Compared with the local labor market
Plumber pay vs. Minnesota
Across all employers in Minnesota, the median wage for Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters — about 10,720 people — is $94,410. Veterans Affairs Department pays a median base salary of $77,197 for this role, 18% below that figure — about the 37th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Veterans Affairs Department sits in the local pay range
$48,720
$61,150
$94,410
$108,750
$121,050
Veterans Affairs Department median · $77,197
The bar is the range of annual wages for Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters across every employer in Minnesota, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Veterans Affairs Department’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. Veterans Affairs Department’s median base salary is 21% above that national figure, about the 66th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$44,150
$50,190
$63,800
$85,110
$108,420
Veterans Affairs Department median · $77,197
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 Minnesota range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Veterans Affairs Department is $77,239, 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 jurisdictions
Plumber beyond Minnesota
This role is reported in 25 jurisdictions. In Minnesota, the median of $79,766 ranks #16 of 25. See Plumber across all of Minnesota →
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.