What's the average hourly pay rate for plumbers?

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johnny916

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I'm thinking about becoming a plumber.. I'm in Sacramento, CA and would like to get an idea on the prospects of a career as a plumber.. Like pay, hours worked (if independent), etc.

Thanks!
 
It depends on the area, experience, overhead, and how much a particular plumber would like to charge
 
on your own hourly could be as much as 100 bucks an hour.

peicework will depend on you.

hourly under a company varies, I myself make 36 an hour here in alberta
.
 
Depends on what kind of plumbing you want to do.
New or service work?
A lot of service type plumbers do flat rate work these days which means you get a % of the job. The faster you get each job done the more you make.
But if you have to go back and do it over you do it on your time.
Some companies still pay by the hour.
Available work depends on if that phone is ringing with customers wanting your services.
I started by cleaning drains and I have a knack for fixing things so it just progressed from there.
I know some guys who went through training coarses, hired on as helpers, then decided it wasn't for them.
One guy is a long haul truck driver now , the other is an electrician.
New work is not much in demand these days with the economy the way it is.
Not a lot of new work.
Service work is fixing all the crap that others put in that eventually failed and there is more of that to go around.
It has been a rollercoaster ride the last 2 yrs.
 
Service work can make more hourly wage, but the work and hours may not be consistent. New construction may be less hourly, but with a good company that has a lot of contracts, you could get your 40+ hours a week.
New construction makes it's money off of volume and low overhead and can turn into a rat-race resulting in poor quality of install. The benefit is that you can learn a lot of the code required for a license where service plumbers are not exposed to the code except in school.
As Mr David noted, new work is not in such a demand these days. Pickins' may be slim on both sides, since most new construction plumbers are turning to service to make up for the loss of work. It's a real gamble, to be honest.
Lately it has been rare to find hard working, dedicated, ethical plumbers and apprentices that are truly passionate about the trade. I am an employee, not a company owner, but I see a lot of guys who think that they will make $50 an hour changing faucets. There are a lot of myths related to plumbing and the best way to find out is to jump in, get your feet wet and find out if it is right for you.
I was running nursing/residential care homes before I became a plumber. It was on a whim to get away from the stresses related to the type of work. The managers and owner were taking bets as to how long I would last. One day?...one week?...one month?...the owner won. I'm still plumbing after 11 years and got my master's license 6 years ago. The soft hands and clean cut look fooled most of them, but it all depends on the individual.
So, like I said...jump in and get your feet wet!
 
This is what you will most likely have to deal with if you do service work.

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Pffft, I would get the drains draining, but leave the cleaning to the cleaners! :)

Its always funny to see the look on the owners face when you say, well its draining now but you'll need to get a cleaner in there.

As for the wage, the biggest factor in wage is the area your living/ working in. The scale is all over the board sometimes even in the same area like Las Vegas! Residential plumbers here are around $15-$20 an hour, service guys are mostly commission, but a few I know are around $25-$30 an hour and commercial plumbers are usually above $30 depending on the job, union work, prevailing wage, etc.
 

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