PLUMBING PRICING GUIDE
How much should a plumber charge?
The 2026 US hourly rates, service call fees, flat prices for the jobs you do every week and what to charge after hours — and a free calculator that turns them into a price you can put on your website.
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The short answer
Most residential plumbers charge $75 to $150 an hour for standard work, plus a service call fee of $50 to $250 (Housecall Pro, October 2026). Jobber puts the full US range at $45 to $200 an hour (April 2026).
Common jobs are usually priced flat: $100 to $275 to clear a drain, $100 to $300 for a toilet repair, $150 to $500 for a minor leak and $200 to $625 to install a garbage disposal (Housecall Pro).
What moves the price: the timing (after-hours, weekend and emergency work runs 1.5 to 3 times the standard rate, $150 to $300 an hour or more, plus a $150 to $400 emergency dispatch fee), the parts, how long the job takes and your local market. The calculator below prices the job in front of you.
Charge a flat price for the jobs you do every week and hourly plus a service call for the ones you can't see yet: customers want a number up front, and a flat price rewards you for getting faster.
AT A GLANCE · NOVEMBER 2026
Plumber rates at a glance
| The job | Typical US price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly work, residential (2 hours) | $150–$300 for 2 hours ($75–$150 per hour) | Housecall Pro, October 2026 |
| Drain clearing | $100–$275 | Housecall Pro, October 2026 |
| Toilet repair | $100–$300 | Housecall Pro, October 2026 |
| Faucet or fixture install | $150–$600 | Housecall Pro, October 2026 |
| Garbage disposal install | $200–$625 | Housecall Pro, October 2026 |
| Water heater replacement, tank | $900–$3,000 | Housecall Pro, October 2026 |
| Hourly, full range by job, timing and certification | $45–$200 an hour | Jobber, April 2026 |
The same published figures as the full rate table below; the calculator works out a price for your own job.
FREE PRICE CALCULATOR
What should I charge for this job?
Pick a common repair or project for a flat price, or hourly work with the time it takes and whether it's after hours. The range uses the published 2026 US rates in the table below.
Suggested price
$100–$275
common repair (flat price), drain clearing
A starting range from published US rates, before parts — not a quote for a customer. Check it against your own costs (the formula below) and your local market before you put it on your price list.
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Put your plumbing prices where customers look
Add your town, and Zarla builds your plumbing website from this one line. Then tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your prices, and change them any time.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
RATES · NOVEMBER 2026
Plumber rates and job prices (2026)
Typical US residential rates and flat prices. Water heaters vary most: Housecall Pro puts a tank water heater at $900–$3,000 installed and a tankless unit at $1,400–$5,600 (October 2026); Jobber puts a tank install at $800–$2,000 and a tankless one at $1,400–$3,900 (April 2026). A sewer line replacement can reach $10,000 (Housecall Pro).
| The job | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Common repair (flat price) | Drain clearing: $100–$275 · Toilet repair: $100–$300 · Minor leak repair: $150–$500 · Faucet or fixture install: $150–$600 · Garbage disposal install: $200–$625 · Housecall Pro |
| Replacement project (flat price) | Water heater replacement, tank: $900–$3,000 · Water heater replacement, tankless: $1,400–$5,600 · Sewer line replacement: $1,400–$5,300+ · Whole-home repipe: $4,000–$12,000 · Housecall Pro |
| Hourly work (residential) | $75–$150 per hour · about $150–$300 for 2 hours · Housecall Pro |
| Hourly, full range by job, timing and certification | $45–$200 an hour · Jobber |
Rates read off each publisher's page in November 2026. The calculator above uses exactly these numbers, rounded to whole dollars and to the nearest $5 from $100 up. Full source list below.
ADD-ONS AND ADJUSTMENTS
What to charge for service calls and after-hours work
The trip and the timing are part of the job — charge for both.
| What | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| When: after hours, weekend or emergency | 50%–200% more · Housecall Pro |
| Service call fee | +$50–$250 · Housecall Pro |
Where a row shows a sum (a rate × a quantity, or a percentage worked out from published dollar ranges), the arithmetic is ours and the inputs are the publisher's.
THE PRICING FORMULA
How to price a plumbing job
Six steps from your costs to the number on your price list.
Know your true cost per hour
Burdened labor (wages, taxes, benefits and non-billable time) plus overhead. Housecall Pro's example: $43.75 labor + $60 overhead = $103.75 an hour.
Add your margin
Housecall Pro's example prices for a 20% margin by dividing: $103.75 ÷ 0.80 = $129.69 an hour, and 1.5× that, $194.53, after hours.
Build flat prices from cost
Labor + materials + overhead for the job, then price = cost ÷ (1 − target margin) (Jobber).
Mark up parts
A consistent markup on parts and materials that covers buying them, truck stock, storage and warranty risk (Housecall Pro). Markup and margin differ: a 25% markup on a $750 job gives $937.50, but a 25% margin needs price = cost ÷ 0.75.
Set a service call fee
$50–$250 to cover the trip and the diagnosis (Housecall Pro); Jobber puts a standard service call at $75–$125.
Price after-hours work
1.5–3× the standard rate for nights, weekends and emergencies (Housecall Pro and Jobber).
The formula, worked through
Say it's a clogged drain. Housecall Pro's market range for drain clearing is $100–$275.
Jobber's worked example: two hours of labor at $28.80 an hour is $57.60, materials are $50 and overhead is two hours at $8 ($16) — $123.60 in cost. For a 25% margin, divide by 0.75: $123.60 ÷ 0.75 = $164.80.
About $165 sits inside the market range, so “drain clearing from $165” is a fair line for your price list. After hours, Housecall Pro and Jobber put the rate at 1.5–3× standard — price those calls hourly.
The figures are Jobber's example; your wages, overhead and parts are what make it yours.
What to charge in your area
The ranges on this page are US national figures. Prices follow local costs: the Bureau of Economic Analysis puts overall prices in California at 110.7 against a US average of 100, and Arkansas at 86.9 (2024 regional price parities, released February 2026). So a $200 drain job in an average market is about $220 in California and about $175 in Arkansas.
Hourly rates spread the same way: Housecall Pro cites Modernize's figures of about $150 an hour in New York City against a $90 national average (October 2026). Service call fees follow the pattern too: Jobber puts a standard service call at $75–$125 and suggests staying at the lower end in rural or low-cost markets and going higher in urban or high-overhead areas (April 2026).
Outside the US, treat the ranges as a shape, not a price — a service call for the trip, flat prices for routine jobs and more for after-hours work hold everywhere — and check what local plumbers list on their own websites.
Put your prices on your website
A price list — even “from” prices — answers a customer's first question before they pick up the phone, and it's the line an AI assistant can quote when someone asks what plumbing costs near them.
If you build your site with Zarla, tell the editor “add a pricing section: drain clearing from $165, service calls from $75” and your prices go on the site, in a section you can edit any time. Want to see a finished site first? Browse plumbing website templates or see how Zarla builds plumbing websites.
Still setting up? Write your plumbing business plan, and when the prices are set, read SEO for plumbers. Not licensed yet? Start with how to become a plumber. Raising prices you set a year ago? The price increase letter tells customers a month ahead.
Going out on your own? How to start a plumbing business covers the contractor license by state, the bond, the van and the first calls.
Plumber rates: common questions
$75–$150 an hour for standard residential work (Housecall Pro, October 2026). Jobber puts the full range at $45–$200 an hour, depending on the job, the timing and the plumber's certification level; commercial work commonly starts around $100 an hour and master plumbers charge up to $200 (Housecall Pro). The calculator above works out any number of hours, with the service call.
Housecall Pro cites Modernize's figure of about $90 an hour as the US average, against about $150 in New York City (October 2026). Most residential plumbing businesses charge $75–$150 an hour; where you sit in that range follows your local costs (below) and your own cost per hour (the formula above).
At $75–$150 an hour, three hours of standard residential work comes to $225–$450 in labor, plus the $50–$250 service call fee and parts (Housecall Pro, October 2026). After hours, at Housecall Pro's $150–$300 an hour or more, the same three hours run $450–$900 or more. The calculator above works it out for any number of hours.
$50–$250 (Housecall Pro, October 2026), or $75–$125 (Jobber). It covers the trip and the diagnosis, and some businesses apply it to the repair when the customer goes ahead — say which before you dispatch. An emergency dispatch fee runs $150–$400 (Housecall Pro).
1.5–3 times your standard rate (Housecall Pro and Jobber) — $150–$300 an hour or more at Housecall Pro's figures, or $150–$250 for an emergency call in Jobber's — plus a $150–$400 emergency dispatch fee (Housecall Pro).
$100–$275 for drain clearing (Housecall Pro, October 2026), or $150–$400 for drain cleaning (Jobber). Jobber's worked example comes to about $165.
Housecall Pro puts a tank water heater at $900–$3,000 installed and a tankless unit at $1,400–$5,600 (October 2026). Jobber puts a tank install at $800–$2,000 and a tankless install at $1,400–$3,900. Price parts and haul-away as their own lines.
Housecall Pro doesn't put a percentage on it (October 2026): it says to apply a consistent markup across your price book that covers buying the parts, truck stock, storage and the parts you warranty. Work from your target margin, not a markup habit — a 25% markup on a $750 job gives $937.50, but a 25% margin needs price = cost ÷ 0.75.
Flat rate for the jobs you do every week — drains, toilets, faucets, disposals — so the customer knows the price up front. Hourly plus a service call for diagnosis, older systems, commercial work and jobs you can't size until you see them. Housecall Pro says most plumbing businesses use both (October 2026).
Yes — your service call fee and “from” prices for common jobs. It answers the first question before the call and gives an AI assistant a real number to quote. On a Zarla site, tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your prices, and change them any time. For a printed price sheet, the free plumbing price list template is a one-page list you fill in with your own prices.
Where these numbers come from
Every range on this page is read off a published source, dated below. They're US figures for residential work — typical, not a rule; your costs and your market come first.
- Housecall Pro — Plumbing prices 2026: Average plumber rates and how to price jobs — dated October 2026, read November 2026
- Jobber — How to Price a Plumbing Job: Plumbers Pricing Guide for Higher Profits — dated April 2026, read November 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — regional price parities by state, 2024 — dated February 2026, read September 2026
Put your plumbing prices on your website
Add your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line. Your prices go in a pricing section you edit by chat.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.