How much does a Plumber make in Illinois?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $96,200 for Plumbers in Illinois as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $63,710 and the 75th-percentile is $116,180.

What is the real (cost-adjusted) Plumber salary in Illinois?

After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 98.8 for Illinois), the real-wage equivalent is $97,416 — what the $96,200 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $64,515 to $117,648.

Is Illinois a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Plumbers?

No — Illinois's RPP is close to the national 100 baseline, so nominal and real wages move roughly together. Neither an arbitrage nor a penalty state.

What are the limits of these Plumber salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Illinois?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Illinois.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Service plumber vs new construction plumber in Illinois — pay difference?

BLS aggregates plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters (47-2152) into one category. In Illinois, residential service plumbers (drain cleaning, water heater replacement, repair calls) earn near or below BLS median; commission-based service models in Illinois can produce above-median earnings for high-volume techs but with substantial variance. New-construction plumbing in Illinois pays above median for pipefitter and steamfitter specialties on industrial and commercial projects, especially when union-rate prevailing-wage rules apply on government work.

Illinois Plumber Salary 2026 — BLS Median $96K, Real Take-Home $97K

TL;DR

Headline Plumber pay in Illinois is $96,200. Real take-home, after the state's cost-of-living index, lands at $97,416.
Quartile range $63,710 (bottom 25%) to $116,180 (top 25%); the P10-P90 envelope is $47,880 to $123,290.
Mid-band cost of living: real and nominal wage are within a few percent of each other.
State ranks #1 nationally on nominal wage, #1 on real (RPP-adjusted) wage.

Wage breakdown — Illinois

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$47,880	$48,485
P25 (lower quartile)	$63,710	$64,515
P50 (median)	$96,200	$97,416
P75 (upper quartile)	$116,180	$117,648
P90 (top tier)	$123,290	$124,848
Mean	$89,180	$90,307
Employment	18,730 Plumbers in Illinois

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Illinois index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	98.8
Goods	101.6
Services	80.4
Rents	92.4

Illinois's overall RPP (98.8) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

After-tax take-home — Illinois (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Plumber)	$96,200	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$12,411	12.9% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$4,762	4.95% flat (2026)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$7,359	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$71,668	74.5% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$72,574	÷ (98.8 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Illinois state-tax burden means for Plumber take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 5.0% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $71,668 (74.5% of gross). After the 98.8 RPP, real take-home is $72,574.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $62,970 for Plumbers with mean pay of $69,940 and total employment of 455,940. Illinois sits at #1 on nominal pay and #1 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. Nominal and real ranking are the same — cost of living and pay scale together.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Plumber make in Illinois?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $96,200 for Plumbers in Illinois as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $63,710 and the 75th-percentile is $116,180.
What is the real (cost-adjusted) Plumber salary in Illinois?: After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 98.8 for Illinois), the real-wage equivalent is $97,416 — what the $96,200 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $64,515 to $117,648.
Is Illinois a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Plumbers?: No — Illinois's RPP is close to the national 100 baseline, so nominal and real wages move roughly together. Neither an arbitrage nor a penalty state.
What are the limits of these Plumber salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Illinois?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Illinois.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
Service plumber vs new construction plumber in Illinois — pay difference?: BLS aggregates plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters (47-2152) into one category. In Illinois, residential service plumbers (drain cleaning, water heater replacement, repair calls) earn near or below BLS median; commission-based service models in Illinois can produce above-median earnings for high-volume techs but with substantial variance. New-construction plumbing in Illinois pays above median for pipefitter and steamfitter specialties on industrial and commercial projects, especially when union-rate prevailing-wage rules apply on government work.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 47-2152, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-07.

Cross-comparison: see how Illinois Plumber pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.