- The middle half earn between $34.65 and $57.72 an hour.
- Only 1 state pays plumbers more at the median.
- Illinois pays more than all 5 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 16,750 plumbers on payrolls in Illinois.
- At the state median wage, a plumbing business needs to bill about $154.97 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Plumber pay in Illinois, 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 | $24.16 | $50,250 | $21.22 |
| 25th percentile | $34.65 | $72,070 | $24.13 |
| Median | $48.05 | $99,950 | $30.67 |
| 75th percentile | $57.72 | $120,050 | $40.92 |
| 90th percentile | $60.79 | $126,430 | $52.13 |
| Average (mean) | $44.91 | $93,400 | $34.70 |
From the bottom tenth ($24.16) to the top tenth ($60.79), the top of the scale pays about 2.5 times the bottom in Illinois, close to the 2.5 times spread for plumbers nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $24.16 against $21.22 at the bottom tenth, and $60.79 against $52.13 at the top.
The average wage ($44.91) is a little under the median, so the low end of the range stretches further than the high end in Illinois.
How Illinois compares with other states
Over a full year, the Illinois median of $99,950 is $36,150 more than the national $63,800.
In the state ranking, Illinois sits 2nd, between the District of Columbia ($48.57) and Oregon ($46.66). The range runs from $23.39 in Arkansas to $48.57 in the District of Columbia.
Illinois pays plumbers more than any of its neighboring states, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin. Someone working near the border can earn more by taking work on this side of it.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Illinois. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
How many plumbers work in Illinois
BLS estimates 16,750 plumbers on payrolls in Illinois, 3.6% of the 465,840 nationwide. Only 4 states have more.
That is 2.7 of every 1,000 jobs in Illinois, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a plumbing business in Illinois should charge
Higher wages in Illinois go straight into the price. Take a plumbing business in Illinois paying the state median of $48.05 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 | $48.05 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $107,590 |
| Break-even rate | ($107,590 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $131.73 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $131.73 ÷ 0.85 | $154.97 |
That is $154.97 per billable hour, 3.2 times the wage, and $30.52 more than the $124.45 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $57.72 in Illinois, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $171.95.
At this wage the pay itself is the biggest part of the price, so every raise shows up in the rate: a dollar more an hour adds about $1.76 per billed hour.
Run it with your own numbers in the plumbing labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a plumber in Illinois
- Licensing. What Illinois asks for before you can work on your own: Plumbing license in Illinois.
- 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.