Posted on 10/16/2008 8:53:21 AM PDT by reaganaut1
How much can a good, hard-working plumber earn in a year? I have no idea. Maybe some Freepers do.
What are some other unglamorous jobs, that don't require a college degree, that pay well?
“Note that $1300 an hour is more than a surgeon makes”
Next time I need a disposal installed, I’ll call a surgeon
“Around my neck of the woods plumbers charge from $65 to $85 an hour.
Counting a normal working day (8 hours), normal work year (2080 hours a year), and an average plumber wage, even though it’s the plumbing company that’s charging, that’s $156,000 a year.
Most plumbers I know work more than 8 hours a day so it would probably be more than that.”
Man are you clueless. If plumbers pay was based on that simple math then we would all be well off.
In my area plumbers are only paid for the time that they turn a wrench, not for driving, not for sitting at the shop when there isn’t a call.
As I ask my rich Southern California customers, where are the plumbers that live in your neighborhood?
Plumbing companies charge an hourly rate for an employee and his truck that actually turns a wrench from 3 to 6 hours a day.
It all depends on where you do your plumbing. A plumber on Nantucket probably makes a quarter mill easily. A plumber in Fort Kent, Maine is probably not so fortunate even if he puts in the same hours.
I believe Tony Soprano did quite well in the waste management business.
Rig hands make $60K plus (strarting), and oilfield truck drivers, Laydown machine operators and casing crews can do the same or better.
bump
Why?
What is glamorous about writing software?
His success made him "glamorous" not the job that got him there.
work Saturday and Sunday and you can double or triple your rates
Toilets do plug and pipes do burst on weekends :-(
I have a cousin that does HVAC and he made over $100K last year. A family friend repairs computer repair equipment. He has been making over $100K for the last 8 years. Neither went to a four year college.
The trades are a way for folks without college to be able to earn a good living. And if they eventually own their own businesses, they can do quite well.
Demonizing the tradesmen and their living is pure stupidity. It is really one of the best ways for a person who wants to work hard to be able to rise from poverty. If you take a kid from the inner city, apprentice him/her, he/she can do very well financially in life.
I live in the Los Angeles area and my best friends husband is a plumber. He makes about 500K a year. He does big contracts. He employees 4 guys. She’s a hairdresser who owns her own shop and makes about 100K. Both are high school gradutes. Pretty damn good for a public school education.
How did you get the old sink out and the new one in, that alone usually takes two people, you must be an amazon.
Technitions are what we got when they replaced skilled mechanics with computer diagnostics. It’s hard to find a good mechanic in the mass of parts swappers.
“Note that $1300 an hour is more than a surgeon makes.”
Visit any surgeons home in America and then look for a “plumber” that is as rich as him, Not a business man that owns a Plumbing business, but just a working plumber.
Part of the prejudice here is that many on this thread cannot separate a workman from a successful business owner that may have started as a blue collar worker.
I don't deny him those extra minutes. It's all part and parcel.
Better a van, harder to steal things out of. Around these parts the vehicle of choice seems to be a retired ambulance, plenty of space, storage, outdoor lighting, etc, all built in.
Plummers who work for someone else make $35k to $55k.
If they own their own plumming business with one employee(themselves) $80-150K. They work long hours and are oncall 24hrs a day. Who do you call when the furnace doesn’t work at 2am in January ?
Start adding people that work for you, ie. 2-3 employees =
$150k to $250k +.
Electrians also do very well under the same formula as above. My electrician was an air traffic controller until Reagan fired him.
If I had a child that did not want to go to college I would have him/her be an electrician.
Depends on if you are a Joureyman or Master Plumber. Mster can have many plumbers working under his license but Journeymen can only work under a Master. That $30K figure is IMHO out of date. Plumber charge by the hour no matter if it takes 15 minutes. The journeymen plumber I know are in the over $50K and Masters depends on how many he has working for him.
Well, I was thinking of a pickup with a camper shell on the back but I take your point.
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