Plumber vs Electrician

The two trades most often weighed against each other. Both codified, both inspected, different bodies of knowledge.

Scored against the default weights. Change them on the ranking and the comparison follows.

Plumber pays more at the middle: a median of $63k against $62k for Electrician, a gap of about $1k a year. At the strong end the order is Electrician first, $106k against $105k.

Plumber reaches competence sooner — about 4 years against 4, and both require a licence. Plumber asks more of the body and the calendar (physical demand 78/100, hours 60/100) than Electrician (70/100 and 55/100). Which one wins depends on whether you weight pay, the body, or the years spent getting in.

Plumber

Build

35.0

Rank 69 of 80

Demand 71th
Time to skill 79th
People fit 77th

Installs and repairs water, gas and drainage systems. Emergency work commands premium rates and is rarely deferred.

Electrician

Build

36.8

Rank 65 of 80

Demand 76th
Time to skill 79th
Leverage 49th

Installs and repairs power, lighting and control systems in homes, plants and sites. Work is codified, inspected, and paid on completed circuits.

Under these weights, Electrician scores 1.8 points above Plumber. That is a statement about your weights, not about the work.

Set your own weights

The record

	Plumber	Electrician
Pay floor (median)	$63k	$62k
Pay ceiling	$105k	$106k
Years to competence	4	4
Licence	Required	Required
Physical demand	78/100	70/100
Hours burden	60/100	55/100
Remote fit	3/100	5/100
Place constraint	low	low
Family	Build	Build

Factor by factor

Percentiles against the whole curated set of 80. Higher is better on that factor only.

Playweight 5
Plumber7
Electrician15
Absorbing rather than merely paid.
Specific knowledgeweight 5
Plumber2
Electrician3
A combination of skills that is hard to copy.
Leverageweight 3
Plumber49
Electrician49
Output that scales through code, media, capital or crew.
Demandweight 3
Plumber71
Electrician76
Durability and shortage, scored conservatively.
Payweight 3
Plumber41
Electrician39
Mid-career floor and the range above it.
Bodyweight 3
Plumber18
Electrician31
Inverse of physical demand and hours.
Autonomyweight 4
Plumber23
Electrician26
Control of methods and time.
People fitweight 2
Plumber77
Electrician63
Distance from your preferred people level.
Place flexibilityweight 2
Plumber49
Electrician54
Remote fit and freedom from specific metros.
Time to skillweight 2
Plumber79
Electrician79
Inverse of years to competence.
Meaning loadweight 2
Plumber50
Electrician50
Closeness to the families you marked as meaningful. Your mapping, not ours.
Downside toleranceweight 2
Plumber38
Electrician26
Inverse of named risk to body, market or platform.

Downsides, named

Plumber: Back and joints; on-call nights; confined and contaminated spaces.
Electrician: Shock, falls and knees; overtime spikes tied to construction cycles.

Common questions

Which pays more, plumber or electrician?: Plumber, at the median: $63k against $62k. Strong mid-career figures run to $105k for Plumber and $106k for Electrician. Figures are BLS national medians and 90th percentiles, not local pay.
Which is harder to get into, plumber or electrician?: Electrician takes longer — roughly 4 years to competence against 4 for Plumber. Both are licensed, so the path is formal either way.
Which is easier on the body?: Electrician. Physical demand 70/100 and hours burden 55/100, against 78/100 and 60/100 for Plumber. The named risk for Plumber: back and joints; on-call nights; confined and contaminated spaces.
Can either be done remotely, or from anywhere?: Electrician has the higher remote fit at 5/100 (Plumber: 3/100). On place, Plumber can be practised almost anywhere and Electrician can be practised almost anywhere.
Which has the better outlook?: Electrician, at 67/100 against 62/100. Both scores are derived conservatively from BLS projected employment change through 2035 and describe the occupation, not your local market.

Neither answer is the whole decision

Pay bands are national. Where you live changes both of these numbers, and it is analysed at locationistics.com. Hours and travel land on other people, analysed at relationistics.com.

Full records: Plumber and Electrician. Families: Build, Build.

Pay from BLS OEWS, May 2024 national. Outlook from BLS employment projections, 2025-35. Qualitative scores are editorial estimates, compiled 2026.
Plumber: BLS OEWS May 2024, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters (47-2152): median $62,970, 90th percentile $105,150. Outlook from BLS 2025-35 projections, +6.8%. Other scores editorial.
Electrician: BLS OEWS May 2024, Electricians (47-2111): median $62,350, 90th percentile $106,030. Outlook from BLS 2025-35 projections, +9.2%. Other scores editorial.