Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in New Hampshire
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,165
after federal, FICA and New Hampshire tax
Tax takes
$6,865
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,178
New Hampshire costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New Hampshire — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$46,030
Kept after tax
$39,165
Worth in national money
$37,178
State rank
9
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. New Hampshire's middle earner gets $46,030, putting the state 9 of 48 — about 8.66% ahead of the national figure.
- Within New Hampshire this is lower-paid work. Of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 396. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $46,030 the take-home is $39,165. But New Hampshire costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $37,178 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $43,690, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, New Hampshire sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $46,030, ranking 9 of 48 and running about 8.66% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Against every occupation New Hampshire reports, helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters ranks 396 of 488, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New Hampshire income tax is $39,165 for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, from $46,030. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $37,178. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $43,690 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $52,940 |
| This salary | $46,030 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in New Hampshire | $39,165 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,165 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,126 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $46,030 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,780 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in New Hampshire earn under $46,030 and half over. The published range runs $36,270 at the tenth percentile to $52,940 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In New Hampshire the take-home figure of $39,165, from $46,030, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 396 of 488 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,178 uses one figure for the whole of New Hampshire. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 396.
- Figures are distribution medians for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in New Hampshire, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,270 to $52,940; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for New Hampshire is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,165 from $46,030. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 396 of 488 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,178, worked from $46,030, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular New Hampshire address, on work sitting at 396 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $43,690 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,270 and the top tenth $52,940, so most people doing this work in New Hampshire sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $37,178 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $39,165 survives, because New Hampshire levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in New Hampshire is $43,690. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,270 to $52,940) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New Hampshire rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New Hampshire's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $37,178 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
New Hampshire levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $39,165 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.