Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2024
Plumber vs Machinist
Plumbers earn a national median of $69,782 versus $57,590 for Machinists, a gap of $12,192 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Plumbers have posted +6% 5-year wage growth versus +-1% for Machinists.
How These Trades Stack Up
Plumbers out-earn Machinists on national median by $12,192 — $69,782 versus $57,590, or about 21% more. That gap reflects differences in apprenticeship length, certification requirements, industry concentration, and union footprint between the two trades.
Plumbers have grown faster — +6% over five years versus +-1% for Machinists. Sustained growth gaps of this size can compound meaningfully over a 20-30 year career, so workers comparing the two trades should weigh growth alongside the headline median.
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
Machinist
Metalwork · 4yr apprenticeship
City-by-City Comparison
| City | Plumber | Machinist | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland, OR | $100,110 | $62,350 | +$37,760 |
| Chicago, IL | $98,890 | $57,470 | +$41,420 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $97,020 | $60,470 | +$36,550 |
| Seattle, WA | $87,160 | $73,790 | +$13,370 |
| Boston, MA | $83,640 | $63,600 | +$20,040 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $82,080 | $53,010 | +$29,070 |
| Detroit, MI | $81,480 | $57,240 | +$24,240 |
| New York, NY | $79,420 | $62,320 | +$17,100 |
| St. Louis, MO | $73,060 | $60,850 | +$12,210 |
| Kansas City, MO | $72,600 | $54,380 | +$18,220 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $72,580 | $59,500 | +$13,080 |
| San Francisco, CA | $71,700 | $66,320 | +$5,380 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $66,930 | $50,050 | +$16,880 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $66,090 | $61,040 | +$5,050 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $65,110 | $50,610 | +$14,500 |
| New Orleans, LA | $64,340 | $61,560 | +$2,780 |
| Denver, CO | $64,300 | $59,640 | +$4,660 |
| Indianapolis, IN | $63,780 | $47,640 | +$16,140 |
| Columbus, OH | $63,600 | $52,790 | +$10,810 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $62,680 | $59,240 | +$3,440 |
| Dallas, TX | $60,370 | $57,400 | +$2,970 |
| Houston, TX | $60,230 | $58,630 | +$1,600 |
| Nashville, TN | $59,870 | $49,280 | +$10,590 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $59,640 | $52,920 | +$6,720 |
| Atlanta, GA | $58,690 | $52,810 | +$5,880 |
| San Antonio, TX | $58,530 | $53,010 | +$5,520 |
| Miami, FL | $56,170 | $58,640 | -$2,470 |
| Raleigh, NC | $55,560 | $61,040 | -$5,480 |
| Charlotte, NC | $55,550 | $59,260 | -$3,710 |
| Tampa, FL | $52,280 | $50,830 | +$1,450 |
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 Machinists make more money?
Plumbers earn more on national median — $69,782 versus $57,590, a gap of $12,192 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?
Plumbers have posted faster wage growth at +6% versus +-1% for Machinists. 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. Machinists 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; Machinists have 113,790. 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 Machinist 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 $57,590 for Machinists, a gap of $12,192 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Plumbers have posted +6% 5-year wage growth versus +-1% for Machinists.
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.