How much does a Plumber make in Minnesota?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $83,280 for Plumbers in Minnesota as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $60,480 and the 75th-percentile is $103,570.

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

After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 98.3 for Minnesota), the real-wage equivalent is $84,719 — what the $83,280 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $61,525 to $105,359.

How many Plumbers does Minnesota employ?

BLS OES counts 8,520 Plumbers employed in Minnesota in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.

How wide is the wage spread in Minnesota?

P10 to P90 spans $48,870 to $121,380. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the 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.

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.

How long is the Minnesota plumbing apprenticeship and what's the master plumber payback?

Minnesota typically requires 4-5 years (8,000-10,000 hours) of supervised on-the-job training plus 144+ classroom hours per year before the journeyman plumber exam. Master plumber licensure in Minnesota requires an additional 2-5 years post-journeyman plus a separate exam, and unlocks business ownership, permit-pulling authority, and significantly higher compensation — owner-operator master plumbers in Minnesota routinely earn 1.5-3× the BLS journeyman median once business profit is included. Apprenticeship pay starts at 40-60% of journeyman scale and ratchets up annually.

2026 Plumber Salary — Minnesota ($83K BLS, RPP-Adjusted Real Wage)

TL;DR

Minnesota pays Plumbers a BLS median of $83,280 — the more useful number is $84,719, what that paycheck buys after rent and services.
Plumber ranking: #3 on the BLS table, #4 once cost of living is in.
Cost adjustment is small — neither an arbitrage state nor a high-cost penalty.
BLS percentile breakdown: P10 $48,870 · P25 $60,480 · P75 $103,570 · P90 $121,380.

Wage breakdown — Minnesota

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$48,870	$49,714
P25 (lower quartile)	$60,480	$61,525
P50 (median)	$83,280	$84,719
P75 (upper quartile)	$103,570	$105,359
P90 (top tier)	$121,380	$123,477
Mean	$83,470	$84,912
Employment	8,520 Plumbers in Minnesota

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Minnesota index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	98.3
Goods	102.1
Services	89.4
Rents	90.7

Minnesota's overall RPP (98.3) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

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

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

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Plumber)	$83,280	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$9,569	11.5% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$4,212	5.35–9.85% (graduated)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$6,371	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$63,128	75.8% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$64,218	÷ (98.3 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

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

Mid-band state-tax burden at 5.1% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $63,128 (75.8% of gross). After the 98.3 RPP, real take-home is $64,218.

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. Minnesota sits at #3 on nominal pay and #4 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Minnesota falls 1 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Plumber make in Minnesota?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $83,280 for Plumbers in Minnesota as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $60,480 and the 75th-percentile is $103,570.
What is the real (cost-adjusted) Plumber salary in Minnesota?: After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 98.3 for Minnesota), the real-wage equivalent is $84,719 — what the $83,280 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $61,525 to $105,359.
How many Plumbers does Minnesota employ?: BLS OES counts 8,520 Plumbers employed in Minnesota in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
How wide is the wage spread in Minnesota?: P10 to P90 spans $48,870 to $121,380. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the 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.
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.
How long is the Minnesota plumbing apprenticeship and what's the master plumber payback?: Minnesota typically requires 4-5 years (8,000-10,000 hours) of supervised on-the-job training plus 144+ classroom hours per year before the journeyman plumber exam. Master plumber licensure in Minnesota requires an additional 2-5 years post-journeyman plus a separate exam, and unlocks business ownership, permit-pulling authority, and significantly higher compensation — owner-operator master plumbers in Minnesota routinely earn 1.5-3× the BLS journeyman median once business profit is included. Apprenticeship pay starts at 40-60% of journeyman scale and ratchets up annually.

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 Minnesota 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.