Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters earn a median $63,800 a year across the whole occupation. Union journeyman scale is a different picture: a median $46.10 an hour across 170 UA locals, topping out at $91.00. Here is both, with sources.
The $63,800 figure is the median for everyone the BLS counts as a plumber, pipefitter or steamfitter — union and non-union, residential service work and heavy industrial, every state. It is the right number for “what does this trade pay.”
The union figure answers a narrower question: what does a fully-trained journeyman earn under a collective bargaining agreement. Those are, by construction, topped-out workers in organised markets — so the gap is not purely a union premium, it is also a seniority-and-market gap. Both numbers are true; they measure different populations.
One thing the comparison does show cleanly: the ceiling. The BLS top decile and the top of the union table both land far above the median, and 170 of the 170 locals here publish a total package (wage plus fringe) on top of base — the highest reaching $140.40 an hour.
Journeyman base rate, 2026 union wage determinations.
| Local | Where | Base/hr |
|---|---|---|
| 38 | San Francisco, CA | $91.00 |
| 467 | Burlingame, CA | $87.75 |
| 483 | Hayward, CA | $81.54 |
| 342 | Concord (Bay Area), CA | $80.50 |
| 32 | Renton (Seattle), WA | $75.21 |
| 1 | Long Island City (NYC), NY | $73.00 |
| 12 | Boston, MA | $69.84 |
| 393 | San Jose, CA | $68.76 |
| 159 | Martinez, CA | $67.68 |
| 447 | Sacramento, CA | $67.37 |
Annual figures are base rate at 2,080 hours and exclude overtime and fringe benefits. Full table for all 170 locals on the UA pay scales page.
Median journeyman base rate among the locals in each state, highest first — all 47 states with at least one published union determination. States with a single local are that local’s rate. State names link through to a full breakdown where there are enough locals to break down.
| State | Locals | Median base/hr |
|---|---|---|
| California | 12 | $67.53 |
| Washington | 4 | $62.96 |
| Massachusetts | 4 | $60.79 |
| Oregon | 1 | $60.77 |
| Nevada | 2 | $59.59 |
| New Jersey | 5 | $57.97 |
| Wisconsin | 5 | $57.35 |
| Rhode Island | 1 | $54.34 |
| Arizona | 1 | $54.15 |
| Hawaii | 1 | $53.83 |
| District of Columbia | 1 | $53.30 |
| Pennsylvania | 6 | $50.95 |
| Maryland | 3 | $50.79 |
| Connecticut | 1 | $50.58 |
| New York | 10 | $50.53 |
| Alaska | 3 | $50.00 |
| Missouri | 5 | $49.45 |
| Minnesota | 1 | $49.32 |
| Illinois | 16 | $48.75 |
| Indiana | 6 | $46.54 |
| Utah | 1 | $46.10 |
| Kansas | 1 | $45.90 |
| New Hampshire | 1 | $45.76 |
| Colorado | 4 | $45.65 |
| Iowa | 2 | $45.36 |
| Nebraska | 2 | $45.26 |
| Michigan | 10 | $44.88 |
| Montana | 3 | $44.35 |
| New Mexico | 1 | $43.07 |
| Ohio | 14 | $43.04 |
| Kentucky | 5 | $41.00 |
| North Dakota | 1 | $40.53 |
| Maine | 1 | $40.00 |
| Oklahoma | 2 | $38.83 |
| Idaho | 2 | $38.33 |
| West Virginia | 3 | $38.04 |
| Texas | 8 | $37.72 |
| Florida | 1 | $37.50 |
| Vermont | 1 | $37.40 |
| South Carolina | 1 | $36.00 |
| Alabama | 5 | $35.20 |
| Virginia | 2 | $35.09 |
| Wyoming | 1 | $34.88 |
| Georgia | 4 | $34.73 |
| Arkansas | 1 | $34.41 |
| Louisiana | 4 | $30.70 |
| Mississippi | 1 | $30.41 |
Journeyman scale is the destination, not the starting point. UA apprenticeships run five years and pay from day one, but there is no UA-wide apprentice scale — locals that publish a percentage ladder start anywhere from 35% to 55% of journeyman rate, and some set apprentice pay with no reference to the journeyman rate at all. The verified ladders are on the UA apprentice pay scale page.
BLS projects 7% growth over 2025–2035 — classed as much faster than average — across $510,600 existing jobs. Getting into the union side of that means an apprenticeship, and apprenticeships open on their own schedule: most UA locals accept applications only during a defined window. Track your local’s window here.
Union scale is what you earn after the apprenticeship. The gate is the GAN battery — six timed sections, about 140 questions, no calculator. Practise the real format.
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Sources: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters (May 2025); and 2026 federal wage determinations for union pipe-trades classifications, linked per local on the pay scales page.