Pipelayers salary

SOC 47-2151 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$49,000

per year, nationally

Middle half

$43,980–$61,400

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

33,050

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-4.1%

2,400 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$37,730$80,170

10th: $37,730
25th: $43,980
Median: $49,000
75th: $61,400
90th: $80,170

Getting in

Typical education to enter: No formal educational credential
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where pipelayers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Wisconsin	$86,870	94.1	350	0.56×
2	Washington	$82,450	107.0	1,050	1.40×
3	Minnesota	$81,980	98.6	510	0.82×
4	New Jersey	$78,830	108.8	400	0.44×
5	California	$76,180	110.7	1,420	0.37×
6	Indiana	$73,580	93.3	800	1.18×
7	Massachusetts	$72,770	105.8	—	—
8	Ohio	$71,560	92.8	1,160	0.99×
9	New York	$70,370	107.9	250	0.12×
10	Oregon	$64,230	103.4	620	1.49×
11	Nevada	$63,570	100.0	450	1.35×
12	Arizona	$62,740	100.7	480	0.70×
13	Michigan	$61,560	96.2	180	0.19×
14	Colorado	$59,740	103.1	790	1.30×
15	Kentucky	$58,820	90.2	60	0.14×
16	Idaho	$58,650	95.5	280	1.52×
17	Delaware	$58,240	99.8	—	—
18	Maryland	$55,640	105.0	650	1.11×
19	District of Columbia	$55,470	109.9	110	0.76×
20	Iowa	$53,990	87.8	280	0.85×
21	New Hampshire	$53,870	104.2	210	1.47×
22	Utah	$52,000	98.9	530	1.44×
23	Maine	$50,980	97.0	110	0.82×
24	South Dakota	$50,650	88.6	300	3.12×
25	Illinois	$49,590	100.0	280	0.22×
26	Virginia	$48,700	101.1	1,080	1.23×
27	Montana	$48,080	94.6	80	0.77×
28	North Dakota	$47,810	89.0	170	1.83×
29	Kansas	$47,390	90.1	240	0.80×
30	Florida	$47,260	103.4	4,050	1.92×
31	North Carolina	$47,220	94.3	3,830	3.65×
32	Georgia	$46,220	96.3	1,890	1.82×
33	Tennessee	$46,020	91.9	810	1.16×
34	Texas	$45,620	97.1	5,010	1.68×
35	New Mexico	$45,550	92.2	190	1.03×
36	Oklahoma	$45,190	87.8	530	1.47×
37	South Carolina	$45,180	93.7	670	1.36×
38	Alabama	$44,550	88.8	460	1.03×
39	Nebraska	$44,470	90.1	570	2.63×
40	Louisiana	$44,340	88.2	—	—
41	Mississippi	$41,900	87.0	320	1.29×
42	Pennsylvania	$41,600	97.6	590	0.46×
43	West Virginia	$40,440	89.5	180	1.20×
44	Arkansas	$37,650	86.9	430	1.57×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where pipelayers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for pipelayers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$93,550	96.9	90	0.52×
2	Green Bay, WI	$91,520	93.1	40	1.03×
3	South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI	$90,880	92.9	40	1.53×
4	Madison, WI	$86,870	97.3	50	0.55×
5	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$84,830	111.1	610	1.39×
6	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$82,020	104.8	320	0.78×
7	Youngstown-Warren, OH	$81,250	87.4	30	0.97×
8	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$80,370	112.6	390	0.19×
9	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$80,260	113.6	500	0.37×
10	Cleveland, OH	$79,840	93.9	100	0.47×
11	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$77,220	100.1	90	3.10×
12	Toledo, OH	$76,870	91.5	30	0.49×
13	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$76,450	95.8	40	0.32×
14	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$76,390	100.3	80	1.43×
15	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$76,190	106.4	250	0.69×
16	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$74,180	95.7	490	2.10×
17	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$73,960	106.7	170	0.75×
18	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$73,920	105.4	320	1.23×
19	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$72,070	108.3	—	—
20	Columbus, OH	$71,560	95.5	430	1.83×
21	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$70,910	95.4	170	0.74×
22	Syracuse, NY	$70,370	95.7	60	0.88×
23	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$70,230	101.8	40	0.27×
24	Reno, NV	$65,290	101.0	80	1.43×
25	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$64,770	111.9	90	0.29×
26	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$63,570	100.2	—	—
27	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$63,410	105.8	500	1.46×
28	Salem, OR	$63,220	103.6	40	1.03×
29	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$63,010	103.3	400	0.79×
30	Coeur d'Alene, ID	$62,580	98.3	40	2.84×
31	Medford, OR	$62,370	101.4	40	1.90×
32	Portland-South Portland, ME	$62,020	101.9	40	0.66×
33	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$61,570	100.3	70	0.17×
34	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$61,220	98.7	—	—
35	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$61,160	110.5	40	0.64×
36	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$59,810	101.1	50	1.26×
37	Boise City, ID	$59,530	98.4	110	1.27×
38	Lexington Park, MD	$59,340	100.8	30	2.22×
39	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$58,560	102.6	90	0.14×
40	York-Hanover, PA	$58,400	96.0	30	0.80×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where pipelayers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Construction Laborers$47,120
Electricians$63,190
Carpenters$60,580
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators$59,850
Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$63,800
Painters, Construction and Maintenance$49,400
Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers$57,020
Roofers$55,440