There’s a view in our culture that manual labor somehow isn’t as valuable as its more refined cognitive cousin. The reasons for this start in childhood. When we go to school, our teachers and parents tell us that what we think is more important than what we do. Thus, we go through our whole lives venerating lawyers while ignoring people who work on building sites. 

The economy, however, has a mind of its own. When you look at the value of work through the cool eyes of supply and demand, you find that some rather lucrative careers rely on using your hands. 

At the top of the list is plumbing. 

Last year, the average plumber made $23.97 an hour or $49,866 per year. Top-level pros in the field brought back a whopping $84,747, translating to around $40.26 per hour. 

These wages aren’t just high – they’re the sort of numbers you’d expect from getting a masters degree, not a contractors license. For that reason, plumbing is very lucrative indeed. You don’t have to invest a lot of time and money into training. And the financial results are, frankly, rather good. 

When people discover that plumbing is a highly paid career, they are often surprised. Plumbing seems like a “trades job” – and it is. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t money to be made. With the right approach and skills, you can find lucrative work and get paid more than you ever thought possible. 

Part of the reason for this comes down to the type of people who go into the work. The number of highly educated individuals coming out of university who want to become plumbers is low. Furthermore, there are very few people with college educations with the skills to go into a life of plumbing. The profession, therefore, is massively undersubscribed. A lot of people COULD go into the trade, but economic forces are working in the opposite direction. It is an interesting phenomenon. 

Becoming a plumber is rewarding, but there are various hoops that you must jump through first before you can start. Here’s what to do if you want to become a plumber. 

Step One: Educate Yourself

You might not think it, but becoming a plumber requires a lot of scientific and technical knowledge. You need to understand how water moves through pipes as well as concepts like pressure and volume. And those both require a lot of maths and physics. A good way to give yourself a headstart, therefore, is to read as much as you can around the subject and give yourself basic knowledge. Here’s a great online plumbing source.

Step Two:  Get Your High School Diploma

You’ll need a high school diploma to enroll in most certification programs. 

Step Three: Complete An Apprenticeship

To become a plumber, you’ll need to learn on the job. Doing an apprenticeship with a qualified plumber is vital. 

Step Four: Get Your License

The final step is to get your license. You’ll need to meet the standards set out by local codes and requirements.