What Should I Charge for Plumbing? (2026 Contractor Pricing Guide)
Short answer
Plumbers typically bill $95 to $165 per hour. A faucet or toilet swap usually lands between $205 and $490 installed, while a 50 gallon water heater changeout runs closer to $1,300 to $2,300.
Plumbing unit prices by work item
Enter a ZIP code to adjust every row to local cost levels. Rates start from a national baseline of 1.00 and scale by the published city cost index for that area.
Showing national baseline rates.
| Work item | Unit | Material | Labor | What to charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Toilet replacement Assumes owner-supplied toilet and a sound flange. | fixture | $45.00 | $245 | $274 to $487 |
Faucet replacement Corroded supply stops add time on older homes. | fixture | $28.00 | $195 | $205 to $381 |
Water heater, 50 gal tank, swap Code upgrades such as expansion tank and pan are extra. | unit | $780 | $620 | $1,300 to $2,311 |
Shower valve replacement Access from behind versus tile demo is the whole story. | valve | $165 | $520 | $582 to $1,208 |
PEX repipe, per fixture Priced per fixture rather than per foot for whole-home work. | fixture | $95.00 | $385 | $440 to $817 |
Drain clearing, main line Camera inspection is a separate, chargeable line. | call | $15.00 | $285 | $257 to $533 |
Material and labor columns are bare cost per unit before markup. The charge column applies +15% materials, +20% labor, then +10% overhead and profit, and shows a realistic range rather than one false-precision number.
How this number is built
There is no proprietary data feed here and nothing is hidden. Every figure above comes from four visible steps, which is exactly how your own price book should work:
- 1Start from bare material and bare labor cost per unit, at a national baseline.
- 2Multiply both by your local cost factor, from the ZIP table below.
- 3Add markup: 15% on materials, 20% on labor. This covers waste, procurement and supervision.
- 4Add 10% overhead and profit on the marked-up subtotal, then show a range rather than one number.
Regional cost factors
A national average is close to useless on its own. The same plumbing job prices very differently across markets. These are the multipliers applied above, against a 1.00 national baseline.
| Metro | Factor | Toilet replacement (fixture) |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | 1.38x | $378 to $672 |
| New York, NY | 1.32x | $361 to $643 |
| Boston, MA | 1.24x | $340 to $604 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 1.22x | $334 to $594 |
| Seattle, WA | 1.20x | $329 to $584 |
| Chicago, IL | 1.18x | $323 to $574 |
| Washington, DC | 1.15x | $315 to $560 |
| Denver, CO | 1.08x | $296 to $526 |
| Austin, TX | 1.04x | $285 to $506 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 1.02x | $279 to $497 |
| Atlanta, GA | 1.00x | $274 to $487 |
| Houston, TX | 0.98x | $268 to $477 |
Before you send this number to a client
Worth doing
- Walk the actual site before committing to a fixed price.
- Itemize disposal, permits and prep as their own lines.
- Write down what is excluded, not only what is included.
- Compare these rates against your own last three invoices.
Where bids go wrong
- Using a national average as if it were a local quote.
- Forgetting that overhead is a real cost, not profit.
- Absorbing prep and access problems instead of pricing them.
- Quoting from memory when material prices moved.
Frequently asked questions
What should a plumber charge per hour?
Most residential plumbing shops bill $95 to $165 per hour for a licensed plumber, plus a trip or dispatch fee. Emergency and after-hours work commonly bills at 1.5x to 2x the standard rate.
How do I price a job when I cannot see behind the wall?
Quote the known scope as a fixed price and attach a written allowance or unit rate for what you find once it is open. An agreed hourly rate for discovery work, stated in the proposal, prevents the argument later.
Should I mark up fixtures I supply?
Yes. A 15% to 35% markup on supplied materials is standard and covers procurement, delivery, and the warranty exposure you take on. If a customer supplies their own fixture, exclude it from your warranty in writing.
Other trades
Turn these rates into a sent proposal
A table is a starting point. Describe the job in plain words and Takeoff Convert prices it from your own price book, then produces an itemized proposal your client can e-sign.
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