- The middle half earn between $24.93 and $37.42 an hour.
- Delaware ranks 23rd of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Delaware pays less than all 3 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 1,590 plumbers on payrolls in Delaware.
- At the state median wage, a plumbing business needs to bill about $125.22 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Plumber pay in Delaware, 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 | $19.71 | $40,990 | $21.22 |
| 25th percentile | $24.93 | $51,860 | $24.13 |
| Median | $31.11 | $64,720 | $30.67 |
| 75th percentile | $37.42 | $77,830 | $40.92 |
| 90th percentile | $45.93 | $95,520 | $52.13 |
| Average (mean) | $32.75 | $68,110 | $34.70 |
From the bottom tenth ($19.71) to the top tenth ($45.93), the top of the scale pays about 2.3 times the bottom in Delaware, close to the 2.5 times spread for plumbers nationwide.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $1.51 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $6.20 less than the national top tenth.
The average, $32.75, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Delaware compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $64,720 in Delaware against $63,800 nationally, $920 more.
In the state ranking, Delaware sits 23rd, between Kansas ($31.36) and Kentucky ($30.84). The range runs from $23.39 in Arkansas to $48.57 in the District of Columbia.
Every one of the neighboring states pays plumbers more than Delaware. The closest is Maryland at $31.44, and the biggest gap is with New Jersey.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Delaware |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | $31.11 | $64,720 | |
| Maryland | $31.44 | $65,400 | +$0.33 an hour |
| New Jersey | $37.61 | $78,240 | +$6.50 an hour |
| Pennsylvania | $32.73 | $68,080 | +$1.62 an hour |
How many plumbers work in Delaware
Delaware has one of the smaller workforces in the trade: 1,590 plumbers on payrolls, 0.3% of the 465,840 nationwide.
That is 3.3 of every 1,000 jobs in Delaware, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a plumbing business in Delaware should charge
Say you run a plumbing business in Delaware and pay the state median of $31.11 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on 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 | $31.11 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $69,659 |
| Break-even rate | ($69,659 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $106.44 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $106.44 ÷ 0.85 | $125.22 |
That is $125.22 per billable hour, 4 times the wage, and almost the same as the $124.45 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $37.42 in Delaware, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $136.30.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $24.93, the rate only drops to $114.37.
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 Delaware
- Licensing. What Delaware asks for before you can work on your own: Plumbing license in Delaware.
- 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.