Do plumbers make more in Dubuque or Cedar Rapids?

Cedar Rapids pays more: the median is $61,380 in Dubuque and $83,210 in Cedar Rapids, a 26% difference.

Plumber salary in Dubuque, IA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Plumbers in the Dubuque, IA area earn a median of $61,380 a year, or $29.51 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $101,900. Statewide, plumbers earn a median of $63,890; Dubuque is 4% below it.

Median yearly pay$61,380

Bottom 10% under$39,520Top 10% over$101,900

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $19.00/hr
Jobs in this area: 120
After cost of living: $70,290
Median hourly pay: $29.51/hr
vs U.S. median: −4%
vs Iowa median: −4%
Mean (average) pay: $67,690 a year · $32.54 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 20220, Dubuque, IA). Excludes self-employed plumbers. Cost of living: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024. *Starting pay is estimated from the 10th percentile; BLS does not report pay by license level.

Pay by percentile

What plumbers in Dubuque, IA earn at each point of the pay range, May 2025: 10% earn less than the 10th percentile, half earn less than the median, and 10% earn more than the 90th.

Percentile	Hourly	Yearly
10th percentile	$19.00	$39,520
25th percentile	$23.70	$49,300
Median (50th)	$29.51	$61,380
75th percentile	$39.45	$82,050
90th percentile	$48.99	$101,900

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.

How Dubuque, IA compares

Dubuque ranks 7th of 9 Iowa metro areas for plumber pay.
Plumbers are less concentrated in the Dubuque area than nationally: 2.1 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.69 times the U.S. share.

Other Iowa metro areas

Other trades in Dubuque, IA

Electrician HVAC technician Welder Diesel mechanic Carpenter Heavy equipment operator Auto mechanic

Questions

Do plumbers make more in Dubuque or Cedar Rapids?: Cedar Rapids pays more: the median is $61,380 in Dubuque and $83,210 in Cedar Rapids, a 26% difference.

About this data

Wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, occupation 47-2152 (Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters), area code 20220 (Dubuque, IA). BLS counts wage and salary workers only, so self-employed plumbers and business owners aren't included. The cost-of-living figure divides the median by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for 2024 (87.3, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures