Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,234
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$13,986
21.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,948
Kansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kansas — 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
$65,220
Kept after tax
$51,234
Worth in national money
$56,948
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Kansas is 22 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $65,220. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 159 among 488 occupations Kansas publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $65,220 you keep $51,234 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $56,948 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $71,410, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kansas ranks 22 of 51 for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters at $65,220. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 159 of 488 in Kansas places plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Kansas is $51,234 after the full tax stack, from $65,220. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,948 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $71,410 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $109,290 |
| This salary | $65,220 |
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 Kansas | $51,234 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,584 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$777 |
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 | $61,050 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$940 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Kansas earn less than $65,220. The published range is $39,130 up to $109,290, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kansas's $51,234, worked from $65,220. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 159 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $56,948 uses one figure for the whole of Kansas. 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 159.
- Reported values are medians; for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Kansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,130 to $109,290. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Kansas take-home of $51,234, on $65,220 for work ranking 159 of 488 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 159 of 488 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $56,948, worked from $65,220, 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 Kansas address, on work sitting at 159 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $71,410, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $39,130 and the top tenth $109,290 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Kansas is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $56,948 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Kansas's own levy, $51,234 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 Kansas is $71,410. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($39,130) and the ninetieth ($109,290) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Kansas's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $56,948 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $51,234 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kansas income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.