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Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters vs Construction Laborers

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters and Construction Laborers 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.”

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

At a glance

Dimension Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters Construction Laborers
Median pay $62,970 $46,730
Employment 455,940 1,057,660
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+4.5%) Growing fast (+7.3%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 44,000 129,400
Typical education · O*NET Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 20th pct Low · 5th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 18th pct · 15% of tasks 2nd pct · 9% 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, Mechanical, Problem Sensitivity, Finger Dexterity, Near Vision, Customer and Personal Service, Critical Thinking, Deductive Reasoning, Manual Dexterity, Inductive Reasoning, Trunk Strength, Far Vision, Oral Comprehension, Category Flexibility, Visualization, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Public Safety and Security, Oral Expression, Information Ordering, Selective Attention, Control Precision, Multilimb Coordination, Extent Flexibility, Speaking, Coordination, Complex Problem Solving, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Written Comprehension.

Specific to Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

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

Specific to Construction Laborers

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

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 , Word processing software , Computer aided design CAD software , Electronic mail software , Project management software .

Specific to Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

Specific to Construction Laborers

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters or Construction Laborers — 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. "Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters vs Construction Laborers." 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/plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters-vs-construction-laborers

APA

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

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters-vs-construction-laborers,
  title  = {Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters vs Construction Laborers},
  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/plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters-vs-construction-laborers}
}

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