How To Become A Plumbing Mechanic: What It Is and Career Path

What is a plumbing mechanic and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a plumbing mechanic. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.68 an hour? That's $51,334 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 9,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePlumbing MechanicUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,334

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.02%

Asian 1.84%

Black or African American 8.72%

Hispanic or Latino 19.68%

Unknown 4.20%

White 64.54%

Gender

female 2.04%

male 97.96%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a plumbing mechanic

Explore plumbing mechanic education requirements

Most common plumbing mechanic degrees

High School Diploma

49.2 %

Associate

16.4 %

Bachelor's

10.8 %

Start to develop specific plumbing mechanic skills

Skills	Percentages
Plumbing	26.28%
Hand Tools	8.27%
HVAC	6.35%
Brazing	3.98%
Building Codes	3.64%

Complete relevant plumbing mechanic training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 2-4 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New plumbing mechanics learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a plumbing mechanic based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real plumbing mechanic resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed plumbing mechanic usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed plumbing mechanic in most of states. 33 states require plumbing mechanics to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	-	-	Certified Master Plumber
Maryland	Specific course required	State exam required	PLUMBER
Arkansas	-	State exam required	Journeyman Plumber
Colorado	-	State exam required	Journeyman Plumber
Connecticut	-	State exam required	Plumbing & Piping Unlimited Journeyperson

Research plumbing mechanic duties and responsibilities

Train and manage less experience plumbers and achieve significant improvements in their productivity.
Install cast iron, copper, PVC and black pipes.
Install pipe assemblies, fittings, valves, and appliances such as dishwashers, water heaters, and refrigeratorboxes.
Connect copper pipe using solder and silver brazing.

Prepare your plumbing mechanic resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your plumbing mechanic resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a plumbing mechanic resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable plumbing mechanic resume templates

Build a professional plumbing mechanic resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your plumbing mechanic resume.