Plumber salary in Waterloo, IA
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Plumbers in the Waterloo–Cedar Falls, IA area earn a median of $62,200 a year, or $29.91 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $92,590. Statewide, plumbers earn a median of $63,890; Waterloo is 3% below it.
- Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
- $22.10/hr
- Jobs in this area
- 220
- After cost of living
- $71,450
- Median hourly pay
- $29.91/hr
- vs U.S. median
- −3%
- vs Iowa median
- −3%
- Mean (average) pay
- $64,930 a year · $31.22 an hour
Pay by percentile
What plumbers in Waterloo, 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 | $22.10 | $45,960 |
| 25th percentile | $23.45 | $48,770 |
| Median (50th) | $29.91 | $62,200 |
| 75th percentile | $36.96 | $76,880 |
| 90th percentile | $44.52 | $92,590 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
How Waterloo, IA compares
- Waterloo ranks 6th of 9 Iowa metro areas for plumber pay.
- Plumbers are less concentrated in the Waterloo area than nationally: 2.6 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.86 times the U.S. share.
Other Iowa metro areas
Other trades in Waterloo, IA
Questions
- Do plumbers make more in Waterloo or Cedar Rapids?
- Cedar Rapids pays more: the median is $62,200 in Waterloo and $83,210 in Cedar Rapids, a 25% 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 47940 (Waterloo-Cedar Falls, 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 (87.1, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures