Skip to content
Singulariki

Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters vs Pipelayers

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

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

At a glance

Dimension Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters Pipelayers
Median pay $62,970 $48,710
Employment 455,940 33,580
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+4.5%) Declining (-4.1%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 44,000 2,400
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 · 8th 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, Mechanical, Problem Sensitivity, Finger Dexterity, Near Vision, Critical Thinking, Deductive Reasoning, Manual Dexterity, Trunk Strength, Far Vision, Administration and Management, Judgment and Decision Making, Oral Comprehension, Category Flexibility, Visualization, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Engineering and Technology, Public Safety and Security, Oral Expression, Information Ordering, Selective Attention, Control Precision, Multilimb Coordination, Extent Flexibility, Speaking, Coordination, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Time Management, Written Comprehension.

Specific to Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

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

Specific to Pipelayers

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

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 Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

Specific to Pipelayers

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters or Pipelayers — 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 Pipelayers." 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-pipelayers

    APA

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

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

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