Compared with the local labor market
Plumber's Helper pay vs. the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area
Across all employers in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area, the median wage for Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters — about 4,360 people — is $52,000. Department of Environment Protection pays a median base salary of $72,672 for this role, 40% above that figure — about the 90th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Department of Environment Protection sits in the local pay range
$37,190
$43,180
$52,000
$65,990
$72,800
Department of Environment Protection median · $72,672
The bar is the range of annual wages for Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters across every employer in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Environment Protection’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters — about 44,330 people — is $42,360. Department of Environment Protection’s median base salary is 72% above that national figure, above the 90th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$33,590
$36,940
$42,360
$47,720
$57,780
Department of Environment Protection median · $72,672
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 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Environment Protection is $84,431, 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.