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Pipelayers vs Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Pipelayers 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.”

Pipelayers Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$48,710
$62,970
Employment · BLS OEWS
33,580
455,940
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
8th pct
20th pct

At a glance

Dimension Pipelayers Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
Median pay $48,710 $62,970
Employment 33,580 455,940
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Declining (-4.1%) About average (+4.5%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 2,400 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 · 8th pct Low · 20th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 18th pct · 15% 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, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Control Precision, Oral Comprehension, Operation and Control, Public Safety and Security, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Coordination, Operations Monitoring, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Information Ordering, Visualization, Selective Attention, Manual Dexterity, Finger Dexterity, Multilimb Coordination, Trunk Strength, Extent Flexibility, Near Vision, Engineering and Technology, Mechanical, Administration and Management, Judgment and Decision Making, Time Management, Written Comprehension, Deductive Reasoning, Category Flexibility, Far Vision.

Specific to Pipelayers

  • Static Strength
  • Active Listening
  • Quality Control Analysis
  • Rate Control
  • Reaction Time
  • Stamina
  • Depth Perception
  • Speech Recognition

Specific to Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

  • Design
  • Mathematics
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Inductive Reasoning
  • Troubleshooting
  • Repairing
  • Physics
  • Monitoring

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: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software .

Specific to Pipelayers

    Specific to Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Pipelayers 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. "Pipelayers 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/pipelayers-vs-plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters

    APA

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

    BibTeX 
    @misc{singulariki-pipelayers-vs-plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters,
  title  = {Pipelayers 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/pipelayers-vs-plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters}
}

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