- The middle half earn between $23.67 and $40.80 an hour.
- Kansas ranks 22nd of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Kansas pays more than 3 of its 4 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 4,590 plumbers on payrolls in Kansas.
- At the state median wage, a plumbing business needs to bill about $125.66 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Plumber pay in Kansas, 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 | $18.81 | $39,130 | $21.22 |
| 25th percentile | $23.67 | $49,230 | $24.13 |
| Median | $31.36 | $65,220 | $30.67 |
| 75th percentile | $40.80 | $84,870 | $40.92 |
| 90th percentile | $52.54 | $109,290 | $52.13 |
| Average (mean) | $34.33 | $71,410 | $34.70 |
Pay spreads out a lot in Kansas. The bottom tenth earn $18.81 an hour or less while the top tenth earn $52.54 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.
The bottom of the scale is lower than nationally ($18.81 against $21.22) while the top is higher ($52.54 against $52.13), so the climb from new hire to top earner is longer here.
The average wage, $34.33, sits 9% 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 Kansas compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $65,220 in Kansas against $63,800 nationally, $1,420 more.
In the state ranking, Kansas sits 22nd, between Maryland ($31.44) and Delaware ($31.11). The range runs from $23.39 in Arkansas to $48.57 in the District of Columbia.
Against its neighboring states, Kansas is in the middle: Missouri pays more, and Colorado, Nebraska and Oklahoma pay less.
How many plumbers work in Kansas
About 4,590 plumbers work on payrolls in Kansas, 1.0% of the 465,840 nationwide, the 33rd largest count among the states.
That is 3.2 of every 1,000 jobs in Kansas, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a plumbing business in Kansas should charge
Say you run a plumbing business in Kansas and pay the state median of $31.36 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 | $31.36 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $70,219 |
| Break-even rate | ($70,219 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $106.81 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $106.81 ÷ 0.85 | $125.66 |
That is $125.66 per billable hour, 4 times the wage, and $1.21 more than the $124.45 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $40.80 in Kansas, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $142.24.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $23.67, the rate only drops to $112.16.
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 Kansas
- Licensing. What Kansas asks for before you can work on your own: Plumbing license in Kansas.
- 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.