There are more types of plumbing jobs than the single word plumber suggests.
The trade sorts four ways: by license level (apprentice, journeyman, master), by work setting (service, new construction, commercial, industrial, maintenance), by specialty (drain and sewer, gas, medical gas, backflow), and by the roles you can move to off the tools.
This guide maps 14 plumbing job titles and says what each one does, with a full guide linked for each.
What are the main types of plumbers?
Start with what every title on this page shares.
BLS describes plumbers as the workers who install and repair water, gas, and other piping systems in homes, businesses, and factories — including the fixtures such as bathtubs and toilets and the appliances such as dishwashers and water heaters connected to them.
From that common core, the job titles sort into four groups: the license level you hold, the setting you work in, the specialty you narrow into, and the roles you can move to off the tools.
Counted up, that is 14 plumbing job titles, and each gets its own paragraph below.
| Title | Group | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Apprentice plumber | License level | Learns the trade on paid job sites while training |
| Journeyman plumber | License level | The working credential in states that license plumbers |
| Master plumber | License level | Top of the individual licensing ladder |
| Service plumber | Work setting | Repairs and maintenance in existing buildings |
| New construction plumber | Work setting | Builds the piping systems in buildings being built |
| Commercial plumber | Work setting | Larger piping systems in commercial buildings |
| Industrial plumber | Work setting | Plant and process piping — often as a pipefitter or steamfitter |
| Maintenance plumber | Work setting | Keeps one facility's own systems running, on staff |
| Drain technician | Specialty | Clears and repairs drains and sewer lines |
| Gas fitter | Specialty | Installs and services gas piping |
| Medical gas plumber | Specialty | Piping that delivers medical gases in healthcare facilities |
| Backflow tester | Specialty | Tests and certifies backflow prevention assemblies |
| Plumbing estimator | Off the tools | Prices material and labor for bids |
| Plumbing inspector | Off the tools | Checks installed work against the plumbing code |
The variety is not our framing — it is in the government data.
O*NET's sample of reported job titles for the plumber occupation code (47-2152) already includes Drain Technician, Fire Sprinkler Service Technician, Pipe Welder, Pipefitter, and Plumber, and BLS's own example titles for the same code run from Plumber and Master Plumber to Gas Plumber and Industrial Gas Fitter.
Three more titles — pipefitter, steamfitter, and sprinkler fitter — get their own section below, because they are sister pipe trades rather than plumbing jobs, even though the federal government counts them under the same code.
And if you are starting from zero, read the plumber career guide first; it covers the trade as a whole before you pick a lane.
Plumbers by license level: apprentice, journeyman, master
The first sort is by where you sit on the license ladder, because the same person holds different titles at different stages of the career.
The apprentice plumber is learning the trade on paid job sites.
Most plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters learn through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship with 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training plus technical instruction each year, in programs sponsored by unions, trade associations, and businesses, according to BLS.
Our plumbing apprentice guide covers how to get in and what those years look like.
The journeyman plumber is the licensed middle of the ladder — where plumbers are licensed individually, it is the working credential that says you can be sent to do the work on your own.
Requirements are set state by state: Arkansas, for example, requires 4 years' experience (or equivalent) for the journeyman plumber exam and 5 years for the master exam, and a journeyman must hold that license one full year before taking the master exam.
Our journeyman plumber guide covers the license and the work.
The master plumber sits at the top of the individual ladder, and the top license can come in classes: Georgia licenses individual plumbers statewide as Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber Class I, and Master Plumber Class II, through its Division of Master Plumbers and Journeyman Plumbers.
Our master plumber guide covers what the top license adds and what states ask for it.
Who licenses plumbers at all — a state board, or the city and county where licensing is local — varies as much as the requirements do, so treat every hours-and-fees figure you read as state-specific rather than national.
Licensing rules are state and local — confirm before you plan
Plumbers by work setting: service, new construction, commercial, industrial, maintenance
The second sort is by setting, and the employer data shows where the work lives: BLS counted 340,140 jobs for the combined occupation in Building Equipment Contractors — the mechanical and plumbing contractors — in May 2025, with 14,960 in Utility System Construction and 11,480 in local government (excluding schools and hospitals) behind them.
The service plumber is the one most people meet: diagnosing and repairing failures in existing homes and buildings — water heaters, drains, fixtures, repipes — usually moving job to job out of a truck.
It is the setting where troubleshooting speed and customer conversation matter as much as the piping itself.
The new construction plumber builds the systems instead of maintaining them: rough-in work — setting drains, water lines, and vents inside the framing — followed by the trim-out that finishes the job, on subdivisions and commercial builds alike.
The calendar follows the construction cycle rather than the service call.
The commercial plumber works the bigger, busier buildings — offices, schools, hospitals, retail — where the systems are larger, more of the work is specified in plans, and the code and inspection regime is heavier than on a house.
The residential side — houses and small multifamily — is the other end of the same split, and many plumbers move between the two across a career.
The industrial plumber label covers piping work in plants and factories — and this is where the plumbing job title starts turning into pipefitting.
BLS describes pipefitters and steamfitters as the workers who install and maintain pipes that may carry chemicals, acids, and gases, mostly in manufacturing, commercial, and industrial settings; the overlap gets its own section below.
The maintenance plumber is on staff rather than on dispatch — a facilities role at a hospital, university, plant, or large property manager, keeping one employer's own systems running, repairing, and being planned instead of rotating through customers' addresses.
Specialty plumbers: drain/sewer, gas, medical gas, backflow
The third sort is by specialty — niches inside the trade with their own tools, their own customers, and often their own certification on top of the license.
The drain technician is the specialist behind the most common emergency call: clearing blockages, camera-inspecting sewer laterals, and jetting lines until they run clean.
O*NET lists Drain Technician among its sample job titles for the plumber occupation code.
Our drain technician guide covers the role in full.
The gas fitter handles the other piping system in the building: the gas runs that feed appliances and equipment from the meter or tank.
BLS's example titles for the combined code include Gas Plumber, which tells you how closely gas work sits to plumbing.
Our gas fitter career guide covers the trade and its certifications.
The medical gas plumber installs and maintains the piping that delivers medical gases inside hospitals and clinics.
States regulate it as its own specialty — Iowa, for example, requires a separate board-approved certification to install or repair medical gas piping, and applicants need a valid NITC (or equivalent) certification.
Treat the role as plumbing plus a healthcare-specific credential layer, and check your own state's requirements with its licensing board.
The backflow tester tests and certifies backflow prevention assemblies — the devices that keep water from flowing backward into the clean supply.
Who must hold the certification, and how often assemblies must be tested, is set by state and local water authorities.
Our backflow tester career guide covers the certification and the work.
Sister pipe trades: pipefitter, steamfitter, sprinkler fitter
Pipefitter, steamfitter, and sprinkler fitter are not plumbing jobs — they are sister pipe trades.
The federal government counts them together: O*NET merged Plumbers (47-2152.02) and Pipe Fitters and Steamfitters (47-2152.01) into the single code 47-2152.00, and that combined occupation explicitly includes sprinkler fitters.
That is also why there is no separate federal pay or outlook figure for any one of the four trades.
The pipefitter works the piping that carries chemicals, acids, and gases — mostly in manufacturing, commercial, and industrial settings, per BLS — reading plans, fabricating, and joining pipe to specification.
Our pipefitter career guide covers the trade.
The steamfitter is the high-pressure specialist of the family.
BLS says steamfitters specialize in systems for liquids or gases at high pressure, and the UA — the pipe trades' union — describes steamfitters as fabricating, installing, maintaining, and repairing high-pressure systems that move steam, hot water, and other industrial fluids, chilled water and compressed air included, with welding, rigging, and hydrostatic and pneumatic testing in the work.
Our steamfitter career guide covers it.
The sprinkler fitter installs and services fire protection piping, and O*NET's sample titles for the shared code include Fire Sprinkler Service Technician.
Our sprinkler fitter career guide covers the trade.
One rule for comparing the four: the differences are about scope of work, not federal numbers.
BLS publishes one combined dataset for all of them, so any table that ranks plumber pay against pipefitter pay from federal data is making the numbers up.
Off-the-tools plumbing jobs: estimator, inspector, foreman, sales
The fourth sort is off the tools — roles a plumber moves into with field experience behind them, without leaving the industry.
The plumbing estimator prices the work before it happens: takeoffs from plans, material and labor numbers, and the bid the contractor submits.
It suits plumbers who know how long the work actually takes, and it is a desk-and-screen role instead of a truck role.
Our plumbing estimator guide covers the move.
The plumbing inspector checks installed work against the plumbing code for the jurisdiction that employs them, typically a city or county building-safety department.
Government is a real employer of the combined occupation — BLS counted 11,480 jobs in local government (excluding schools and hospitals) in May 2025 — and inspection is the classic government-side role for an experienced plumber.
Our plumbing inspector guide covers how inspectors train and get hired.
The plumbing foreman runs the crew on the site: the schedule, the coordination with the other trades, the paperwork, and the quality of what gets signed off.
It is usually the first rung of management, and it stays on the job site rather than in the office.
Plumbing sales covers the counter and outside-sales roles at supply houses and service companies — quoting jobs, specifying materials, keeping contractors stocked and served.
Product knowledge from years on the tools is the qualification, and it is a common landing for plumbers who want out of crawlspaces without leaving the trade.
Which type of plumber earns the most?
The honest answer is that federal data cannot rank the titles.
BLS publishes one combined occupation — Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters, SOC 47-2152 — with example titles ranging from Plumber and Master Plumber to Gas Plumber and Industrial Gas Fitter, and it publishes no separate wage for plumber vs pipefitter, residential vs commercial, service vs new construction, journeyman vs master, or drain technicians.
Any specific ranking of plumbing job titles by pay is somebody's invention.
What the combined data does show is one number with a wide spread.
The median wage for SOC 47-2152 was $30.67 an hour, or $63,800 a year, in May 2025, with the 10th percentile at $21.22 an hour ($44,150 a year) and the 90th at $52.13 an hour ($108,420 a year).
One code has to absorb all four trades and every setting in this guide, and the spread is where that variety lives.
The clearest pay signal in the federal data is industry, not job title.
The highest-paying industries for the combined occupation in May 2025 were Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution (median $115,310 a year), Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing ($106,550), and Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing ($105,800) — small niches, not typical jobs, and all of them industrial settings of the kind the pipe trades work.
For the actual numbers — national, state-by-state, and by metro — see our plumber salary page, which runs on the same BLS OEWS May 2025 data.
And once you know which lane of the trade you want, browse plumber jobs to see which of these titles contractors near you are hiring for.
Career and pay information, not legal advice. Licensing requirements, certification rules and wages vary by state, city and employer — confirm what applies to you with your state licensing board, or the city or county where licensing is local, before you make a decision.