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Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters vs Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters and Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers 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 Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$62,970
$59,810
Employment · BLS OEWS
455,940
396,870
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
20th pct
37th pct

At a glance

Dimension Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
Median pay $62,970 $59,810
Employment 455,940 396,870
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+4.5%) Growing fast (+8.1%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 44,000 40,100
Typical education · O*NET Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. 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 · 20th pct Moderate · 37th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 18th pct · 15% of tasks 36th pct · 21% 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, Design, Mathematics, Problem Sensitivity, Finger Dexterity, Near Vision, Customer and Personal Service, Critical Thinking, Deductive Reasoning, Manual Dexterity, Inductive Reasoning, Troubleshooting, Repairing, Judgment and Decision Making, Oral Comprehension, Category Flexibility, Visualization, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Engineering and Technology, Public Safety and Security, Physics, Monitoring, Oral Expression, Information Ordering, Multilimb Coordination, Extent Flexibility, Speaking, Complex Problem Solving, Operations Monitoring.

Specific to Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

  • Trunk Strength
  • Far Vision
  • Administration and Management
  • Selective Attention
  • Control Precision
  • Coordination
  • Operation and Control
  • Time Management

Specific to Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers

  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Installation
  • Computers and Electronics
  • English Language
  • Active Listening
  • Quality Control Analysis
  • 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 , Data base user interface and query software , Electronic mail software , Facilities management software .

Specific to Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

Specific to Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters or Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers — 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 Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers." 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-heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters vs Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters-vs-heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters-vs-heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers,
  title  = {Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters vs Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers},
  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-heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers}
}

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