Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2024
Plumber vs Power Line Installer
Plumbers earn a national median of $69,782 versus $101,512 for Power Line Installers, a gap of $31,730 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Plumbers have posted +6% 5-year wage growth versus +7% for Power Line Installers.
How These Trades Stack Up
Power Line Installers out-earn Plumbers on national median by $31,730 — $101,512 versus $69,782, or about 45% more. That gap reflects differences in apprenticeship length, certification requirements, industry concentration, and union footprint between the two trades.
Both trades have posted comparable 5-year wage growth — Plumbers at +6% versus Power Line Installers at +7%. That suggests both occupations sit in similar parts of the demand cycle, with neither pulling ahead structurally.
Both trades follow a 4-year apprenticeship pathway — paid on-the-job training combined with classroom instruction, registered through the U.S. Department of Labor at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/. Apprentice pay typically scales from roughly 40% of journeyman wage in year one to 95% by the final year.
Plumber
Plumbing · 4yr apprenticeship
Power Line Installer
Electrical · 4yr apprenticeship
City-by-City Comparison
| City | Plumber | Power Line Installer | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland, OR | $100,110 | $125,160 | -$25,050 |
| Chicago, IL | $98,890 | $114,030 | -$15,140 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $97,020 | $109,590 | -$12,570 |
| Seattle, WA | $87,160 | $130,730 | -$43,570 |
| Boston, MA | $83,640 | $115,430 | -$31,790 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $82,080 | $108,840 | -$26,760 |
| Detroit, MI | $81,480 | $106,360 | -$24,880 |
| New York, NY | $79,420 | $119,760 | -$40,340 |
| St. Louis, MO | $73,060 | $100,410 | -$27,350 |
| Kansas City, MO | $72,600 | $100,130 | -$27,530 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $72,580 | $115,770 | -$43,190 |
| San Francisco, CA | $71,700 | $128,470 | -$56,770 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $66,930 | $105,910 | -$38,980 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $66,090 | $96,150 | -$30,060 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $65,110 | $127,810 | -$62,700 |
| New Orleans, LA | $64,340 | $76,710 | -$12,370 |
| Denver, CO | $64,300 | $99,550 | -$35,250 |
| Indianapolis, IN | $63,780 | $105,660 | -$41,880 |
| Columbus, OH | $63,600 | $79,810 | -$16,210 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $62,680 | $117,990 | -$55,310 |
| Dallas, TX | $60,370 | $77,860 | -$17,490 |
| Houston, TX | $60,230 | $80,480 | -$20,250 |
| Nashville, TN | $59,870 | $77,280 | -$17,410 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $59,640 | $120,260 | -$60,620 |
| Atlanta, GA | $58,690 | $82,050 | -$23,360 |
| San Antonio, TX | $58,530 | $76,040 | -$17,510 |
| Miami, FL | $56,170 | $93,910 | -$37,740 |
| Raleigh, NC | $55,560 | $76,420 | -$20,860 |
| Charlotte, NC | $55,550 | $75,630 | -$20,080 |
| Tampa, FL | $52,280 | $101,150 | -$48,870 |
How These Numbers Are Calculated
All wage figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (2024) release at bls.gov/oes. National medians are the BLS-published median wages for the trade's Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code; metropolitan medians come from the same OEWS release at the metropolitan statistical area level. Five-year wage growth compares the current OEWS median to the same series five releases prior, expressed as a percent change. The Trade Pay Score weights raw pay (30%), wage growth (25%), employment depth (25%), and cost-of-living-adjusted purchasing power (20%) into a single 0-100 grade — read the full methodology.
Forward-looking employment projections through 2032 for both trades are published in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at bls.gov/ooh. Apprenticeship pathway detail comes from the U.S. Department of Labor's apprenticeship.gov registry. All three are public-domain federal data sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Plumbers or Power Line Installers make more money?
Power Line Installers earn more on national median — $101,512 versus $69,782, a gap of $31,730 per 2024 BLS OEWS data. The full BLS dataset is published at https://www.bls.gov/oes/.
Which trade has stronger 5-year wage growth?
Power Line Installers have posted faster wage growth at +7% versus +6% for Plumbers. Sustained gaps in growth often compound meaningfully over a 20-30 year career.
How long is the apprenticeship for each trade?
Plumbers typically complete a 4-year registered apprenticeship. Power Line Installers typically complete a 4-year registered apprenticeship. Programs are listed at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/.
Which trade has better employment depth?
Plumbers have 189,520 workers employed nationally; Power Line Installers have 39,600. Larger employment bases generally translate into more job openings, easier mobility between employers, and lower volatility — useful when comparing the long-term resilience of two trade pathways.
Where can I find apprenticeships for either trade?
Registered apprenticeship programs for both Plumber and Power Line Installer are listed on the U.S. Department of Labor's apprenticeship.gov site at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/, which lets you filter by trade, state, and city. Projected employment growth through 2032 for each occupation is published in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Plumbers earn a national median of $69,782 versus $101,512 for Power Line Installers, a gap of $31,730 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Plumbers have posted +6% 5-year wage growth versus +7% for Power Line Installers.
The side-by-side above pulls the the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey data for both entity A and entity B. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for entity A versus entity B, and which differences are large enough to influence a real decision.
Practical use of the comparison: read the data above, then drill into the individual entity A and entity B detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.