Research library
Statistics for plumbing shops
Numbers on the plumbing trade, the people in it, the water and homes it serves and the money. Every number links to the group that published it and shows the date. We do not copy figures from other roundups.
- research pages
- 23
- primary-source citations
- 3,573
- charts from source data
- 227
- last updated, refreshed monthly
- October 2026
Start here
Plumbing Industry Statistics
Plumbing industry statistics for 2026: sales, shops, jobs, growth, home vs commercial work, material costs and Canada, from primary sources.
Read all 162 statistics- US plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors took in $297.6 billion in sales in 2022, up from $206.2 billion in 2017.
- Plumbing contractors alone reported $75.1 billion in sales in 2022.
- There were 111,207 shops with paid staff in 2023, and 64,871 of them had fewer than 5 employees.
- Those shops employed 1,214,761 people in March 2023.
Plumbing & trades
The size of the plumbing trade, the shops in it, and the pipes, leaks and drains they fix.
- Legionnaires Disease StatisticsLegionnaires disease statistics for 2026: US cases, deaths, outbreak sources, hot water temperatures, building water rules and Europe.Reported US incidence rose from 0.42 cases per 100,000 people in 2000 to a provisional 2.9 in 2025.
- Water Leak StatisticsWater leak statistics for US homes: gallons wasted, which fixtures leak, bill costs and how alerts and smart detectors work.Household leaks can waste nearly 1 trillion gallons of water a year across the United States.
- Wet Wipes Causing Sewer Blockages StatisticsWet wipes causing sewer blockages statistics: share of blockages, fatberg sizes, clearing costs, flushable tests and wipe laws, with sources.Blockages were the reported cause of 48% of US sanitary sewer overflow events with a known cause.
Workforce
Technicians, shortages, pay and who works in the trades.
Home & housing
Water, heat, damage and repairs in the homes plumbers work in.
- Drinking Water StatisticsDrinking water statistics for the US: systems, violations, lead pipes, PFAS, wells, tap vs bottled and costs, from EPA, CDC and USGS.The EPA's drinking water database lists 143,024 active public water systems, and 49,342 of them are community systems that serve the same residents year-round.
- Flood StatisticsFlood statistics for the US: billion-dollar events, deaths, flood insurance gaps, basement flooding and sump pumps, from primary sources.Flooding caused 45 of the 403 US weather disasters that cost $1 billion or more from 1980 to 2024, with losses of $203.3 billion in 2024 dollars.
- Frozen Pipe StatisticsFrozen pipe statistics from insurers, NOAA, FEMA and Texas regulators: claims, cost per claim, storm losses and prevention.State Farm paid more than $628 million on over 20,000 frozen pipe and winter water claims from January 2024 through June 2025, and the average payment topped $30,000.
- Gas Leak StatisticsGas leak statistics for 2026: pipeline incidents, leaks repaired, home gas fires, explosions, carbon monoxide, odorant and repair rules.Gas distribution operators reported 1,547 incidents from 2010 through 2025, with 142 deaths and 652 injuries.
- Septic System StatisticsSeptic system statistics: homes on septic by state, failure rates, pumping, repair costs, water quality and inspection rules, with sources.24.6 million occupied US homes, out of 133.2 million, were on a septic tank or cesspool in 2023.
- Toilet Paper Usage StatisticsToilet paper usage statistics: per-person use, US production and imports, forest impact, bidet adoption and clogs plumbers fix, with sources.World production of household and sanitary paper reached 40 million tonnes in 2024, up 6% from 2020.
- Water Consumption StatisticsWater consumption statistics for 2026: global and US withdrawals, farms and industry, water stress, safe water gaps and forecasts.The world withdrew 3,853 billion cubic meters of freshwater in 2022.
- Water Damage Claims StatisticsWater damage claims statistics: how often homes file, what claims pay, disputes, deadlines and trends from Triple-I, Verisk and regulators.About one in 60 insured homes has a water damage or freezing claim each year, based on Triple-I's calculation from ISO data for 2018 to 2020.
- Water Damage StatisticsWater damage statistics: how many US homes leak, what causes it, what repairs cost, mold risk and prevention, from Census, IBHS and WHO data.Renters reported mold in 5.0% of homes and owners in 1.8%, using the published counts and group totals.
- Water Filter StatisticsWater filter statistics for US homes: hard water, softeners, salt rules, NSF listings, lead and PFAS claims, and market filings.Of the 57.2 million households that answered a 2015 Census Bureau question on tap water safety, 7.4% said their water was not safe to drink, and 64% of those households drank commercial bottled water while 27% drank filtered tap water.
- Water Heater StatisticsWater heater statistics for 2026: fuel, age, size, tankless and heat pump savings, shipments, federal rules and safety, from primary sources.Natural gas heated water in 59.33 million US homes and electricity in 57.04 million, out of 123.53 million occupied homes.
- Water Main Break StatisticsWater main break statistics for the US: breaks per year and per 100 miles, pipe age, winter peaks, water loss, boil advisories and costs.The US and Canada see about 260,000 water main breaks a year, which Utah State University prices at about $2.6 billion in repairs at an assumed $10,000 per break.
- Water Usage StatisticsWater usage statistics for US homes: use per person, indoor and outdoor, fixtures, waste, savings and prices from USGS, EPA and WRF.The average person in the US used 82 gallons of water a day at home in 2015.
Business
Software, customers and the market small plumbing shops sell into.
- CRM Benefits StatisticsCRM benefits statistics for 2026: ROI, time saved, sales, follow-up speed, retention and data quality, from primary sources.CRM returns $3.10 per dollar spent in Nucleus Research's 2023 review of its case studies.
- CRM StatisticsCRM statistics for 2026: market size, adoption by business size, trades, mobile use, AI features and barriers, from primary sources.28.51% of EU enterprises with 10 or more staff used CRM software in 2025.
- Handyman Market StatisticsHandyman market statistics from Census and BLS data: business counts, pay, state license limits and small job demand.135,337 residential remodeler locations had paid staff in 2023, the Census category that holds handyman services.
- Plumbers Using AI Phone Calling 2025 StatisticsPlumbers using AI phone calling 2025 statistics with 2026 updates: trade AI use, AI call answering, customer views and call rules.Only 1.4% of US construction firms used AI in the Census Bureau's 2024 snapshot, which covered September 2023 to February 2024.
- Water Damage Restoration Industry StatisticsWater damage restoration industry statistics: market size, firms, jobs, pay, franchises, insurance work and IICRC rules from Census and BLS.Receipts at US remediation firms rose from $16.08 billion in 2017 to $22.74 billion in 2022.
Method
How these pages are sourced
- 01
Primary sources only
Each number comes from the agency, company or research team that produced it. Pages that repeat other people's numbers are not used.
- 02
Every link opened
We open each source and read the number there. A stat we cannot confirm is dropped.
- 03
Updated every month
We check the sources each month and replace old numbers. The date on a page changes only when its content does.
Want to quote a number? Link to the page or to the original source. Each page ends with a ready-made citation.
Price every job from your own numbers
Work out your hourly rate and price every repair from it. It is free, and there is no signup.