- The middle half earn between $26.99 and $39.54 an hour.
- Vermont ranks 32nd of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Vermont pays less than all 3 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 980 plumbers on payrolls in Vermont.
- At the state median wage, a plumbing business needs to bill about $123.08 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Plumber pay in Vermont, 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 | $23.46 | $48,800 | $21.22 |
| 25th percentile | $26.99 | $56,140 | $24.13 |
| Median | $29.89 | $62,170 | $30.67 |
| 75th percentile | $39.54 | $82,240 | $40.92 |
| 90th percentile | $44.20 | $91,940 | $52.13 |
| Average (mean) | $33.16 | $68,980 | $34.70 |
Pay is bunched up in Vermont. The top tenth earn $44.20 an hour or more, about 1.9 times the $23.46 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 ($23.46 against $21.22) but the ceiling is lower ($44.20 against $52.13), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average wage, $33.16, sits 11% 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 Vermont compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $62,170 in Vermont against $63,800 nationally, $1,630 less.
In the state ranking, Vermont sits 32nd, between Wyoming ($30.01) and Arizona ($29.84). The range runs from $23.39 in Arkansas to $48.57 in the District of Columbia.
Every one of the neighboring states pays plumbers more than Vermont. The closest is New Hampshire at $32.12, and the biggest gap is with Massachusetts.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Vermont |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont | $29.89 | $62,170 | |
| Massachusetts | $45.14 | $93,880 | +$15.25 an hour |
| New Hampshire | $32.12 | $66,810 | +$2.23 an hour |
| New York | $37.26 | $77,490 | +$7.37 an hour |
How many plumbers work in Vermont
Vermont has one of the smaller workforces in the trade: 980 plumbers on payrolls, 0.2% of the 465,840 nationwide.
That is 3.2 of every 1,000 jobs in Vermont, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a plumbing business in Vermont should charge
Say you run a plumbing business in Vermont and pay the state median of $29.89 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 | $29.89 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $66,927 |
| Break-even rate | ($66,927 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $104.62 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $104.62 ÷ 0.85 | $123.08 |
That is $123.08 per billable hour, 4.1 times the wage, and $1.37 less than the $124.45 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $39.54 in Vermont, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $140.03.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $26.99, the rate only drops to $117.99.
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 Vermont
- Licensing. What Vermont asks for before you can work on your own: Plumbing license in Vermont.
- 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.