Do plumbers make more in Columbia or St. Louis?

St. Louis pays more: the median is $58,010 in Columbia and $77,000 in St. Louis, a 25% difference.

Plumber salary in Columbia, MO

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Plumbers in the Columbia, MO area earn a median of $58,010 a year, or $27.89 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $96,920 a year. That's 13% less than the Missouri median of $66,790.

Median yearly pay$58,010

Bottom 10% under$36,800Top 10% over$96,920

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $17.69/hr
Jobs in this area: 310
After cost of living: $64,860
Median hourly pay: $27.89/hr
vs U.S. median: −9%
vs Missouri median: −13%
Mean (average) pay: $63,500 a year · $30.53 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 17860, Columbia, MO). 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 Columbia, MO 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	$17.69	$36,800
25th percentile	$22.45	$46,690
Median (50th)	$27.89	$58,010
75th percentile	$34.45	$71,660
90th percentile	$46.59	$96,920

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

How Columbia, MO compares

Columbia ranks 7th of 8 Missouri metro areas for plumber pay.
Plumbers hold about the same share of jobs in the Columbia area as nationally: 2.9 of every 1,000 jobs.

Other Missouri metro areas

Other trades in Columbia, MO

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

Questions

Do plumbers make more in Columbia or St. Louis?: St. Louis pays more: the median is $58,010 in Columbia and $77,000 in St. Louis, 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 17860 (Columbia, MO). 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 (89.4, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures