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Plumbing industry statistics 2026
How many plumbing contractors there are in the US, what they take in, how many plumbers work and what they earn, and how often American homes have leaks and plumbing projects. Official numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, HUD, BLS and EIA, each with its source and year.
Updated October 27, 2026 · NAICS 238220 (Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors) · SOC 47-2152 (Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters)
Key numbers
- 510,600
jobs as plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters.
- $63,800
median annual pay for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters.
- 111,207
plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractor locations with paid employees.
- $297.61 billion
revenue of plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors with paid employees.
- 11.2 million
households had water leaking from inside the home in the last 12 months.
Plumbing contractors in numbers
The Census Bureau counts plumbers together with heating and air conditioning contractors, under NAICS 238220. Both the number of locations and the number of employees grew from 2022 to 2023.
- 111,207
plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractor locations with paid employees, up from 109,601 in 2022.
- 1,214,761
people worked at those contractors in mid-March, up from 1,176,759 a year earlier.
- $89.52 billion
in annual payroll at plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors.
- 64,871
of the 111,207 locations (58.3%) had fewer than 5 employees.
- $297.61 billion
revenue of plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors with paid employees, run by 112,088 firms.
- $1.85 billion
spent by those contractors on advertising and promotional services, 0.62% of their revenue.
- 178,663
plumbing, heating and air conditioning businesses without paid employees, with $14.01 billion in receipts.
There is no official count of plumbing-only businesses: the federal statistics put plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors in one industry.
Plumber jobs and pay
BLS counts plumbers together with pipefitters and steamfitters. Most of them work for plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors, and they earn more than the median of all occupations.
- 510,600
jobs as plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters.
- $63,800
median annual pay. The lowest 10% earned less than $44,150, the highest 10% more than $108,420.
- $50,980
median annual pay of all occupations, for comparison.
- 65%
of plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters work for plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors; 8% are self-employed and 3% work for government.
- Plumbing, heating and AC contractors65%
- Self-employed8%
- Government3%
- $73,690
payroll per employee at plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors.
Leaks, water heaters and plumbing projects
The American Housing Survey asks households about leaks and broken toilets, and homeowners about the projects they paid for. EIA’s home energy survey adds the age and type of water heaters.
- 11.2 million
households had water leaking from inside the home in the last 12 months: pipes leaked in 4.9 million, fixtures backed up or overflowed in 2.7 million and a water heater broke in 1.0 million.
- Pipes leaked4.9 million
- Fixtures backed up or overflowed2.7 million
- Broken water heater1.0 million
- 2.3 million
households had no working toilet at some point in the 3 months before the survey.
- 9.9 million
plumbing fixture projects by homeowners in the two years before the survey, with $18.56 billion in total spending; another 3.6 million water pipe projects cost $9.87 billion.
- 36.0%
of homes have a main water heater that is 10 years old or older (44.43 million of 123.53 million).
- 8.03 million
homes use a tankless main water heater, 6.5% of 123.53 million.
These are survey estimates from samples; the agencies publish a margin of error with each. Project counts include work homeowners did themselves.
Job outlook for plumbers
BLS expects plumbing jobs to keep growing over the next decade. Most openings come from workers who retire or change jobs.
- 7%
projected growth from 2025 to 2035, from 510,600 to 545,200 jobs (+34,500).
- 42,000
openings for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters projected each year, on average, over the decade.
How customers find a local business
These numbers come from consumer surveys, not from official statistics. They describe local customers in general, including homeowners looking for a plumber, and are labeled as surveys.
- 97%
of consumers read reviews for local businesses.
- 41%
of consumers “always” read reviews when browsing for businesses.
- 71%
is Google’s share as a review source, down from 83% in 2025.
- 45%
use ChatGPT or other generative AI tools for local recommendations, up from 6% the year before.
- 47%
won’t use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and 31% will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or more.
- 89%
expect business owners to respond to reviews; 74% only care about reviews written in the last three months.
- 54%
are most likely to visit a business’s website after reading positive reviews.
- 76%
of people who searched on a smartphone for something nearby visited a business within a day, and 28% of those searches led to a purchase.
The Google numbers are from 2016, so read them as a direction, not as today’s share.
How to cite this page
You are welcome to use these numbers in articles, reports and presentations. Please name the original agency, and link to this page as the place you found them.
StrideRank. “Plumbing Industry Statistics 2026.” Updated October 27, 2026. https://striderank.com/statistics/plumbing-industry<a href="https://striderank.com/statistics/plumbing-industry">Plumbing industry statistics 2026</a> (StrideRank)Click a box to select it, then copy.
Sources and method
All sources accessed October 27, 2026. Each number above links to its source by number.
How we built this page
- Only official or primary sources: federal agencies and the original publisher of a survey.
- Numbers StrideRank worked out from a source, such as shares, changes and pay per employee, are labeled “StrideRank calculation”.
- Survey results are labeled as surveys, with the publisher and year.
Left out on purpose
- Market-size figures from paid research firms and trade groups, because their methods cannot be checked.
- A plumbing-only business count, because federal statistics do not separate plumbing from HVAC contractors.
- Official data
U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsOccupational Outlook Handbook: Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
SOC 47-2152, which counts pipefitters and steamfitters together with plumbers. Pay data from OEWS, May 2025; projections 2025–35.
bls.gov(opens in a new tab) - Official data
U.S. Census BureauCounty Business Patterns 2023 (U.S. file, establishments with paid employees)
Employment as of mid-March; establishments with paid employees only.
census.gov(opens in a new tab) - Official data
U.S. Census Bureau2022 Economic Census, Construction: Selected Statistics for the U.S. (EC2223BASIC)
Revenue, firms and purchased advertising for employer establishments. Table also on data.census.gov as ECNBASIC2022.EC2223BASIC.
www2.census.gov(opens in a new tab) - Official data
U.S. Census Bureau / HUD2023 American Housing Survey, Table C-05-AO: Housing Quality—All Occupied Units (national)
Table Creator estimates as listed in the Census Bureau’s 2023 AHS table specifications file (sheet “Housing Quality”). Survey estimates with a 90% margin of error.
www2.census.gov(opens in a new tab) - Official data
U.S. Census BureauCounty Business Patterns 2022 (U.S. file)
www2.census.gov(opens in a new tab) - Official data
U.S. Census BureauNonemployer Statistics 2023 (businesses without paid employees)
census.gov(opens in a new tab) - Official data
U.S. Census Bureau / HUD2023 American Housing Survey, Table C-16-OO: Home Improvement Costs—Owner-Occupied Units (national)
Table Creator estimates as listed in the table specifications file (sheet “Home Improvement Costs”). Projects in the two years before the interview, done by the owner or hired out.
www2.census.gov(opens in a new tab) - Official data
U.S. Energy Information Administration2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey, Table HC8.1: Water heating in U.S. homes, by housing unit type
Final data released March 2023. Counts in million housing units.
eia.gov(opens in a new tab) - Survey
BrightLocalLocal Consumer Review Survey 2026 (published February 11, 2026)
Industry survey: representative panel of 1,002 US adult consumers via SurveyMonkey.
brightlocal.com(opens in a new tab) - Survey
Google / Think with GoogleHow Mobile Search Connects Consumers to Stores (Purchased Digital Diary, May 2016)
Survey of 1,000 smartphone users, of them 634 local searchers. Older data, dated 2016.
thinkwithgoogle.com(opens in a new tab)
Common questions
How many plumbing companies are there in the US?
The Census Bureau counts plumbing and HVAC contractors together. In 2023 there were 111,207 plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractor locations with paid employees (County Business Patterns, NAICS 238220), plus 178,663 businesses without employees.
How big is the plumbing industry?
Plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors with paid employees had $297.61 billion in revenue in 2022, according to the 2022 Economic Census. They employed 1,214,761 people in 2023.
How much do plumbers make?
The median annual pay for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters was $63,800 in May 2025, according to BLS, compared with $50,980 for all occupations.
How common are plumbing leaks?
11.2 million households had water leaking from inside the home in the last 12 months, according to the 2023 American Housing Survey. Leaking pipes were the most common cause, in 4.9 million homes.
Can I use these statistics?
Yes. Every number links to its original source, so you can check it and cite the agency directly. If this page helped you, a link back to it as the place you found the numbers is appreciated.
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