- The middle half earn between $29.60 and $47.09 an hour.
- Hawaii ranks 12th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Hawaii pays more than 1 of its 2 nearby states it is compared with.
- BLS counts about 2,500 plumbers on payrolls in Hawaii.
- At the state median wage, a plumbing business needs to bill about $136.50 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Plumber pay in Hawaii, 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 | $22.96 | $47,750 | $21.22 |
| 25th percentile | $29.60 | $61,570 | $24.13 |
| Median | $37.53 | $78,060 | $30.67 |
| 75th percentile | $47.09 | $97,950 | $40.92 |
| 90th percentile | $54.47 | $113,300 | $52.13 |
| Average (mean) | $39.81 | $82,810 | $34.70 |
From the bottom tenth ($22.96) to the top tenth ($54.47), the top of the scale pays about 2.4 times the bottom in Hawaii, close to the 2.5 times spread for plumbers nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $22.96 against $21.22 at the bottom tenth, and $54.47 against $52.13 at the top.
The average, $39.81, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Hawaii compares with other states
Over a full year, the Hawaii median of $78,060 is $14,260 more than the national $63,800.
In the state ranking, Hawaii sits 12th, between New Jersey ($37.61) and New York ($37.26). The range runs from $23.39 in Arkansas to $48.57 in the District of Columbia.
Hawaii has no land border, so it is set here against California and Alaska. Alaska pays more and California pays less.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Hawaii. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Nearby state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Hawaii |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $37.53 | $78,060 | |
| California | $35.01 | $72,830 | −$2.52 an hour |
| Alaska | $45.15 | $93,920 | +$7.62 an hour |
How many plumbers work in Hawaii
About 2,500 plumbers work on payrolls in Hawaii, 0.5% of the 465,840 nationwide, the 40th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 4.0 of every 1,000 jobs in Hawaii, 1.3 times the national share.
What a plumbing business in Hawaii should charge
Higher wages in Hawaii go straight into the price. Take a plumbing business in Hawaii paying the state median of $37.53 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 | $37.53 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $84,034 |
| Break-even rate | ($84,034 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $116.02 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $116.02 ÷ 0.85 | $136.50 |
That is $136.50 per billable hour, 3.6 times the wage, and $12.05 more than the $124.45 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $47.09 in Hawaii, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $153.29.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $29.60, the rate only drops to $122.57.
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 Hawaii
- Licensing. What Hawaii asks for before you can work on your own: Plumbing license in Hawaii.
- 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.