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Construction Laborers vs Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Construction Laborers and Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Construction Laborers Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$46,730
$62,970
Employment · BLS OEWS
1,057,660
455,940
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
5th pct
20th pct

At a glance

Dimension Construction Laborers Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
Median pay $46,730 $62,970
Employment 1,057,660 455,940
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Growing fast (+7.3%) About average (+4.5%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 129,400 44,000
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 5th pct Low · 20th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 2nd pct · 9% of tasks 18th pct · 15% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Building and Construction, Manual Dexterity, Multilimb Coordination, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Speaking, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Control Precision, Trunk Strength, Near Vision, Public Safety and Security, Coordination, Operation and Control, Information Ordering, Finger Dexterity, Extent Flexibility, Far Vision, Mechanical, Operations Monitoring, Deductive Reasoning, Category Flexibility, Selective Attention, Written Comprehension, Inductive Reasoning, Visualization, Customer and Personal Service, Critical Thinking, Complex Problem Solving.

Specific to Construction Laborers

  • Static Strength
  • Active Listening
  • Dynamic Strength
  • Stamina
  • Rate Control
  • Depth Perception
  • Speech Recognition
  • Speech Clarity

Specific to Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

  • Design
  • Mathematics
  • Administration and Management
  • Troubleshooting
  • Repairing
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Physics

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Computer aided design CAD software , Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Word processing software , Project management software .

Specific to Construction Laborers

Specific to Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Construction Laborers or Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Construction Laborers vs Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/construction-laborers-vs-plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Construction Laborers vs Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/construction-laborers-vs-plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-construction-laborers-vs-plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters,
  title  = {Construction Laborers vs Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/construction-laborers-vs-plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.