Plumber Salary in Fort Worth, TX: Median $60,935 in 2026
Fort Worth (TX) · COL index 99 · Unemployment 3.9% · Metro pop 960,000 · Rank #138 of 283 for Plumber salary
A Plumber in Fort Worth earns an estimated median of $60,935 per year. That figure starts from the Texas state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($59,790) and scales it by Fort Worth's composite cost-of-living index of 99 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $45,994; the 90th percentile reaches $108,030. After federal, Texas state (no state income tax), and FICA taxes, a single-filer Plumber takes home approximately $51,089/year — about $4,257/month or $1,965 every other week.
Compared to the national Plumber median of $61,550, Fort Worth pays -1.0%. Relative to the Fort Worth median household income of $66,200, a Plumbersalary runs -8.0%. Local unemployment is 3.9%[3], with an estimated 211 annual Plumber openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (490,800).
Plumber Snapshot — Fort Worth (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Fort Worth | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumber median salary | $60,935 | $61,550 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $45,994 | $45,130 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $108,030 | $106,000 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $51,089 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $330,000 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,354/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,250/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $66,200 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 99.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 3.9% | — | [3] |
How Plumber Salaries Work in Fort Worth
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the Texas state-level OEWS median ($59,790) and scaling by Fort Worth's composite cost-of-living index (99)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and no Texas state income tax — a meaningful wedge worth $3,047–$4,265 per year vs average-tax states[10].
Fort Worth also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. A tight labor market (unemployment below 4%) gives candidates pricing power in negotiations. Median household income in the metro is $66,200, which frames what "a good Plumber salary" means locally: a $$60,935 wage pays about 92% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Plumber Salary & Cost-of-Living Context — Fort Worth
Buy vs rent in Fort Worth
Monthly PITI on the $330,000 median home in Fort Worth is ~$2,570/mo — vs a $1,354/mo median rent. Rent burden on median household income is 24.5%, which falls within the recommended 30% guideline for housing costs.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Fort Worth
Estimated annual expense shares on a $51,089 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Fort Worth's COL index of 99. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Fort Worth's COL index of 99[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $1,354/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Fort Worth
Renting
Buying
At $4,257/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $1,277/mo. Fort Worth's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,354/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,250/mo), making rent affordable on a median Plumber salary. For homebuyers, the 5.4× price-to-income ratio is workable with a strong credit profile and manageable other debts.
How Fort Worth Stacks Up for Plumbers
Against 283 major US cities: Fort Worth ranks #138 for nominal Plumber salary, #176 for rent affordability, and #143 for overall purchasing power. High cost of living absorbs much of Fort Worth's nominal wage premium. Plumbers here often trade pay for lifestyle, proximity to employers, or family roots — consider nearby metros on a salary-to-COL basis.
Nearby Cities — Plumber Salary Comparison
Fort Worth's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs TX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Worth, TX ★ | $60,935 | 99 | $1,354 | — |
| Houston, TX | $62,166 | 101 | $1,262 | +2.0% |
| Dallas, TX | $64,628 | 105 | $1,275 | +6.1% |
| San Antonio, TX | $56,626 | 92 | $899 | -7.1% |
| Austin, TX | $74,476 | 121 | $1,300 | +22.2% |
| El Paso, TX | $51,702 | 84 | $745 | -15.2% |
Plumber Job Market in Fort Worth
Fort Worth has an estimated 211 annual Plumberopenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 490,800 national Plumbers[1]. The 3.9% unemployment rate[3] signals a competitive labor market where skilled professionals can push for top-of-band offers.
About the profession: Plumbers install and repair water, drainage, and gas pipe systems in residential and commercial buildings. Self-employed plumbers must manage both business and tax obligations. Typical entry requirement: apprenticeship / high school diploma. Projected growth through 2034: 6%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Fort Worth
Early-career Plumbers in Fort Worth start around $45,994, reach the city median ($60,935) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($108,030) at senior / specialized levels.
Related trades professions in Fort Worth
Calculators for Plumbers in Fort Worth
Other professions in Fort Worth
Frequently Asked Questions — Plumber in Fort Worth
How much does a Plumber make in Fort Worth, TX?
The estimated median salary for a Plumber in Fort Worth is $60,935/year, scaled from the national median ($61,550) by Fort Worth's composite cost-of-living index of 99 (US = 100). After federal, Texas state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $51,089/year or $4,257/month.
Can a Plumber afford to live in Fort Worth?
On $4,257/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $1,277/month. Fort Worth's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,354/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,250/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 26.7%, making housing affordable for a Plumber at the local median. Home-buyers face 5.4× price-to-income, needing roughly 5.4 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Plumber pay in Fort Worth?
On $60,935 gross, a Plumber in Fort Worth pays approximately $5,184 in federal income tax (8.5% effective), $0 in state income tax (Texas has no state individual income tax), and $4,662 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 16.2%. Some Texas cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Fort Worth rank for Plumber salaries vs other cities?
Fort Worth ranks #138 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Plumber salary, #176 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #143 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Plumber in Fort Worth?
On $51,089 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Fort Worth looks like: housing $16,248/yr (31.8%); food $6,094/yr; transportation $5,088/yr; healthcare $3,566/yr; utilities $2,542/yr; savings + discretionary $17,551/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Fort Worth's COL index of 99 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Plumber job market like in Fort Worth?
Fort Worth's unemployment rate is 3.9% across the metro of 960,000. Estimated annual Plumber openings: ~211 (extrapolated from 490,800 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The tight labor market favors candidates in salary negotiations.
Do Fort Worth employers pay above or below the Texas median for Plumbers?
Not consistently — Fort Worth's estimated Plumber median of $60,935 is 1.0% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Fort Worth median is derived from the Texas state-level BLS OEWS median ($59,790), scaled by Fort Worth's composite cost-of-living index of 99. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Plumbermedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses Texas's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 99index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 97.1(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Texas Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
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