- The middle half earn between $21.16 and $35.44 an hour.
- West Virginia is 45th of the 50 states and DC, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- West Virginia pays less than all 5 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 1,830 plumbers on payrolls in West Virginia.
- At the state median wage, a plumbing business needs to bill about $118.69 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Plumber pay in West Virginia, 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 | $17.31 | $36,010 | $21.22 |
| 25th percentile | $21.16 | $44,020 | $24.13 |
| Median | $27.39 | $56,980 | $30.67 |
| 75th percentile | $35.44 | $73,700 | $40.92 |
| 90th percentile | $39.98 | $83,160 | $52.13 |
| Average (mean) | $28.26 | $58,780 | $34.70 |
From the bottom tenth ($17.31) to the top tenth ($39.98), the top of the scale pays about 2.3 times the bottom in West Virginia, close to the 2.5 times spread for plumbers nationwide.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $3.91 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $12.15 less than the national top tenth.
The average, $28.26, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How West Virginia compares with other states
Over a full year, the West Virginia median of $56,980 is $6,820 less than the national $63,800.
In the state ranking, West Virginia sits 45th, between North Carolina ($27.44) and Mississippi ($26.67). 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 West Virginia. The closest is Virginia at $29.07, and the biggest gap is with Pennsylvania.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against West Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | $27.39 | $56,980 | |
| Kentucky | $30.84 | $64,160 | +$3.45 an hour |
| Maryland | $31.44 | $65,400 | +$4.05 an hour |
| Ohio | $30.45 | $63,330 | +$3.06 an hour |
| Pennsylvania | $32.73 | $68,080 | +$5.34 an hour |
| Virginia | $29.07 | $60,470 | +$1.68 an hour |
How many plumbers work in West Virginia
About 1,830 plumbers work on payrolls in West Virginia, 0.4% of the 465,840 nationwide, the 43rd largest count among the states.
That is 2.6 of every 1,000 jobs in West Virginia, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a plumbing business in West Virginia should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is a plumbing business in West Virginia paying the state median of $27.39, on the labor rate calculator's 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 | $27.39 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $61,329 |
| Break-even rate | ($61,329 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $100.89 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $100.89 ÷ 0.85 | $118.69 |
That is $118.69 per billable hour, 4.3 times the wage, and $5.76 less than the $124.45 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $35.44 in West Virginia, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $132.83.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $21.16, the rate only drops to $107.75.
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 West Virginia
- Licensing. What West Virginia asks for before you can work on your own: Plumbing license in West Virginia.
- 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.