- The middle half earn between $27.89 and $46.52 an hour.
- Indiana ranks 16th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Indiana pays more than 2 of its 4 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 11,280 plumbers on payrolls in Indiana.
- At the state median wage, a plumbing business needs to bill about $135.02 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Plumber pay in Indiana, 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 | $22.54 | $46,890 | $21.22 |
| 25th percentile | $27.89 | $58,010 | $24.13 |
| Median | $36.69 | $76,320 | $30.67 |
| 75th percentile | $46.52 | $96,760 | $40.92 |
| 90th percentile | $49.29 | $102,520 | $52.13 |
| Average (mean) | $36.37 | $75,660 | $34.70 |
Pay is bunched up in Indiana. The top tenth earn $49.29 an hour or more, about 2.2 times the $22.54 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.
The floor is higher than nationally ($22.54 against $21.22) but the ceiling is lower ($49.29 against $52.13), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average, $36.37, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Indiana compares with other states
Over a full year, the Indiana median of $76,320 is $12,520 more than the national $63,800.
In the state ranking, Indiana sits 16th, between Rhode Island ($36.77) and California ($35.01). The range runs from $23.39 in Arkansas to $48.57 in the District of Columbia.
Against its neighboring states, Indiana is in the middle: Illinois and Michigan pay more, and Kentucky and Ohio pay less.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Indiana. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
How many plumbers work in Indiana
About 11,280 plumbers work on payrolls in Indiana, 2.4% of the 465,840 nationwide, the 15th largest count among the states.
That is 3.5 of every 1,000 jobs in Indiana, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a plumbing business in Indiana should charge
Higher wages in Indiana go straight into the price. Take a plumbing business in Indiana paying the state median of $36.69 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 | $36.69 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $82,153 |
| Break-even rate | ($82,153 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $114.77 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $114.77 ÷ 0.85 | $135.02 |
That is $135.02 per billable hour, 3.7 times the wage, and $10.57 more than the $124.45 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $46.52 in Indiana, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $152.29.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $27.89, the rate only drops to $119.57.
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 Indiana
- Licensing. What Indiana asks for before you can work on your own: Plumbing license in Indiana.
- 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.