---
title: "Pipelayer"
description: "Lay pipe for storm or sanitation sewers, drains, and water mains. Perform any combination of the following tasks: grade trenches or culverts, position…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/pipelayer"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Pipelayer

**Category:** Construction and Extraction · **SOC code:** 47-2151 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 47-2151.00

Lay pipe for storm or sanitation sewers, drains, and water mains. Perform any combination of the following tasks: grade trenches or culverts, position pipe, or seal joints.

Also advertised as: Pipelayer; Tailman.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $49,000 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $23.56/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $37,730 to $80,170, with the middle half between $43,980 and $61,400
- **Total US employment:** 33,050
- **Typical entry education:** No formal credential
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -3.1% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 2,100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 67/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 33,050 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $37,730 |
| 25th | $43,980 |
| 50th (median) | $49,000 |
| 75th | $61,400 |
| 90th | $80,170 |
| Mean (average) | $54,700 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WI | $86,870 | $92,322 | 350 |
| WA | $82,450 | $77,047 | 1,050 |
| MN | $81,980 | $83,126 | 510 |
| NJ | $78,830 | $72,451 | 400 |
| CA | $76,180 | $68,804 | 1,420 |
| IN | $73,580 | $78,839 | 800 |
| MA | $72,770 | $68,809 | Not published by BLS |
| OH | $71,560 | $77,134 | 1,160 |
| NY | $70,370 | $65,205 | 250 |
| OR | $64,230 | $62,141 | 620 |
| NV | $63,570 | $63,583 | 450 |
| AZ | $62,740 | $62,318 | 480 |
| MI | $61,560 | $63,980 | 180 |
| CO | $59,740 | $57,971 | 790 |
| KY | $58,820 | $65,240 | 60 |

30 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 45 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/pipelayer/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/pipelayer.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 33,200 in the 2025–2035 base year to 32,200 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 1,000 jobs, or -3.1%. Declining: -3.1% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 2,100 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** No formal educational credential (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 65.4% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 32.9% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 1.7% |

## What the work involves

- Dig trenches to desired or required depths, by hand or using trenching tools.
- Cut pipes to required lengths.
- Install or repair sanitary or stormwater sewer structures or pipe systems.
- Grade or level trench bases, using tamping machines or hand tools.
- Connect pipe pieces and seal joints, using welding equipment, cement, or glue.
- Align and position pipes to prepare them for welding or sealing.
- Cover pipes with earth or other materials.
- Tap and drill holes into pipes to introduce auxiliary lines or devices.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operation and Control — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Installation — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Building and Construction — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Control Precision — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Static Strength — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 3.54 |
| I — Investigative | 2.43 |
| S — Social | 1.30 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.14 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 87.4 |
| ISTP | 77.9 |
| ISFJ | 72.1 |
| ESTJ | 70.6 |
| INTJ | 66.2 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Plumber](https://nuecareer.com/careers/plumber) — median $63,800
- [Helpers--Pipelayer, Plumber, Pipefitter, and Steamfitter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/helpers-pipelayer-plumber-pipefitter-and-steamfitter) — median $42,360
- [Construction Laborer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-laborer) — median $47,120
- [Septic Tank Servicer and Sewer Pipe Cleaner](https://nuecareer.com/careers/septic-tank-servicer-and-sewer-pipe-cleaner) — median $49,880
- [Insulation Worker, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insulation-worker-floor-ceiling-and-wall) — median $49,120
- [Insulation Worker, Mechanical](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insulation-worker-mechanical) — median $58,340
- [Sheet Metal Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sheet-metal-worker) — median $61,800
- [Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paving-surfacing-and-tamping-equipment-operator) — median $53,340
- [Structural Iron and Steel Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-iron-and-steel-worker) — median $62,780
- [Boilermaker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/boilermaker) — median $76,410

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/pipelayer