City of Chicago / Department of Water Management / Plumber
Job-title file
Plumber
Operate, maintain, and repair equipment or facilities, performing skilled hands-on work.
128 employees hold this title in Department of Water Management. Median total compensation for the role is $125,840, above the department median of $108,576.
- Employees
- 128
- Total payroll
- $16.1M
- Role median
- $125,840
- Agency median
- $108,576
- Comparison
- Above
What the records show
Role pay distribution
Pay distribution for this role
How total compensation varies among the 128 people in this role. Even for one job title, pay differs with seniority, step, overtime, and tenure. Each bar is a pay range; the far-right bar collects the highest earners.
Compared with the local labor market
Plumber pay vs. the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area
Across all employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, the median wage for Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters — about 12,750 people — is $103,380. Department of Water Management pays a median base salary of $125,840 for this role, 22% above that figure — about the 86th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Department of Water Management sits in the local pay range
The bar is the range of annual wages for Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters across every employer in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Water Management’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters — about 465,840 people — is $63,800. Department of Water Management’s median base salary is 97% above that national figure, above the 90th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Water Management is $125,840, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare departments
This role across City of Chicago
Plumber is held in 3 City of Chicago departments. In Department of Water Management, the median of $125,840 ranks #1 of 3.
Highest-paying departments for this role
Median total compensation for the Plumber role in other City of Chicagodepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
Plumber beyond City of Chicago
This role is reported in 25 jurisdictions. In City of Chicago, the median of $125,840 ranks #6 of 25. See Plumber across all of City of Chicago →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Plumberroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.
Record list
Employees with this title
Page 1
No employees match these filters.