- The middle half earn between $28.36 and $48.17 an hour.
- California ranks 17th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- California pays more than 2 of its 3 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 47,660 plumbers on payrolls in California.
- At the state median wage, a plumbing business needs to bill about $132.07 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Plumber pay in California, 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 | $22.76 | $47,350 | $21.22 |
| 25th percentile | $28.36 | $58,980 | $24.13 |
| Median | $35.01 | $72,830 | $30.67 |
| 75th percentile | $48.17 | $100,200 | $40.92 |
| 90th percentile | $63.03 | $131,100 | $52.13 |
| Average (mean) | $39.58 | $82,320 | $34.70 |
Pay spreads out a lot in California. The bottom tenth earn $22.76 an hour or less while the top tenth earn $63.03 or more, a gap of 2.8 times against 2.5 nationally. Where a plumber sits on that range matters as much as the state.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $22.76 against $21.22 at the bottom tenth, and $63.03 against $52.13 at the top.
The average wage, $39.58, sits 13% above the median. A smaller group of higher earners pulls the average up, so the median is the better guide to what a typical plumber makes.
How California compares with other states
Over a full year, the California median of $72,830 is $9,030 more than the national $63,800.
In the state ranking, California sits 17th, between Indiana ($36.69) and Pennsylvania ($32.73). The range runs from $23.39 in Arkansas to $48.57 in the District of Columbia.
Against its neighboring states, California is in the middle: Oregon pays more, and Arizona and Nevada pay less.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in California. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
How many plumbers work in California
BLS estimates 47,660 plumbers on payrolls in California, 10.2% of the 465,840 nationwide. No other state has more.
That is 2.6 of every 1,000 jobs in California, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a plumbing business in California should charge
Higher wages in California go straight into the price. Take a plumbing business in California paying the state median of $35.01 and run it through the labor rate calculator with its 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 | $35.01 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $78,392 |
| Break-even rate | ($78,392 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $112.26 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $112.26 ÷ 0.85 | $132.07 |
That is $132.07 per billable hour, 3.8 times the wage, and $7.62 more than the $124.45 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $48.17 in California, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $155.18.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $28.36, the rate only drops to $120.39.
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 California
- Licensing. What California asks for before you can work on your own: Plumbing license in California.
- 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.