What are the pros and cons of being a plumber?

Pros:

• Competitive benefits. On average, plumbers make more than the average salary. There are also great benefits and some agencies add extra benefits to entice potential employees.

• Growth opportunities. There are many opportunities for advancement for plumbers. Plumbers can work for a company if they choose, or many plumbers may even start their own plumbing business.

• Easy to begin. While plumbers can make good salaries, they do not need to do a ton of schooling to begin, which means they can start their careers earlier and they don't have to get into debt with student loans to begin working.

Cons

• Lower rate of happiness. On average, plumbers report being less happy than people in similar industries and positions. In an ongoing survey, plumbers rated their happiness at 2.8 out of 5, which puts them in the bottom 18% of careers.

• Long, difficult work hours. Plumbers do work long, difficult hours. Plumbers are required to have a certain level of fitness to work, because their job is such difficult manual labor. Because of this, many plumbers find themselves needing to transition to different jobs later in life once they can no longer keep up with the physical demands.