- The middle half earn between $22.63 and $31.12 an hour.
- Alabama ranks 40th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Alabama pays more than all 4 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 6,950 plumbers on payrolls in Alabama.
- At the state median wage, a plumbing business needs to bill about $120.13 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Plumber pay in Alabama, bottom to top
BLS counts plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters as one group, so the figures include industrial pipe work as well as service and new construction plumbing.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $18.14 | $37,720 | $21.22 |
| 25th percentile | $22.63 | $47,070 | $24.13 |
| Median | $28.21 | $58,670 | $30.67 |
| 75th percentile | $31.12 | $64,730 | $40.92 |
| 90th percentile | $36.87 | $76,690 | $52.13 |
| Average (mean) | $27.77 | $57,750 | $34.70 |
Pay is bunched up in Alabama. The top tenth earn $36.87 an hour or more, about 2 times the $18.14 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.5 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $3.08 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $15.26 less than the national top tenth.
The average wage ($27.77) is a little under the median, so the low end of the range stretches further than the high end in Alabama.
How Alabama compares with other states
Over a full year, the Alabama median of $58,670 is $5,130 less than the national $63,800.
In the state ranking, Alabama sits 40th, between Texas ($28.77) and Tennessee ($28.17). The range runs from $23.39 in Arkansas to $48.57 in the District of Columbia.
Alabama pays plumbers more than any of its neighboring states, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. Someone working near the border can earn more by taking work on this side of it.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Alabama |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $28.21 | $58,670 | |
| Florida | $25.44 | $52,910 | −$2.77 an hour |
| Georgia | $27.50 | $57,200 | −$0.71 an hour |
| Mississippi | $26.67 | $55,480 | −$1.54 an hour |
| Tennessee | $28.17 | $58,600 | −$0.04 an hour |
How many plumbers work in Alabama
About 6,950 plumbers work on payrolls in Alabama, 1.5% of the 465,840 nationwide, the 25th largest count among the states.
That is 3.3 of every 1,000 jobs in Alabama, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a plumbing business in Alabama should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is a plumbing business in Alabama paying the state median of $28.21, on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $28.21 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $63,166 |
| Break-even rate | ($63,166 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $102.11 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $102.11 ÷ 0.85 | $120.13 |
That is $120.13 per billable hour, 4.3 times the wage, and $4.32 less than the $124.45 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $31.12 in Alabama, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $125.24.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.63, the rate only drops to $110.33.
Overhead, at $60 of every billed hour, and the unbilled hours move this rate more than a raise does. A dollar more in wages adds about $1.76 to the rate.
Run it with your own numbers in the plumbing labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a plumber in Alabama
- Licensing. What Alabama asks for before you can work on your own: Plumbing license in Alabama.
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how plumbing companies run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 47-2152, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: plumber salary by state.