Posted on 10/16/2008 8:53:21 AM PDT by reaganaut1
How much can a good, hard-working plumber earn in a year? I have no idea. Maybe some Freepers do.
What are some other unglamorous jobs, that don't require a college degree, that pay well?
Machinists at Boeing make up to $65000 a year before OT.
http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouthtmls/swzl_compresult_national_SC16000004.html
The median expected salary for a typical Plumber I in the United States is $37,514.
You can see how, if Joe owns a small plumbing business making $255k per year and he hires two or three plumbers, a tax increase can kill his business or get one of his plumbers fired.
Founder of Microsoft.
Senator............
Looking at the job they do, I'd say every penny.
IT DOESN’T MATTER! It’s not about one plumber. It’s about how much a plumbing firm with a handful of employees can earn, and how much the owner will have to take out to service the debt he’ll have to take on in order to buy the business.
I used to live in a fairly nice neighborhood in which the largest, nicest home was owned by a plumber. The house was huge, a real McMansion. So I think if you own a plumbing business (as opposed to just being an individual plumber), you can do quite well.
A customer of mine sells commercial trucks in a small city nearby. He made close to $100,000 last year.
If you can sell, you'll never go hungry, and you'll often do very well, indeed.
;>)
TV News Anchor
Good friend of mine started as a solo plumber out of UGA. (he got his biz degree).
He is now worth millions and I think he owns about 30% of south Georgia’s good hunting lands.
But he’s 50 now. He WORKED and EARNED his way to wealth; it was not spread to him.
A good plumber that owns his own business and is a one man operation can make $150K-$200K a year. If he works hard. Electricians can do a bit better than that.
I’m a general contractor for 30 years, know a lot of tradesmen, so I’m pretty sure of those numbers.
DEM VP candidate...............
LMAO!!!
Yes but a qualified machinist also has to be very well versed in mathematics. I know first hand, being a former machinist.
In the “trades” they are known as “$#!T Directors” and do quite well.
With the exception of Electricians, they are probably the highest paid contractors when it comes to new residential and commercial buildings.
There are many skilled tradesmen (craftsmen) who make a very good living especially when they aspire to their own business. The liberal elite will work to end this possibility. To them being a government worker is the ultimate (and when you consider the Bennies and retirement, even that can be lucrative. I don’t begrudge the hard working ones (and there are many), but there are many doing nothing and getting above average wages. Plumbers and electricians etc only get paid when they produce.
He talks about buying more trucks, hiring more people, getting more equipment, etc. He could easily make $400,000 a year AS A BUSINESS - how much he pays himself is up to him.
Plumbers who own their own business, who hire other plumbers, who get a good reputation for good service, who are generally good businessmen...I’d say they could outearn doctors. Certainly some contractors I know have very nice houses and drive very nice cars.
If one thinks that plumbers are little, well, not so smart, try taking a look at plumbing licence exam.
It’s not an easy test to pass.
I know a welder who made over $300,000 last year.
Most plumbers making over $250K have 3+ employees/subcontractors.
Under Obama many will need to reduce their workforce 20%.
Nursing home administrator doesn’t require a degree and salaries vary between $60,000 and mid $200,000s.
http://www.michigan.gov/healthcareers/0,1607,7-221-39742-64785—,00.html
I beleive Pipefitters make good money....
That's not very much money for a hard, dirty, sweaty, all hours of the day and night (plus weekends) job.
I am CEO of two companies, so I know about that which I speak.
A dock worker sitting in a crane all day at the LA Ports unloading cargo makes over $100,000. A sheriff, in OC with overtime has made over $150,000.
But we are not talking about a plumber, owning a large plumbing company with several plumbers working for you is very lucrative. If you listen to Joe the Plumber, its about taking his money and giving it to someone else that is the issue. Why should he be taxed 39% of his income when another American pays nothing for their government.
A great way to encourage people NOT to go to the next level.
Run for Congress.
after 5 years on the job the base pay goes up to around $75,000 but wwith overtime and night differential it'll be easy to make $100,000.
full benefits and pension.
I am a 36 year machinist. At Boeing. I know what they need, and I did it all without a college degree. That is the question at hand.
My cousin’s husband is a plumber in the Denver. He eventually ended up starting and owning his own plumbing business and has 70 plumbers working for him. Needless to say, he is loaded. My cousin was an assistant district attorney in the area and she quit to help run the business. My uncle always says that his son-in-law in the only one in the family without a college education and he is the richest one of us all.
I don’t know how much plumbers earn, but I can tell you two stories:
1. When I was married to a man who was an executive with a major multinational corporation, we lived in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the US. A plumber bought the house across the street from us.
2. Some months ago I had occasion to get an estimate on a plumbing job, the installation of a sink, garbage disposal, and new faucets on existing lines, then connect everything to the new dishwasher. I was quoted $1360, I believe. Could have been a few dollars more. I was appalled and told the plumber that I’d pass. I did the installation myself in a couple of hours, slowed somewhat because people in this family kept asking me to make them dinner and help with their homework and what-not. Doubtless as a pro with proper tools the plumber could have gotten the things installed in less than an hour.
Note that $1300 an hour is more than a surgeon makes.
While America is still America, they can earn whatever they can at prices that the market will bear.
That depends..............
“I know a welder who made over $300,000 last year.
Most plumbers making over $250K have 3+ employees/subcontractors.
Under Obama many will need to reduce their workforce 20%.”
OR... the plumbing companies will raise prices to pay the tax man... businesses don’t pay taxes, customers pay the tax...
One of my colleagues, a Georgia Tech grad, decided programming was not for him and bought a tow truck. In three years, he owned a fleet of them and was well on his way to being a millionaire.
In MA an electrician made $288,000 of course he worked on the big dig and was the father of a democrat state senator but I am sure that is just a coincidence
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1904813/posts
Hey Joe, that's not profit. (what you pay taxes on). Cost of sales include transportation, insurance, health care,among other things. The taxable income on these rates is more like $20 to $30.
You win.
I would not exactly condider Bill Gates founding of Microsoft and his resulting billions as "unglamorous".
Not being from the trades in my family, I kind of envy their doing clearly useful, necessary things with noisy rigs and getting to be outdoors...at least in nice weather.
I wouldn't be a roofer, though. When I have work on my roof done, my nerves are shot. And I have asked every roofing contractor "Why don't you engineer some safety rigs, like rappelling..."
Now THAT was funny!!
Thanks!
That ends in late January of next year from what I'm hearing on the idiot box.
Who gives a crap?
Are we communists who decide what each job classification should make? You are a prole, so you have our elitist sympathy and $10 per hour? And there you stay for the rest of your life!?
Joe might create the next great plumbing franchise for the USA and make $100 million. Good for him.
About 15 years ago, truck drivers for one of the grocery chains went on strike, enraged that they were averaging a mere 80K a year (with overtime).
By now they are probably in the six figures.
His company employs 65 guys. Last year the business grossed near $8 million.
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