TradeSalary

Plumber salary in Grand Rapids, MI

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Plumbers in the Grand Rapids–Wyoming–Kentwood, MI area earn a median of $80,440 a year, or $38.67 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. One in ten earns more than $98,210. That's about the same as the Michigan median of $80,190.

Median yearly pay$80,440
Bottom 10% under$46,630Top 10% over$98,210
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$22.42/hr
Jobs in this area
2,270
After cost of living
$84,190
Median hourly pay
$38.67/hr
vs U.S. median
+26%
vs Michigan median
0%
Mean (average) pay
$76,460 a year · $36.76 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 24340, Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI). 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 Grand Rapids, MI 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.

PercentileHourlyYearly
10th percentile$22.42$46,630
25th percentile$27.67$57,550
Median (50th)$38.67$80,440
75th percentile$43.90$91,310
90th percentile$47.22$98,210

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

How Grand Rapids, MI compares

  • Grand Rapids ranks 6th of 16 Michigan metro areas for plumber pay.
  • Plumbers are more concentrated in the Grand Rapids area than nationally: 3.8 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.3 times the U.S. share.

Other Michigan metro areas

Other trades in Grand Rapids, MI

Questions

Do plumbers make more in Grand Rapids or Kalamazoo?
Kalamazoo pays more: the median is $80,440 in Grand Rapids and $90,730 in Kalamazoo, a 11% 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 24340 (Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI). 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 (95.5, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures