There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a plumber/pipefitter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.99 an hour? That's $43,666 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 14% and produce 68,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many plumber/pipefitters have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed dexterity, mechanical skills and communication skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a plumber/pipefitter, we found that a lot of resumes listed 14.2% of plumber/pipefitters included pipe systems, while 8.2% of resumes included water systems, and 7.3% of resumes included hand tools. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the plumber/pipefitter job title. But what industry to start with? Most plumber/pipefitters actually find jobs in the construction and technology industries.
If you're interested in becoming a plumber/pipefitter, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 11.3% of plumber/pipefitters have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 2.5% of plumber/pipefitters have master's degrees. Even though some plumber/pipefitters have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a plumber/pipefitter. When we researched the most common majors for a plumber/pipefitter, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on plumber/pipefitter resumes include bachelor's degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a plumber/pipefitter. In fact, many plumber/pipefitter jobs require experience in a role such as plumber. Meanwhile, many plumber/pipefitters also have previous career experience in roles such as foreman or pipe fitter.
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a plumber/pipefitter can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as foreman, progress to a title such as superintendent and then eventually end up with the title project superintendent.
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 14.2% of plumber/pipefitters listed pipe systems on their resume, but soft skills such as dexterity and mechanical skills are important as well.
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a plumber/pipefitter. The best states for people in this position are Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, and Alaska. Plumber/pipefitters make the most in Montana with an average salary of $65,545. Whereas in Oregon and South Dakota, they would average $63,778 and $61,810, respectively. While plumber/pipefitters would only make an average of $58,959 in Alaska, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Montana
$65,546
Avg. Salary
2. South Dakota
$61,810
Avg. Salary
3. Nebraska
$56,017
Avg. Salary
4.0
4.0