Every figure on this page links to the organization that produced it, and each was re-checked against that source before publishing. How U.S. plumbers and plumbing contractors market themselves and where video fits, and the evidence behind it: our own read of 265 plumber homepages; how many plumbers and plumbing companies there are, how much of the plumbing, heating and air-conditioning industry is plumbing, and what plumbers earn, including Florida; apprenticeships and state licence counts; what Roto-Rooter, Ferguson, Frontdoor, Angi and ServiceTitan tell investors; lead pipe, water heater and leak demand; water damage claims and health risks; the Florida, Texas, California, EPA, FTC and Google rules; and where five popular numbers came from.
20.4% of 265 U.S. plumbing contractor homepages showed a video player in November 2026, though 40.8% offered drain or sewer camera inspection; only 8.3% did both (our measurement). (Mark Studios)See details
68.7% of plumber homepages advertised 24/7 or emergency service, 44.2% offered online booking and 32.5% showed a license number (our measurement). (Mark Studios)See details
U.S. employers had 465,840 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters on payroll in May 2025 at a median wage of $63,800; the Florida median was $52,910. (BLS)See details
Plumbing contractors took 25.2% of U.S. plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor receipts in 2022 and 29.6% in Florida (our calculation from the Economic Census). (U.S. Census Bureau; Mark Studios)See details
BLS projects about 42.0 thousand plumber openings a year for 2025-35, but only about 3,500 net new jobs a year; the rest replace workers who leave (our calculation). (BLS; Mark Studios)See details
Excavation and water restoration, sold mostly from drain calls, were 45.7% of Roto-Rooter's 2025 gross revenue, and Chemed buys internet advertising per click (our calculation from Chemed's 10-K). (Chemed; Mark Studios)See details
EPA's estimate of U.S. lead service lines fell from 9.2 million in its 2023 survey to 4 million in its 2025 update built from utilities' inventories. (EPA)See details
The widely repeated 550,000-plumber shortage comes from fixture maker LIXIL; the peer-reviewed paper it commissioned cites BLS's 48,600 openings a year instead. (PM magazine; Journal of Applied Business and Economics)See details
How many plumbers use video on their websites?
About one plumbing contractor homepage in five shows video. We read a random sample of U.S. plumber and plumbing contractor websites listed in OpenStreetMap on November 2, 2026: 20.4% of the 265 readable homepages had a video player (our measurement). 8.7% hosted a video file on their own site, 8.7% embedded one from YouTube or Vimeo (8.3% YouTube), and 6.8% played a muted background loop. Of the homepages with video, 37.0% used only self-hosted files. That puts plumbers below the roofers, HVAC contractors, electricians and landscapers we measured the same way.
Plumbers sell video of a different kind. 40.8% of the homepages offered drain or sewer camera inspection, where the plumber films the inside of the pipe, yet only 8.3% both offered camera inspection and showed a video player. The footage that wins a sewer line job is already being recorded on the job.
The homepages sell urgency and big tickets. 68.7% advertised 24/7 or emergency service. 78.9% mentioned water heaters (46.8% tankless), 71.3% drain cleaning, 67.2% sewer lines (21.1% trenchless repair), 52.5% leak detection (19.6% slab leaks), 49.4% water treatment or softeners, 41.1% gas lines, 39.2% hydro jetting, 36.6% repiping, 29.1% remodeling, 21.5% backflow testing and 13.2% septic systems. 73.6% mentioned residential work and 66.0% commercial or industrial work (6.0% industrial), and 44.2% also offered HVAC or electrical work. 49.1% mentioned a warranty or guarantee, 29.8% financing and 28.3% a maintenance plan or membership.
Online booking is more common than on the electrician homepages we read. 44.2% offered online booking by widget or button and 15.5% loaded a scheduling widget we could identify (41 sites: Housecall Pro 14, ServiceTitan 14, Thryv/vCita 5, Jobber 3, others 5). 46.0% had a contact or request form on the homepage, 21.9% a quote or estimate button, 32.8% a free estimate or inspection offer and 16.2% a live chat widget; 26.4% had a quote or booking button but no form on the page. 29.1% showed a dollar amount, mostly service-call fees and coupons (12.1% a "$ off" coupon). Only 2.3% offered Spanish, though 30.3 percent of plumbers are Hispanic or Latino, and only 4.2% mentioned apprentices.
Licence numbers show up more often than on the electrician homepages we read. 32.5% of homepages showed a license number and 37.0% said "licensed and insured". Florida, Texas and California require the number in advertising (see the rules section below), but homepages are not the only advertising a contractor runs and our sample covers every state, so this is not a measure of violations. We make no judgment about any site.
How we measured. OpenStreetMap listed 904 distinct U.S. plumber website hosts on November 2, 2026, after we removed supply houses, showrooms, manufacturers, directories and duplicates; we drew a random 400 and read each homepage once in a headless browser, without clicking or submitting anything. 265 were readable plumbing contractor sites. A hand check of 60 homepages agreed with the first automatic video classification on 93.3% of them; we fixed the rule that produced the three false positives (template placeholder players), and one popup video was missed, so the video share is a slight floor. The site list with every indicator is in homepages.csv and the method in crawl-summary.json. Shares from 265 sites carry a margin of about plus or minus 5 points at 20%.
How homeowners find and hire plumbers
Plumbing is the repair homeowners expect most. In Housecall Pro's February 2026 survey of more than 1,100 U.S. homeowners, 28% said plumbing was the system they planned to repair or replace that year, ahead of appliances and HVAC (Housecall Pro); 58% said a sudden problem was what usually made them call a pro (Housecall Pro), and 72% would pay more to have an emergency fixed within 24 hours (Housecall Pro). On Housecall Pro's own platform, repairs were about 87% of plumbing jobs in early 2026 (Housecall Pro). Housecall Pro sells software to plumbers.
Homeowners try to fix it first and often fail. In a January 2023 Censuswide survey of 2,008 U.S. homeowners for Mr. Rooter, a Neighborly plumbing franchise, one-third had called a plumber in the previous two years (Mr. Rooter), 7 in 10 had failed at a DIY plumbing fix (Mr. Rooter), 41% avoided DIY for fear of making it worse (Mr. Rooter), 49% would call a plumber first for a leaking pipe (Mr. Rooter) and 20% had had flooding from frozen pipes (Mr. Rooter). In a 2025 Censuswide survey for the same brand, fewer than 17% said they call a professional right away (Mr. Rooter), 68% had had a plumbing problem over the holidays (Mr. Rooter) and 80% felt prepared for one (Mr. Rooter). In HomeServe's August 2025 survey of 2,524 U.S. adults, blocked or overflowing toilets were 26% of the past year's home emergencies (HomeServe), pipe breaks were the top repair fear at 49% (HomeServe), and only 31% found it very easy to find a qualified pro (HomeServe). HomeServe sells repair plans.
Demand spikes on holidays. Yelp searches for "emergency plumber" rose 27% over Thanksgiving 2024 against the two weeks before, and searches for "plumber" 22% (Yelp; Yelp); Salt Lake City had the largest jump among major metros, 23% (Yelp), and its "plumbers near me" searches rose 180% (Yelp). Roto-Rooter says the day after Thanksgiving is its busiest, with calls 50% above an average Friday (Roto-Rooter).
Among U.S. homeowners who renovated in 2025, 36% hired a plumber, third after electricians and HVAC specialists, and plumbing was the most common system upgrade at 27% (Houzz survey of 10,176 homeowners, Houzz; Houzz). Houzz sells advertising to these pros.
Lead marketplaces publish what plumbing costs a homeowner, from their own data: HomeAdvisor puts the average plumber job at $341 (HomeAdvisor) with after-hours calls adding $100 to $300 (HomeAdvisor) and a sewer camera inspection at $1,001 (HomeAdvisor); Thumbtack puts emergency plumbing at $377 typical (Thumbtack) and $125 an hour (Thumbtack). Both sell leads to plumbers. On the advertiser side, LocaliQ's 2020-21 client data put plumbing search ads at a median $48.91 per lead (LocaliQ), with the highest median monthly spend of eight home-service trades, $2,500 (LocaliQ); it is old data from a company selling those ads.
No survey owner publishes how many plumbers make video or what it does for them. The platforms plumbers use treat it as a sales tool: ServiceTitan's pricebook lets a plumber load each repair option with videos to show customers in the home (ServiceTitan), and Frontdoor's home warranty app offers real-time video support for repairs (Frontdoor 10-K).
How many plumbers and plumbing companies are there?
U.S. employers had 465,840 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters on payroll in May 2025, not counting the self-employed (BLS OEWS). Counting the self-employed, BLS puts the occupation at 510.6 thousand jobs in 2025 (BLS Employment Projections), 8.0 percent of them self-employed (BLS). The household survey, which counts people by their main job, found about 624 thousand working as plumbers, pipefitters or steamfitters in 2025 (BLS CPS). Helpers add another 44,330 payroll jobs (BLS OEWS). Federal occupation data does not separate plumbers from pipefitters and steamfitters, who mostly work on industrial and commercial piping.
BLS projects employment of plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters to grow 6.8 percent from 2025 to 2035 (BLS Employment Projections), with about 42.0 thousand openings a year (BLS). Most openings replace workers who retire or change jobs; growth alone adds about 3,500 jobs a year (our calculation). Helper jobs are projected to grow 2.4 percent (BLS).
Most plumbers work for contractors that also do heating and air conditioning. Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors (NAICS 238220) employed 65% of all plumbers in 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). Inside that industry, BLS counted 330,570 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters and 297,290 HVAC mechanics in May 2025 (BLS OEWS; BLS OEWS), or 1.11 plumbers per HVAC mechanic (our calculation), alongside 38,600 helpers and 60,520 trade supervisors (BLS; BLS) among 1,310,510 workers in all (BLS).
How much of the industry's money is plumbing?
About a quarter. Federal business counts lump plumbing contractors with HVAC contractors, but the 2022 Economic Census asked each establishment what kind of contractor it is. Establishments that called themselves plumbing contractors took in $75.08 billion of the industry's $297.61 billion in receipts, or 25.2% (our calculation from U.S. Census Bureau). HVAC contractors took 40.9%. In Florida the plumbing share is higher, 29.6%: $5.74 billion of $19.43 billion (U.S. Census Bureau; U.S. Census Bureau). Almost all plumbing-contractor business happens inside this industry: across all of construction it totalled $76.13 billion (U.S. Census Bureau).
Repair is a small slice of the dollars. Maintenance and repair of single-family detached homes was 9.5 percent of the industry's receipts in 2022 (U.S. Census Bureau), and repair of sewers, sewer lines and septic systems brought in $3.5 billion (U.S. Census Bureau).
How many businesses?
Counts of plumbing businesses always include HVAC firms. The 2022 Economic Census counted 114,427 plumbing, heating and air-conditioning establishments with payroll (U.S. Census Bureau); BLS's quarterly census averaged 123,866 private establishments in 2025 (BLS QCEW), up from 109,351 in 2019 (BLS QCEW), with 1,315,566 workers (BLS QCEW). Payroll jobs in the industry stood at 1,357.3 thousand in August 2026, preliminary (BLS CES). Another 189,085 businesses had no employees in 2024 (U.S. Census Bureau), up from 163,431 in 2019 (U.S. Census Bureau). The trade is fragmented: the four largest firms took 4.7 percent of industry receipts in 2022 (U.S. Census Bureau).
Among the 8,346 employer firms owned by women out of 106,826 in 2022 (U.S. Census Bureau), 7,341 owned by veterans (U.S. Census Bureau) and 9,446 by Hispanic owners (U.S. Census Bureau), the pattern matches the workforce below: women are rare in the trade.
Florida. The state had 10,921 private plumbing, heating and air-conditioning establishments in 2025 (BLS QCEW) employing 106,398 people (BLS QCEW). The Census counts are lower: 9,456 establishments in the 2022 Economic Census (U.S. Census Bureau) and 9,353 in 2023 County Business Patterns (U.S. Census Bureau), with 94,859 employees (U.S. Census Bureau). Florida also had 20,993 such businesses with no employees in 2024 (U.S. Census Bureau). Florida employers had 29,260 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters on payroll in May 2025 (BLS OEWS) and 4,500 helpers (BLS OEWS); the state's location quotient of 0.98 means the occupation's share of jobs is about the national average (BLS).
How much do plumbers make?
The median U.S. plumber, pipefitter or steamfitter on a payroll earned $63,800 a year in May 2025 and the mean was $72,170 (BLS OEWS; BLS OEWS), or $34.70 an hour on average (BLS). The bottom tenth earned less than $44,150 and the top tenth more than $108,420 (BLS; BLS). Those working for plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors had a median of $63,010 (BLS). Helpers' median was $42,360 (BLS). OEWS covers payroll workers only, so owners and the self-employed are not in these figures.
Florida pays less: the state median was 17.1% below the national one in May 2025 (our calculation). Pay is highest in Oregon, with a mean of $98,450 (BLS), and Illinois, $93,400 (BLS). California employs the most plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters, 47,660 (BLS), ahead of Texas with 44,090 (BLS). Across every occupation, workers at U.S. plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors averaged $82,153 in pay in 2025 (BLS QCEW), and in Florida $68,502 (BLS QCEW).
How do people become plumbers, and how many are in training?
Most plumbers learn on the job. BLS says most plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters go through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship with about 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training a year (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook), and that states and localities that license plumbers often require 2 to 5 years of experience and an exam before a plumber may work independently (BLS).
Registered apprenticeship counts are old. The Department of Labor's last national static table, for fiscal 2021, counted 21,971 active plumber apprentices, the third-largest registered occupation after electrician and carpenter (U.S. Department of Labor, archived). Its federally run states counted 15,711 in fiscal 2020 and 15,697 in fiscal 2019, plus 7,189 and 12,951 pipe fitter apprentices in those years (DOL; DOL; DOL; DOL); those two years cover only 25 states, so they do not compare with 2021. Across all trades, 593,690 people were registered apprentices at the end of fiscal 2021 (DOL), and union-affiliated joint programs held 47% of them (DOL). Since then DOL has published current counts only in an interactive dashboard, so there is no newer national plumber figure we could cite.
The workforce is young and almost entirely male. Women were 3.1 percent of employed plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters in 2025, against 47.1 percent of all workers, and Hispanic or Latino workers were 30.3 percent (BLS CPS; BLS CPS). The median plumber was 40.2 years old, younger than the median worker (BLS CPS), and 18.4% were 55 or older (our calculation).
How many licensed plumbers and plumbing contractors?
There is no national count of licensed plumbers; states license them, and only some publish totals.
State count
Number
As of
Texas Responsible Master Plumbers (the licence a plumbing company needs)
Texas, the state with the clearest data, shows more plumbing companies and fewer plumbers. Responsible Master Plumbers rose from 8,255 in May 2022 (TSBPE) and 8,597 in April 2024 (TSBPE), up 11.9% over the period (our calculation), while the board's licensee population went from 76,067 (TSBPE) and 76,713 (TSBPE) down to the 2026 figure. In fiscal 2025 the board issued 13,628 new licences, registrations and endorsements (TSBPE); 7,075 people took an exam (TSBPE) and 72.30% of exams were passed (TSBPE), against 9,616 exams given in fiscal 2023 (TSBPE). Texas now asks 8,000 hours of experience for the journeyman exam (TSBPE) and, since September 2025, two years as a journeyman before the master exam (TSBPE).
In California, 9,306 of the active plumbing classifications, 53 percent, carried a workers' compensation exemption in January 2026, meaning the licensee reported no employees (CSLB); the count was 17,374 three months earlier (CSLB), and 364 plumbing trade exams were taken in Spanish over the year to January 2026 (CSLB). Minnesota's journeyworker candidates from the state apprenticeship program passed at 98.42% in 2025 (Minnesota DLI, archived). The United Association, the plumbers' and pipefitters' union, says it represents about 412,000 members across the pipe trades in the U.S. and Canada (UA), up from 355,000 on its 2022 homepage (UA, archived), and trains them at more than 300 centers (UA). Those are the union's own rounded figures.
What do Roto-Rooter and other listed companies tell investors?
Roto-Rooter, owned by Chemed, is the only large U.S. plumbing service company that reports publicly. Its gross revenue was $937.9 million in 2025 and net revenue $899.9 million (Chemed 10-K; Chemed 10-K). Plumbing itself was $182.7 million (Chemed), or 19.5% of gross revenue (our calculation); the largest line was excavation, $238.4 million (Chemed), then drain cleaning, $231.8 million (Chemed), and water restoration, $190.2 million (Chemed). Chemed says excavation and water restoration jobs are sold from initial calls about drains, so their growth (6.9 percent for water restoration in 2025) follows the call volume (Chemed); together they were 45.7% of gross revenue (our calculation). Independent contractors paid $69.4 million in fees (Chemed) and franchisees $5.7 million (Chemed).
Fewer jobs, higher prices. Roto-Rooter's plumbing job count rose 3.6 percent in 2025 (Chemed) while drain-cleaning jobs fell 4.5 percent (Chemed). In the third quarter of 2026 plumbing jobs fell 5.1 percent while price and mix rose 10.5 percent (Chemed 10-Q), and over the first nine months drain-cleaning jobs fell 5.5 percent (Chemed 10-Q). Plumbing revenue was $48.2 million in the quarter (Chemed 10-Q) and segment revenue $722.1 million for nine months (Chemed 10-Q).
The filings describe a business won by advertising. Chemed lists advertising first among the ways plumbing companies compete and says private equity has made large investments in home services (Chemed); it buys internet advertising per click and some directory and internet ads per call (Chemed). Its 2025 10-K warns that marketing may get costlier as search engines revise algorithms and customers turn to AI platforms (Chemed). Chemed's advertising was 83.1 million dollars in 2025 across both of its businesses (it also owns VITAS hospice) (Chemed). Roto-Rooter says it reaches over 90% of the U.S. population (Chemed) from 356 facilities in 34 states (Chemed); Chemed as a whole had 15,811 employees (Chemed). It has been buying back franchises, including one in New Jersey for 5.8 million dollars in 2024 (Chemed), and warns that non-emergency demand could fall in a recession (Chemed).
Suppliers, warranty companies and software
Company (latest 10-K)
What it reports
Ferguson (plumbing and HVAC distributor)
$30.8 billion net sales, $14.6 billion of it U.S. residential Ferguson 10-K; about two-thirds from repair, maintenance and improvement Ferguson; 1,519 U.S. branches Ferguson; no customer over 1% of sales Ferguson; $376 million advertising and marketing Ferguson; a market it sizes at $340 billionFerguson; nine acquisitions in fiscal 2025 Ferguson
Frontdoor (home warranties)
About 3.8 million service requests a year through about 17,000 contractor firms Frontdoor 10-K; preferred contractors completed 84% Frontdoor; 2.1 million active warranties Frontdoor; $162 million advertising Frontdoor; direct customers renewed at 74% Frontdoor; 1.3 million "On-My-Way" texts Frontdoor; licensed plumbing contractors install Moen shut-off valves Frontdoor
Angi (lead marketplace)
About 111,000 monthly active pros Angi 10-K; $587.1 million U.S. lead revenue Angi; $334.1 million advertising Angi; says it must shift spend toward online video, social and streaming Angi and relies on Google unpaid search Angi
Sells through about 800 plumbing wholesalers A. O. Smith 10-K; industry replacement volume flat in 2025 A. O. Smith
Masco (Delta faucets) and Watsco (HVAC)
Home Depot bought 38% of Masco's sales Masco 10-K; HVAC equipment was 67% of Watsco's revenue and it sells plumbing in few stores Watsco 10-K
The word "plumbers" appears in fewer annual reports than it used to: 48 10-K documents filed in 2016 (EDGAR full-text search), 54 in 2019 (EDGAR) and 40 in 2025 (EDGAR). 275 filings of any kind since 2001, the start of EDGAR full-text search, use the phrase "plumbing contractors" (EDGAR), and in 2025 only 3 10-K documents mentioned Roto-Rooter (EDGAR). No EDGAR filing contains "shortage of plumbers" (0, EDGAR) or "plumber shortage" (0, EDGAR).
What drives plumbing work: lead pipes, water heaters and leaks
Lead service line replacement
EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, issued in October 2024, require water systems to find and replace lead service lines within 10 years (EPA), at a cumulative average of 10 percent a year (EPA), with compliance due by November 1, 2027 (EPA). The rule cuts the lead action level to 0.010 mg/L from 0.015 (EPA). EPA estimated 6.7 million lead and galvanized lines would be replaced in the 10-year window (EPA), needing the equivalent of 17,000 full-time crews, about 3.6 percent of the pipe-worker labor force (EPA), at $1.47-$1.95 billion a year in costs against $13.49-$25.14 billion a year in benefits (EPA; EPA), up to 13 times the cost (EPA). In August 2026 EPA was still issuing guidance to implement the rule and said it had announced nearly $3 billion in funding that year (EPA). Most of the work falls on public water systems and their contractors; the part on private property depends on local programs.
The number of lead lines keeps shrinking as utilities check. EPA's 2023 needs survey projected 9.2 million lead service lines (EPA), revised to 9.0 million (EPA); its 2025 update, built from utilities' own inventories, estimates about 3 million reported lead lines plus 1 million unknown lines predicted to be lead, 4 million in all (EPA; EPA), 56.5% fewer than the 2023 projection (our calculation). The original survey had put Florida at 1,159,300 lines, 12.6 percent of the national total (EPA), a projection EPA's Inspector General questioned: flawed Texas and Florida data drove $943.82 million in questioned allotments (EPA OIG). Florida's lead line allotment for fiscal 2026 is $32,764,000, 1.19 percent of the $2.875 billion appropriation (EPA; EPA), against $295,551,000 for Illinois (EPA). The 2021 infrastructure law set aside $15 billion for lead line replacement (EPA). EPA's needs survey puts total drinking water needs at $625 billion over 20 years, $422.9 billion of it for pipes (EPA; EPA).
Water heaters
About 44.4 million U.S. homes had a main water heater 10 or more years old in 2020: 25.10 million aged 10-14, 10.35 million 15-19 and 8.98 million 20 or older (EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey, EIA; EIA; EIA; our sum). The most common age band was 5 to 9 years, 38.96 million homes (EIA). Gas heated water in 59.33 million homes and electricity in 57.04 million (EIA; EIA); 8.03 million had a tankless main heater (EIA) and 46.85 million a tank of 50 gallons or more (EIA). A. O. Smith says replacement volume was flat in 2025 (see above). DOE's 2024 efficiency standards apply to heaters made from May 6, 2029 (DOE, Federal Register) and push larger electric tanks to heat pumps under trial standard level 2 (DOE); DOE projected 17.6 quads of energy saved over 2030-2059 (DOE) and $25 billion or more in net consumer benefits (DOE). A separate rule for gas tankless heaters was withdrawn on May 20, 2025 after Congress disapproved it (DOE).
Leaks at home
11.2 million occupied U.S. homes reported water leaking from inside in the past year in 2023 (Census and HUD, American Housing Survey), 8.4% of occupied homes (our calculation), up from 10.5 million in 2021 (AHS) and 9.4 million in 2019 (AHS); 11.8 million had leaks from outside (AHS), and 2.3 million had no working toilet at some point in three months (AHS). EPA's WaterSense program says 9% of homes have leaks wasting 50 gallons or more a day (EPA), that fixing easy leaks saves about 10 percent on water bills (EPA), and that a family using more than 12,000 gallons in a winter month probably has a serious leak (EPA). It says a dripping showerhead wastes over 500 gallons a year (EPA), replacing old toilets saves 13,000 gallons a year (EPA), a full fixture retrofit saves over $380 a year (EPA), and the program claims 11.2 trillion gallons saved through 2025 (EPA). Its national leak total is traced in the myths section below.
How common and costly are plumbing failures?
Water damage is one of the most expensive homeowner claims. Over 2019-2023, U.S. homeowners filed 1.50 water damage and freezing claims per 100 insured homes a year, and the average claim paid $15,400 (ISO data published by the Insurance Information Institute, III; III). Water damage and freezing was 22.6% of homeowners losses in 2023, down from 28.7% in 2019 (III; III), and in 2018-2022 1.6% of insured homes had such a claim, second to wind and hail (III). The category covers every water and freezing cause, not only plumbing.
Insurers' own data point the same way. LexisNexis, which sells data to insurers, says the severity of non-weather water claims rose 63.16% from 2019 to 2025 (LexisNexis) and another 2.5% in 2025, while loss cost fell 6.4% (LexisNexis; LexisNexis); in 2024 frequency fell 9.9% (LexisNexis), weather-related water loss cost rose 25.4% (LexisNexis) and 64% of weather water claims were catastrophes (LexisNexis). Travelers says non-weather water claims, mostly plumbing and appliances, were 23% of its property losses in 2013-2020 (Travelers) and 19% of home claims in 2009-2015 (Travelers). Chubb's 2014-2018 claims put the average water leak loss for its customers, who own costlier homes, at more than $55,000 (Chubb), while 51% of homeowners in its 2019 survey guessed a leak costs under $5,000 (Chubb) and only 16% maintained their water heater (Chubb).
Frozen pipes. State Farm paid over $806 million on over 32,000 frozen pipe and water claims from August 2022 to August 2023 (State Farm), with Georgia first at $100 million (State Farm); it had more than 17,200 frozen-pipe claims in 2023 (State Farm) averaging just over $23,500 (State Farm), and more than 20,000 winter water claims from January 2024 to June 2025 (State Farm) averaging over $30,000 (State Farm), led by Illinois (State Farm). These periods overlap; do not add them.
Health risks and the work itself
Plumbing systems can make people sick. U.S. jurisdictions reported 8,442 confirmed Legionnaires' disease cases in 2021 (CDC, archived), 2.54 per 100,000 people (CDC), and about 1 in 10 patients die (CDC). Reported legionellosis rose 286% from 2000 to 2014 (CDC). In the 415 cases from 27 outbreaks CDC investigated over that period (CDC), drinking water such as showers was the source in 56% of outbreaks (CDC) and every outbreak with enough information had a water-system maintenance failure, 65% of them process failures (CDC). Tap water scalds sent people to U.S. emergency departments 52,088 times in 2016-2018 (Injury Prevention, Shields et al.), at $28,431 per hospitalization (Injury Prevention); CPSC notes a water heater setting of 120°F may be needed to prevent them (CPSC, archived), as it has since a review of 159 scald deaths from 1973-1977 (CPSC, archived). EPA's 2004 report to Congress estimated 23,000-75,000 sanitary sewer overflows a year, not counting backups into buildings (EPA), releasing 3-10 billion gallons (EPA).
The trade itself is risky. 47 pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters died from work injuries in 2024, a rate of 6.9 per 100,000 full-time workers, about twice the all-worker rate (BLS CFOI, archived; BLS, archived); CPWR, using a different method, calculated 5.6 for 2022 (CPWR). Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors recorded 3.0 injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers in 2024 against 2.3 for all private industry (BLS SOII, archived; BLS), and 1.1 cases with days away from work (BLS).
What rules govern how plumbers work and advertise?
Licence numbers in ads. Florida requires a contractor's certification or registration number in each offer of services, bid, contract or advertisement, in any medium (Florida Statutes 489.119), and on any vehicle bearing the company's name, displayed conspicuously and legibly (Florida Statutes). Texas requires the Responsible Master Plumber's licence number in every plumbing ad, regardless of the type of media (22 TAC 367.10 via Cornell LII) (radio and phone ads are exempt if the number is stated), on both sides of every service vehicle in letters at least two inches tall (TSBPE rule), and on proposals and invoices in at least twelve-point type (TSBPE rule). California's Business and Professions Code section 7030.5 requires the licence number in all forms of advertising (California Legislature, archived). For a contractor's video, that means the number belongs on screen.
Getting licensed. Florida asks for 4 years of experience to sit the plumbing contractor exam (Florida Statutes 489.111), counting 2,000 hours as a year (Florida Statutes); Florida sets no mandatory licence for drain cleaning and clearing (Florida Statutes 489.105). Texas asks 8,000 hours for the journeyman exam (TSBPE) and 4,000 for the tradesman (TSBPE), two years as a journeyman before the master exam (TSBPE), and $300,000 of liability insurance for the licence that runs a company (TSBPE); apprentices can register from age 16 (TSBPE). California requires four full years of experience (CSLB) and a $25,000 bond (CSLB).
Unlicensed work. Florida's handyman exemption ends at $2,500 per job (Florida Statutes 489.103). Contracting without a licence is a first degree misdemeanor (Florida Statutes 489.127) and a third degree felony during a declared emergency (Florida Statutes); code officers can fine up to $2,000 (Florida Statutes), the state up to $10,000 (Florida Statutes 489.13), and the licensing board up to $10,000 per violation for licensees (Florida Statutes 489.129). California needs a licence for jobs of $1,000 or more (CSLB); a 2024 law raised the minor-work exemption to $1,000 from January 2025 (CSLB), and unlicensed people may advertise work up to $1,000 only if the ad says they are unlicensed (CSLB).
Backflow and lead. Texas requires health-hazard backflow assemblies to be tested annually (30 TAC 290.44 via Cornell LII); California's handbook, in force since July 1, 2024 (State Water Board, archived), also requires testing annually (State Water Board) and repair of a failed assembly within 30 days (State Water Board). Federal rules define lead-free plumbing as no more than 0.25 percent lead on wetted surfaces (EPA via eCFR) and 0.2 percent in solder and flux (EPA via eCFR), bar anyone from installing non-lead-free parts (40 CFR 143.13, eCFR), and required third-party certification by September 1, 2023 (eCFR). Under the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, systems must replace lead lines within 10 program years (eCFR) of the November 1, 2027 compliance date (eCFR) and replace a newly found one within 180 days (eCFR).
Codes. Florida must update its building code every 3 years from the International Codes (Florida Statutes 553.73); the 8th edition took effect December 31, 2023 (Florida Building Commission). The International Code Council gives two counts for its plumbing code: in use or adopted in 36 states on its product page (ICC) and 37 states in its fact sheet (ICC), and it says 252 million people live where it is adopted (ICC) or 168 million counting statewide adoption only (ICC Building Safety Journal). The rest use IAPMO's Uniform Plumbing Code; IAPMO publishes no state count.
Platforms and reviews. Google treats plumbing as an urgent Local Services category with extra screening (Google): it checks state licences against state databases (Google), runs background checks on owners and every worker who does the job (Google), and makes a business wait 180 days after a second denial (Google). The FTC's rule on fake reviews and testimonials, in effect since October 21, 2024 (FTC via eCFR), bans invented testimonials (16 CFR 465.2, eCFR) and requires owners and managers to disclose reviews of their own business (16 CFR 465.5, eCFR); a knowing violation can cost up to $53,088 each (FTC, Federal Register), unchanged for 2026 from the 2025 level (FTC). A paid customer testimonial video must disclose the payment (16 CFR 255.5, eCFR).
What do the popular plumbing numbers really say?
Five numbers turn up again and again on plumbing marketing, software and insurance sites. We traced each one back as far as it goes.
"Household leaks waste nearly 1 trillion gallons a year"
This is an EPA estimate, and EPA gives two versions of it. Its Fix a Leak Week page says household leaks can waste nearly 1 trillion gallons a year nationwide and 9,300 gallons per household (EPA; EPA); its WaterSense statistics page says nearly 900 billion gallons and 9,400 per family (EPA; EPA). EPA has never published the arithmetic. The figure first appears on EPA's 2009 Fix a Leak Week page as "could exceed more than 1 trillion" gallons (EPA, archived), with 11,000 gallons per home (EPA, archived), lowered to 10,000 by 2010 (EPA, archived). Plumbing businesses repeat it: Mr. Rooter told the press in 2013 that leaks waste more than one trillion gallons (Franchising.com), and Plumber magazine gave contractors nearly 10,000 gallons per household in 2020 (Plumber magazine).
The measurement behind it is a 1999 study that data-logged 1,188 homes in 12 North American cities. It found average leakage of 21.9 gallons a household a day (AWWA Research Foundation, archived), but the median home leaked only 4.2 gallons a day (AWWA Research Foundation): about 8,000 gallons a year on average but 1,500 for the typical home (our calculation). A few heavy leakers drive the total: 58% of the leakage came from 10 percent of homes (AWWA Research Foundation). EPA's 2009 line that 10 percent of homes leak 90 gallons a day (90 gallons, EPA, archived) seems to merge that finding with the 90.4 gallons a day averaged by the 100 highest-use homes (AWWA Research Foundation); EPA now says 50 gallons or more a day in 9 percent of homes (EPA). The 2016 update measured 17.0 gallons per household a day (Water Research Foundation, archived) and 7.9 gallons per person, down from 9.5 (Water Research Foundation).
Use instead: the measured averages, with the median: 17.0 gallons a household a day in the 2016 study, and much less for a typical home. Call EPA's national total a modelled estimate.
"The U.S. will be short 550,000 plumbers by 2027"
The number comes from LIXIL, the owner of American Standard and GROHE, which sells to plumbers. A LIXIL sales leader wrote in PM magazine in May 2024 that the shortfall would reach 550,000 by 2027 at a cost of $33 billion a year (PM magazine). It spread through local news (KWCH, 550,000, KWCH), columns (Hot Air: 550,000), a tool maker's trade pages (Milwaukee Tool: 550,000) and LIXIL's own 2026 release (550,000, PHCP Pros); PM magazine still printed it in August 2026 (550,000, PM magazine), and an Oklahoma outlet gave the cost as $22 billion instead (550,000, Oklahoma Business Voice).
The peer-reviewed paper LIXIL commissioned does not contain 550,000. For the gap it cites BLS's 48,600 projected openings a year (Journal of Applied Business and Economics, Dunham and Flaherty) and models what adding 16,400 plumbers would save (Journal of Applied Business and Economics). LIXIL's own July 2024 investor risk disclosure also uses BLS's 48,600 (LIXIL). That figure is BLS's 2021-31 projection of openings (48,600, BLS, archived), mostly replacements for plumbers who leave; it fell to 42,600 in the 2022-32 projection (BLS, archived). No SEC filing contains "plumber shortage" (0). 550,000 is about 13 years of BLS's current projected openings (our calculation).
Use instead: BLS projects about 42,000 openings a year for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters over 2025-35 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, archived), of which about 3,500 come from growth. Openings are jobs to fill, not jobs going unfilled.
"The average water damage claim is $12,514" (or $13,954, or "1 in 60 homes")
All of these are real Insurance Information Institute figures from ISO data, each a five-year average of every water damage and freezing claim, not only plumbing, and each repeated long after it was replaced. III's page showed $8,861 for 2011-2015 with about one in 50 insured homes claiming a year (III, archived; III, archived), then $12,514 for 2017-2021 (III, archived) and $13,954 for 2018-2022 (III, archived). The ratio moved too: III said about one in 67 in January 2026 (III, archived) and says about one in 60 today, footnoted to 2018-2020 data (III). Repeaters mix the vintages: an agents' association relayed $12,514 correctly dated (12,514, Big I), a plumbers' insurance page presents $13,954 as the top of a range spanning two periods (Grit Insurance), a Mr. Rooter franchise blog still says $7,958 with no date (Mr. Rooter of Oneida), and FieldEdge, which sells software to plumbers, tells them 1 in 60 homes claim a year and that water damage is the most common claim (FieldEdge). By III's own figures wind and hail claims are more frequent.
Use instead:$15,400 per claim and 1.50 claims per 100 insured homes a year, 2019-2023, for all water damage and freezing. The average claim has risen 73.8% since the 2011-2015 figure (our calculation, nominal dollars).
"Tap water scalds cause 3,800 injuries and 34 deaths a year"
This comes from a CPSC safety leaflet, Document 5098, which said about 3,800 injuries and 34 deaths a year in a copy captured in August 2000 (CPSC, archived). The leaflet gives no year or method, and CPSC's current version drops the number; it still recommends 120°F. A city fire department page and New York bills still repeat it.
Use instead: hospital data for 2016-2018 counted 52,088 emergency department visits for tap water scalds, far more than the old figure.
"Video on a landing page lifts conversions 80%"
This one has been traced on our other research pages, and it reaches plumbers the same way. EyeView, a company selling landing-page video, reported in November 2009 that its first test, on one tutoring client's page, lifted conversions by over 80 percent (EyeView, archived); its 2010 white paper said "in some cases" over 80% (EyeView, archived), and the one test it described in full showed almost 32 percent (EyeView, archived). Unbounce turned it into a general rule, 80%, in August 2010 (Unbounce, archived), and Tech.co repeated 80 percent in 2015 (Tech.co). In 2026 a vendor selling to HVAC, plumbing and roofing companies still told them video lifts conversions up to 80% (PipelineOn). A newer plumbing version says plumbing sites with video convert 157% better (Web Tonic), crediting a statistics list where 157% is an organic-traffic gain, not a conversion rate and not about plumbing (ZipDo).
Use instead: nothing measures what video does for plumbers' conversion rates. What can be measured is who uses it: see our homepage count above.
We started from the questions people search for about plumbing video statistics and looked for the organization that actually produced each answer. Every figure on this page sits in an evidence ledger with its source, the exact table or paragraph it came from, the measurement period, the population measured, and the date we checked it. This edition holds 453 figures from 62 publishers.
On November 2, 2026, each sourced figure on this page was re-fetched with the fetch cache cleared and matched against the recorded wording: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (through the BLS data API), Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages open data, Current Employment Statistics, Employment Projections, the Occupational Outlook Handbook, CPS and injury data (the bls.gov pages through Internet Archive copies, because bls.gov refuses automated requests); Census County Business Patterns, Nonemployer Statistics, the 2022 Economic Census (including its kind-of-business table) and the Annual Business Survey (through the Census data API), and the American Housing Survey; the 10-K and 10-Q filings of Chemed (Roto-Rooter), Ferguson, Frontdoor, Angi, ServiceTitan, A. O. Smith, Masco and Watsco and EDGAR full-text search; EPA lead service line, needs survey, WaterSense and sewer overflow data, EPA's Inspector General, EIA and DOE water heater data; III, LexisNexis, State Farm, Travelers and Chubb water damage data; CDC, CPSC, CPWR and a peer-reviewed scald study; Department of Labor apprenticeship tables, Texas, California, Minnesota and Washington licensing data and the United Association; Florida, Texas and California law, California's backflow handbook, the eCFR and Federal Register, the International Code Council and Google's Local Services help pages; vendor surveys and data (Housecall Pro, Mr. Rooter, HomeServe, Houzz, Yelp, HomeAdvisor, Thumbtack, LocaliQ) and the pages behind each popular claim. The homepage figures are our own measurement on the same day. We left out current national apprenticeship counts (DOL publishes them only in dashboards), IPEDS plumbing program completions (no readable page), Florida's count of plumbing contractors (not published separately), IAPMO's code adoption count (not published), Angi's State of Home Spending and Jobber's reports (refused automated requests or had no plumbing breakdown), and any figure from a gated source.
We only cite the producer: government agencies, regulators, company filings and official posts, and the survey owner's own report. We do not cite statistics roundups, Statista-style aggregators, or salary sites without a public method. We did not bypass paywalls or sign-up forms; where a full report was gated, we used only the figures its publisher states publicly.
Figures marked "our calculation" are arithmetic on the cited numbers, and anyone can reproduce them:
54 / 265 readable homepages with video_player = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: video player: a <video> element or player iframe/placeholder (YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, Vidyard, Brightcove, Loom, Facebook video ...) at least 150x80 px, or a labelled click-to-play control or hidden player embed
23 / 265 readable homepages with video_self_hosted = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: video player that is a native <video> element (file served by the site or its site builder/CDN, incl. background videos)
23 / 265 readable homepages with video_embedded = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: video player from a third-party host (YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, Facebook, TikTok ...)
22 / 265 readable homepages with youtube_player = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: a YouTube player (iframe, lite-youtube placeholder, lightbox embed link or hidden embed)
68 / 265 readable homepages with youtube_channel_link = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: link to a YouTube channel or handle (not a single video; template placeholders excluded)
100 / 265 readable homepages with instagram_link = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: link to an Instagram profile (template placeholders excluded)
189 / 265 readable homepages with drain_cleaning_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: drain cleaning/clearing/service/repair, clogged/blocked/slow/backed-up drains, toilets, sinks or lines, drain clogs, unclog(ging), "rooter" or drain & sewer in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed drain cleaning / clogged drain / rooter
178 / 265 readable homepages with sewer_line_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: sewer line/repair/replacement/service/pipe/lateral/cleaning/backup/main, main line, trenchless, pipe bursting/lining, cured-in-place (CIPP) in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed sewer / trenchless
56 / 265 readable homepages with trenchless_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: trenchless, pipe bursting/lining/relining, cured-in-place or CIPP in the page text or a link
108 / 265 readable homepages with camera_inspection_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: drain/sewer/pipe camera or video inspection offered (text, not a video player): video/camera (drain/sewer/pipe/line) inspection or scope, drain/sewer/pipe camera or video inspection, sewer scope, camera inspection, video pipe, in-line video/camera in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed so
104 / 265 readable homepages with hydro_jetting_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: hydro jetting / hydro-jet, water jetting, high-pressure jetting or jetter in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed hydro jetting
209 / 265 readable homepages with water_heater_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: water heater(s), hot water heater/tank/system/repair, tankless, on-demand hot water or heat pump water heater in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed water heater / tankless / hot water
124 / 265 readable homepages with tankless_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: "tankless" or on-demand (hot) water in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed tankless
97 / 265 readable homepages with repipe_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: repipe / re-pipe / repiping, polybutylene, galvanized pipe replacement or whole-house pipe replacement in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed repipe
139 / 265 readable homepages with leak_detection_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: leak detection/location/repair, slab leak, water leak, hidden leak, leak under the slab or electronic leak detection in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed so
52 / 265 readable homepages with slab_leak_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: slab leak(s) or a leak under/in/beneath the slab or foundation in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed slab leak
57 / 265 readable homepages with backflow_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: backflow (testing, prevention, preventer), RPZ, cross-connection or double check valve in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed so
109 / 265 readable homepages with gas_line_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: gas line(s)/piping/pipes/leaks/plumbing/appliance hook-up, natural gas or propane lines in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed gas line
131 / 265 readable homepages with water_treatment_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: water softener, treatment, filtration, filters, conditioning, purification or water quality, reverse osmosis or whole-house filtration in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed so
35 / 265 readable homepages with septic_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: "septic" in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed septic
77 / 265 readable homepages with remodel_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: remodel/remodeling, bath/bathroom/kitchen renovation in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed remodel/renovation
175 / 265 readable homepages with commercial_or_industrial_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: "commercial" or "industrial" in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed commercial/industrial
16 / 265 readable homepages with industrial_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: "industrial" in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed industrial
195 / 265 readable homepages with residential_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: "residential" or "homeowner(s)" in the page text, or a link labelled residential
117 / 265 readable homepages with hvac_or_electrical_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: HVAC, heating, air conditioning, electrical or electrician(s) in the page text, or a link labelled so (multi-trade shops)
182 / 265 readable homepages with emergency_24_7 = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: 24/7, 24 hours a day, around the clock, 24-hour service/repair/plumbing or emergency service/repairs/calls/plumbing/plumber/drain/leak in the page text, or a link labelled emergency or 24/7
79 / 265 readable homepages with financing = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: financing, monthly payments, payment plans/options, 0% interest, no money down, lease-to-own or a named lender (GreenSky, Hearth, Service Finance, Synchrony, Wisetack, EnerBank, GoodLeap, Foundation Finance, Microf, Wells Fargo ...) in the page text, or a link labelled financing
75 / 265 readable homepages with maintenance_plan = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: maintenance plan, agreement, program, membership or club; service agreement/plan/club; safety club/plan; VIP/priority/protection/home/plumbing club or plan; preventive maintenance plan; "become a member" in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed so (/membership, /*-club, /maintenance-plans ...)
86 / 265 readable homepages with license_number_shown = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: a license number shown in the page text: "License #/No./Number" or "Lic." followed by a number (optionally with a letter prefix), ROC/CSLB numbers, or a state licence prefix followed by digits (Florida CFC/CFCO/RF/CMC/CGC/CBC + 5 or more digits, Texas RMP/MPL/RME/TACLA + 4 or more digits, Texas M-##### ; prefixes case-sensitive)
98 / 265 readable homepages with licensed_and_insured = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: "licensed and insured" in the page text, including "licensed, bonded and insured", "licensed & insured", "licensed/insured", "insured and licensed"
102 / 265 readable homepages with careers_link = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: link labelled careers, jobs, join our team/crew, now hiring, employment, open positions, plumbers/technicians/apprentices wanted, apprenticeship, hiring, apply now or work with us, or a link to a /careers, /jobs, /employment, /join-our-team, /now-hiring, /apprentice* or /hiring path
11 / 265 readable homepages with apprentice_mention = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: "apprentice", "apprentices" or "apprenticeship" in the page text, or a link labelled or pathed so
188 / 265 readable homepages with reviews_testimonials = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: testimonials or reviews shown: page text with testimonials, customer reviews or stories, "what our customers say", Google reviews, star ratings or review counts; a link labelled testimonials/reviews or to a /testimonials or /reviews path; or a review-widget request (Birdeye, Podium, Elfsight, Trustindex, NearbyNow ...)
41 / 265 readable homepages with online_booking_widget = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: an online booking/scheduling vendor detected: a network request, iframe or link to ServiceTitan Scheduler, Schedule Engine, Housecall Pro online booking, Jobber client hub / work request, Workiz, Netic, Thryv/vCita, Calendly, Acuity, Setmore, Square Appointments, LeadConnector booking or Zoho Bookings while the homepage loaded (schedulers that load only after a click are missed: a floor)
117 / 265 readable homepages with online_booking_any = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: an online booking widget as above, or a button or link labelled book/schedule online/now/service/an appointment/repair/maintenance/a visit, or make/request/set an appointment (not tel:/mailto:, not labels starting "Call"); the control may open a booking widget or a request form
122 / 265 readable homepages with online_form = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: an online form on the homepage: a non-search <form> with at least 2 visible fields, or 1 visible email/phone/message field, or an embedded third-party form or booking widget (HubSpot, JotForm, GoHighLevel/LeadConnector form, Typeform, Housecall Pro, Jobber, ServiceTitan, Schedule Engine ...); tel: and mailto: links never count
58 / 265 readable homepages with quote_or_estimate_request = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: quote or estimate request: a button or link labelled get/request/schedule/book a (free) quote/estimate/bid/consultation/second opinion or free/instant quote or estimate, or a /quote, /estimate or request-a-quote URL path (not tel:/mailto:, not labels starting "Call")
87 / 265 readable homepages with free_estimate = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: free/complimentary/no-cost (no-obligation, in-home ...) estimate, quote, inspection, assessment, consultation, bid or second opinion offered in the page text, a button or a link
6 / 265 readable homepages with spanish = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: Spanish offered: se habla/hablamos espanol, en espanol, Spanish-speaking, we speak Spanish, bilingual in the page text, html lang=es, an hreflang=es alternate, or a link labelled Espanol/Spanish or to an /es/ path (a bare "Spanish" does not count)
77 / 265 readable homepages with dollar_amount_shown = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: a dollar amount shown in the page text ($ followed by digits: service-call fees, flat prices, coupons such as $50 off) excluding amounts in an insurance/liability/bond, tax credit/rebate/incentive, revenue, wage/pay or $0 context and amounts followed by million/billion/k
60 / 265 readable homepages with gallery_or_projects = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: project gallery or portfolio: before-and-after, photo/project/installation gallery, portfolio, our/recent/completed/featured projects or installs or recent work in the page text, or a link labelled gallery/portfolio/projects/our work
59 / 265 readable homepages with meet_the_team = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: meet the/our team, plumbers, technicians, staff or crew; technician bios/profiles; "know who's coming" in the page text, or a link labelled our team / meet the team or to a /team, /our-team, /meet-the-team or /technicians path
130 / 265 readable homepages with warranty = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: warranty, warranties, guarantee or satisfaction/no-breakdown guarantee in the page text, or a link labelled warranty/guarantee
43 / 265 readable homepages with chat_widget = true (or non-empty) in homepages.csv; rule: a live-chat or web-chat widget: a network request to a chat vendor (Podium, Birdeye webchat, GoHighLevel/LeadConnector widgets, HubSpot chat, Intercom, Drift, Tawk.to, LiveChat, Tidio, Crisp, ApexChat, Ngage, Schedule Engine webchat ...) or a chat-widget element on the page (form iframes excluded)
count of online_booking_vendor values among readable rows in homepages.csv: {'Housecall Pro': 14, 'ServiceTitan Scheduler': 14, 'Thryv / vCita': 5, 'Jobber': 3, 'Calendly': 2, 'Schedule Engine': 2, 'Netic': 1}; rule: an online booking/scheduling vendor detected: a network request, iframe or link to ServiceTitan Scheduler, Schedule Engine, Housecall Pro online booking, Jobber client hub / work request, Workiz, Netic, Thryv/vCita, Calendly, Acuity, Setmore, Square Appointments, LeadConnector booking or Zoho Bookings while the homepage loaded (schedulers that load only after a click are missed: a floor)
This edition contains no Mark Studios customer data.
Limitations
Nobody counts plumber video. No survey owner publishes how many plumbers make video or what it does for them. Our homepage read measures whether a player is present, not whether the video is any good or what it achieves.
Federal business counts do not separate plumbing from HVAC. Establishment, employment and pay figures for NAICS 238220 cover both trades. Only the Economic Census kind-of-business table and occupation data split them.
The homepage sample comes from OpenStreetMap. Volunteers map businesses unevenly, and the 904 hosts are those with a website tag. Supply houses and showrooms tagged as plumbers were removed by host list and page title, and a few may remain. Shares from 265 sites carry a margin of about plus or minus 5 points.
The homeowner surveys come from sellers. Housecall Pro, Mr. Rooter, HomeServe, Houzz, HomeAdvisor, Thumbtack and LocaliQ sell into the plumbing market; their samples are online panels or their own customers.
Water damage figures cover more than plumbing. Insurers count every water and freezing cause together, and each insurer's customers differ. Their averages should not be compared with one another as a trend.
How to cite this page
For a single figure, cite the original publisher named next to it, and link here if the verification trail is useful to your readers. Each figure has its own anchor, so you can link straight to it, for example https://www.markstudios.com/research/plumbing-video-statistics#DRV-003. To cite the page as a whole:
Mark Studios. "Plumbing Video Statistics." Last verified Nov 2, 2026. https://www.markstudios.com/research/plumbing-video-statistics
APA
Mark Studios. (2026, November 2). Plumbing video statistics. https://www.markstudios.com/research/plumbing-video-statistics
MLA
“Plumbing Video Statistics.” Mark Studios, 2 Nov. 2026, www.markstudios.com/research/plumbing-video-statistics.
Chicago
Mark Studios. “Plumbing Video Statistics.” Last modified November 2, 2026. https://www.markstudios.com/research/plumbing-video-statistics.
BibTeX
@misc{markstudios_plumbing_video_statistics_2026,
author = {{Mark Studios}},
title = {{Plumbing Video Statistics}},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
url = {https://www.markstudios.com/research/plumbing-video-statistics},
note = {Last verified 2026-11-02}
}
Our calculations and the evidence table are free to reuse with attribution and a link to this page. Each underlying figure remains the claim of its original publisher, and some publishers ask for a link when their figures are reused.
We re-verify every figure quarterly and when a major source publishes a new edition. The next scheduled review is February 2027. Corrections go to contact@markstudios.com.
Nov 2, 2026: First published with 453 figures from 62 publishers, each checked against its original source.
Frequently asked questions
How many plumbers are there in the U.S.?
U.S. employers had 465,840 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters on payroll in May 2025, excluding the self-employed (BLS OEWS). BLS counts 510.6 thousand jobs including the self-employed, and the household survey counted about 624 thousand people working mainly in the trade in 2025.
How much do plumbers make?
The median U.S. plumber, pipefitter or steamfitter earned $63,800 a year in May 2025 and the mean was $72,170. In Florida the median was $52,910.
Is there really a shortage of 550,000 plumbers?
No source shows it. The figure comes from fixture maker LIXIL, and the study it commissioned cites BLS's 48,600 projected openings a year instead. BLS now projects about 42,000 openings a year for 2025-35, mostly replacements, with about 3,500 net new jobs a year (our calculation).
How many plumbers use video marketing?
In our November 2026 read of 265 U.S. plumbing contractor homepages, 20.4% showed a video player and 25.7% linked to a YouTube channel. No survey owner publishes a wider count.
How much does the average water damage claim cost?
The average U.S. homeowners water damage and freezing claim paid $15,400 over 2019-2023, with 1.50 claims per 100 insured homes a year, according to ISO data published by the Insurance Information Institute. That covers every water cause, not only plumbing.
Do plumbers in Florida have to show their license number in ads?
Yes. Florida law requires the certification or registration number in each offer of services or advertisement, in any medium, and on any vehicle bearing the company's name. Texas and California have similar rules.
How much water do household leaks waste?
EPA says household leaks can waste nearly 1 trillion gallons a year nationwide, though another EPA page says nearly 900 billion. The 2016 Residential End Uses of Water study measured average leakage of 17.0 gallons a household a day.
