- The middle half earn between $24.04 and $40.79 an hour.
- Kentucky ranks 24th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Kentucky pays more than 4 of its 7 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 6,360 plumbers on payrolls in Kentucky.
- At the state median wage, a plumbing business needs to bill about $124.75 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Plumber pay in Kentucky, 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 | $21.57 | $44,860 | $21.22 |
| 25th percentile | $24.04 | $50,000 | $24.13 |
| Median | $30.84 | $64,160 | $30.67 |
| 75th percentile | $40.79 | $84,840 | $40.92 |
| 90th percentile | $45.53 | $94,710 | $52.13 |
| Average (mean) | $33.11 | $68,870 | $34.70 |
Pay is bunched up in Kentucky. The top tenth earn $45.53 an hour or more, about 2.1 times the $21.57 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 ($21.57 against $21.22) but the ceiling is lower ($45.53 against $52.13), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average wage, $33.11, sits 7% 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 Kentucky compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $64,160 in Kentucky against $63,800 nationally, $360 more.
In the state ranking, Kentucky sits 24th, between Delaware ($31.11) and Maine ($30.77). The range runs from $23.39 in Arkansas to $48.57 in the District of Columbia.
Against its neighboring states, Kentucky is in the middle: Illinois, Indiana and Missouri pay more, and Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia pay less.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Kentucky |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | $30.84 | $64,160 | |
| Illinois | $48.05 | $99,950 | +$17.21 an hour |
| Indiana | $36.69 | $76,320 | +$5.85 an hour |
| Missouri | $32.11 | $66,790 | +$1.27 an hour |
| Ohio | $30.45 | $63,330 | −$0.39 an hour |
| Tennessee | $28.17 | $58,600 | −$2.67 an hour |
| Virginia | $29.07 | $60,470 | −$1.77 an hour |
| West Virginia | $27.39 | $56,980 | −$3.45 an hour |
How many plumbers work in Kentucky
About 6,360 plumbers work on payrolls in Kentucky, 1.4% of the 465,840 nationwide, the 26th largest count among the states.
That is 3.2 of every 1,000 jobs in Kentucky, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a plumbing business in Kentucky should charge
Say you run a plumbing business in Kentucky and pay the state median of $30.84 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 | $30.84 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $69,054 |
| Break-even rate | ($69,054 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $106.04 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $106.04 ÷ 0.85 | $124.75 |
That is $124.75 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, $40.79 in Kentucky, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $142.22.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $24.04, the rate only drops to $112.81.
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 Kentucky
- Licensing. What Kentucky asks for before you can work on your own: Plumbing license in Kentucky.
- 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.