 1.2 Occupational projections, 2025–35, and worker characteristics, 2025, retrieved 2026-10-03. Openings count growth plus the workers who leave the occupation.

Common questions

Sources

• Occupational Outlook Handbook: Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters, read 2026-09-23: the steps, training length and licensing pattern.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates, retrieved 2026-10-03: every wage and employment figure. How the numbers are built.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, Table 1.2, retrieved 2026-10-03: growth, openings and entry education.
• State licensing authorities, one per state, each cited and dated on the state page; layer vintage 2026-09.