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Plumbing: Schools, Apprenticeships & Licensing by State

Two ways in: pay for school (212 U.S. schools offer Plumbing and Related Water Supply Services programs at certificate/associate level, median net price $8,969/yr) or get paid to train (3,721 registered apprenticeship programs in the federal database). UA union apprenticeships pay while training; state journeyman licensing typically requires supervised hours plus exam.

US schools (category)
212
Median net price / yr
$8,969
Median earnings (10 yrs after entry)
$38,837
school-wide medians, all programs
Apprenticeship programs
3,721
paid training

Working plumbing professionals earn a median of $63,890/yr nationally — state medians range from $48,660 (Arkansas) to $101,020 (Washington DC). Wage data: U.S. Dept of Labor via CareerOneStop.

Licensing at a glance — 10 states verified so far

State license required: Texas, Florida, California, Ohio, Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan.

We've verified licensing rules for 10 states so far, each cited to the official board on its state page — more are being added. States not listed above may well require a license: always confirm with your state's licensing authority before enrolling.

Plumbing aid deadlines & apprenticeship alerts

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Plumbing schools & apprenticeships by state

About half of states run their own apprenticeship agencies (including NY, MN, OR, VT, WA, DC) and are under-reported in the federal database — a low count there does not mean apprenticeships don't exist in that state.

School data: U.S. Dept of Education College Scorecard (most recent release, pulled July 2026). Apprenticeship data: U.S. Dept of Labor. Licensing summaries cited to official state boards per state page. Methodology.