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Best cities for plumbers

Rank every metro by what matters to you: pay, buying power, rent and job market

Best cities for plumbers, balanced Our calculation

With balanced priorities, Appleton, WI ranks first for plumbers: $91,750 median pay worth $99,276 after local prices. We ranked the 383 metros with enough published plumber data on pay, buying power, rent burden, job market size and unemployment.

  1. 1
    AppletonWISCONSIN · WI · $91,750 median · $99,276 buying power · rent 13% of pay · 890 jobs
    94
  2. 2
    Green BayWISCONSIN · WI · $90,570 median · $97,297 buying power · rent 13% of pay · 730 jobs
    92
  3. 3
    MinneapolisMINNESOTA · MN · $101,630 median · $96,955 buying power · rent 17% of pay · 6,730 jobs
    90
  4. 4
    MilwaukeeWISCONSIN · WI · $84,700 median · $87,376 buying power · rent 15% of pay · 2,760 jobs
    89
  5. 5
    BloomingtonINDIANA · IN · $96,980 median · $101,994 buying power · rent 13% of pay · 320 jobs
    88
  6. 6
    St. CloudMINNESOTA · MN · $90,230 median · $102,965 buying power · rent 13% of pay · 830 jobs
    87
  7. 7
    MadisonWISCONSIN · WI · $85,160 median · $87,535 buying power · rent 18% of pay · 1,590 jobs
    87
  8. 8
    Cedar RapidsIOWA · IA · $83,210 median · $93,533 buying power · rent 11% of pay · 780 jobs
    87
  9. 9
    Terre HauteINDIANA · IN · $90,250 median · $102,794 buying power · rent 12% of pay · 420 jobs
    87
  10. 10
    WausauWISCONSIN · WI · $86,750 median · $93,631 buying power · rent 13% of pay · 260 jobs
    87
  11. 11
    SheboyganWISCONSIN · WI · $91,530 median · $97,358 buying power · rent 12% of pay · 150 jobs
    86
  12. 12
    OshkoshWISCONSIN · WI · $86,320 median · $92,888 buying power · rent 13% of pay · 230 jobs
    86
  13. 13
    Eau ClaireWISCONSIN · WI · $92,720 median · $99,918 buying power · rent 13% of pay · 210 jobs
    86
  14. 14
    RochesterMINNESOTA · MN · $84,880 median · $93,459 buying power · rent 16% of pay · 490 jobs
    85
  15. 15
    La CrosseWISCONSIN · WI · $82,610 median · $90,020 buying power · rent 14% of pay · 280 jobs
    85

Default weights: buying power 4, pay 3, rent 3, job market 2, unemployment 2. Change them below to re-rank.

Top 5 by each factor Government data

Highest pay

  1. San Jose, CA: $107,560
  2. Chicago, IL: $103,380
  3. Bellingham, WA: $102,750
  4. Minneapolis, MN: $101,630
  5. Portland, OR: $101,010

Most buying power

  1. Champaign, IL: $103,048
  2. St. Cloud, MN: $102,965
  3. Terre Haute, IN: $102,794
  4. Rockford, IL: $102,253
  5. Kokomo, IN: $102,032

Lowest rent burden

  1. Rockford, IL: 11% of pay for a 1-bed
  2. Cedar Rapids, IA: 11% of pay for a 1-bed
  3. Terre Haute, IN: 12% of pay for a 1-bed
  4. Kokomo, IN: 12% of pay for a 1-bed
  5. Sheboygan, WI: 12% of pay for a 1-bed

Most jobs

  1. New York, NY: 21,040 employed
  2. Los Angeles, CA: 15,690 employed
  3. Chicago, IL: 12,750 employed
  4. Dallas, TX: 11,980 employed
  5. Houston, TX: 10,980 employed

See every metro on the plumber overview.

What matters to you? Our calculation

Pick a quick start or set your own weights. Each metro gets a percentile for every factor (compared with all metros for this trade), weighted by your sliders. Nothing is estimated: a metro needs at least 4 of the 5 figures published to be ranked, and results show when one is missing.

Pay and jobs: BLS OEWS May 2025. Buying power: BEA 2024. Rent: HUD FY2027. How we calculate

How the ranking works →

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