Plumbing Technology/Plumber

Types of Degrees Plumbing Technology/Plumber Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many plumbing technology/plumber graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate	1,164
Basic Certificate	945
Associate Degree	87

What Plumbing Technology/Plumber Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, plumbing technology/plumber majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Plumbing Technology/Plumber Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Skills for Plumbing Technology/Plumber Majors

plumbing technology/plumber majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
• Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
• Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.

Abilities for Plumbing Technology/Plumber Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a plumbing technology/plumber student include the following:

• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Manual Dexterity - The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Plumbing Technology/Plumber Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with plumbing technology/plumber:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers	12.6%	$65,230
Plumbers	15.6%	$53,910
Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners	17.2%	$38,970

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Plumbing Technology/Plumber

Some degrees associated with plumbing technology/plumber may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for plumbing technology/plumber careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	15.0%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	37.9%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	31.5%
Some College Courses	14.9%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	1.5%

Online Plumbing Technology/Plumber Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	100	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	16	0
Associate’s Degree	34	1
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Plumbing Technology/Plumber

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to plumbing technology/plumber.

Major	Number of Grads
Pipefitting/Pipefitter & Sprinkler Fitter	526
Other Plumbing & Related Water Supply Services	22
Well Drilling/Driller	1
Blasting/Blaster	0

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Tomwsulcer under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.