{
  "dataset": "What the home-service trades actually pay, by BLS",
  "url": "https://husky-digital.com/research/home-service-trades-workforce/",
  "published": "2026-09-09",
  "lastVerified": "2026-09-09",
  "licence": "CC BY 4.0 — reuse with attribution and a link",
  "publisher": "Husky Digital",
  "method": [
    "Every wage and employment figure in this dataset comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles tool, and every figure was re-opened by hand in a browser, not by a script. Two things make that necessary. First, bls.gov answers a plain HTTP request — the kind an automated verification script sends — with a 403 Access Denied page, whether the URL is the OEWS profile tool or a static Occupational Outlook Handbook page; we confirmed this ourselves by fetching the Business Employment Dynamics survival table the same way and getting the same block. Second, and specific to OEWS: the classic per-occupation wage pages (bls.gov/oes/current/oesNNNNNN.htm) have been retired and now redirect to a generic index. The actual numbers live at data.bls.gov/oesprofile, which builds its tables with JavaScript after the page loads — a script that only reads the initial HTML sees an empty shell with no numbers in it at all. Anyone maintaining a copy of this data should expect the same: a plain script fetch will not get you May 2025 OEWS numbers, and even a headless browser needs to wait for the profile table to render before scraping it.",
    "Growth projections for plumbers, electricians, and HVAC mechanics — the three trades that got full treatment (employment, wage, and growth) — come from the matching Occupational Outlook Handbook pages, on BLS's 2025-2035 projection cycle. That's a newer cycle than 2024-2034; BLS had already rolled the Handbook over to 2025-2035 by the time this dataset was assembled. The seven remaining trades get one representative wage or employment figure each rather than the full three-metric treatment, to keep the row count workable rather than thinly repeating every metric for every trade.",
    "Two systematic disagreements are documented rather than resolved, because they aren't errors — they're two BLS programs measuring different universes. OEWS is an establishment payroll survey and excludes the self-employed; the Occupational Outlook Handbook's 'Number of Jobs' figure comes from BLS's Employment Projections program, which uses a broader method and counts the self-employed, so it runs consistently higher for the same occupation and year. That gap matters most for trades built on one-van operators — general contractors, cleaners, landscapers — where a meaningful share of the workforce simply isn't in OEWS's count."
  ],
  "rows": [
    {
      "id": "plumbers-employment",
      "metric": "National employment, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters (SOC 47-2152) — wage-survey count, excludes self-employed",
      "value": "465,840",
      "valueNumeric": 465840,
      "unit": "workers",
      "period": "May 2025 OEWS",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles",
        "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=470000&occupation=472152&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "National estimates for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters — Employment: 465,840; Employment Relative Standard Error: 1.3%",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "OEWS is an establishment survey; it excludes the self-employed. The Occupational Outlook Handbook's 'Number of Jobs' figure for the same occupation, from BLS's separate Employment Projections program, runs higher — see the disagreement below."
    },
    {
      "id": "plumbers-median-hourly-wage",
      "metric": "Median hourly wage, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters (SOC 47-2152), all industries, nationwide",
      "value": "$30.67",
      "valueNumeric": 30.67,
      "unit": "per hour",
      "period": "May 2025 OEWS",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles",
        "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=470000&occupation=472152&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "Percentile 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% / Hourly Wage $21.22 $24.13 $30.67 $40.92 $52.13 (50th percentile = median); Mean Hourly Wage $34.70, Mean Annual Wage $72,170",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "Median annual wage for the same occupation is $63,800; the mean (average), $72,170, is pulled up by top earners and owner-operators who bill themselves as tradespeople."
    },
    {
      "id": "plumbers-job-growth-2025-35",
      "metric": "Projected employment growth, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, 2025-2035",
      "value": "+7% / +34,500 jobs",
      "valueNumeric": 7,
      "period": "2025-2035, BLS Employment Projections",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook",
        "url": "https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters.htm",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "Employment of plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters is projected to grow 7 percent from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the average for all occupations. About 42,000 openings for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters are projected each year, on average, over the decade.",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "The same Handbook page's Quick Facts list a 2025 employment base of 510,600 — higher than the OEWS wage-survey count above — and most of the roughly 42,000 openings projected each year come from replacing workers who leave the trade, not from net growth."
    },
    {
      "id": "electricians-employment",
      "metric": "National employment, electricians (SOC 47-2111) — wage-survey count, excludes self-employed",
      "value": "757,220",
      "valueNumeric": 757220,
      "unit": "workers",
      "period": "May 2025 OEWS",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles",
        "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=470000&occupation=472111&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "National estimates for electricians — Employment: 757,220; Employment Relative Standard Error: 0.8%",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "Excludes self-employed electricians; the Handbook's Employment Projections-based 'Number of Jobs' figure for the same occupation is higher (see disagreements)."
    },
    {
      "id": "electricians-median-hourly-wage",
      "metric": "Median hourly wage, electricians (SOC 47-2111), all industries, nationwide",
      "value": "$30.38",
      "valueNumeric": 30.38,
      "unit": "per hour",
      "period": "May 2025 OEWS",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles",
        "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=470000&occupation=472111&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "Percentile 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% / Hourly Wage $20.50 $23.76 $30.38 $40.36 $52.17; Mean Hourly Wage $34.37, Mean Annual Wage $71,490",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "Median annual wage for the same occupation is $63,190 — essentially tied with plumbers."
    },
    {
      "id": "electricians-job-growth-2025-35",
      "metric": "Projected employment growth, electricians, 2025-2035",
      "value": "+9% / +75,900 jobs",
      "valueNumeric": 9,
      "period": "2025-2035, BLS Employment Projections",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook",
        "url": "https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/electricians.htm",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "Employment of electricians is projected to grow 9 percent from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the average for all occupations. About 72,700 openings for electricians are projected each year, on average, over the decade.",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "Quick Facts on the same page list a 2025 employment base of 821,000 — again higher than the OEWS wage-survey figure above, for the same OEWS-vs-Employment-Projections reason."
    },
    {
      "id": "hvac-employment",
      "metric": "National employment, heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers (SOC 49-9021) — wage-survey count",
      "value": "409,670",
      "valueNumeric": 409670,
      "unit": "workers",
      "period": "May 2025 OEWS",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles",
        "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=490000&occupation=499021&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "National estimates for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers — Employment: 409,670; Employment Relative Standard Error: 1.3%",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "Covers HVAC mechanics and installers only — not sales, design, or ductwork-fabrication roles, which BLS classifies elsewhere."
    },
    {
      "id": "hvac-median-hourly-wage",
      "metric": "Median hourly wage, heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers (SOC 49-9021), nationwide",
      "value": "$29.33",
      "valueNumeric": 29.33,
      "unit": "per hour",
      "period": "May 2025 OEWS",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles",
        "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=490000&occupation=499021&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "Percentile 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% / Hourly Wage $19.25 $23.25 $29.33 $37.05 $45.78; Mean Hourly Wage $31.14, Mean Annual Wage $64,780",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "Median annual wage for the same occupation is $61,010, confirmed on the matching Occupational Outlook Handbook page, whose Job Outlook section puts 2025-35 growth at 11%, 48,200 new jobs, and about 40,600 openings a year — the fastest of the three classic trades measured here."
    },
    {
      "id": "painters-median-hourly-wage",
      "metric": "Median hourly wage, painters, construction and maintenance (SOC 47-2141), nationwide",
      "value": "$23.75",
      "valueNumeric": 23.75,
      "unit": "per hour",
      "period": "May 2025 OEWS",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles",
        "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=470000&occupation=472141&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "Percentile 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% / Hourly Wage $18.00 $21.46 $23.75 $29.65 $37.89; National employment 225,190; Mean Hourly Wage $26.64, Mean Annual Wage $55,420",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "Excludes paperhangers, tracked under a separate SOC code (47-2142). National employment for painters is 225,190."
    },
    {
      "id": "roofers-median-hourly-wage",
      "metric": "Median hourly wage, roofers (SOC 47-2181), nationwide",
      "value": "$26.65",
      "valueNumeric": 26.65,
      "unit": "per hour",
      "period": "May 2025 OEWS",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles",
        "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=470000&occupation=472181&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "Percentile 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% / Hourly Wage $18.01 $22.24 $26.65 $31.44 $39.29; National employment 135,490; Mean Hourly Wage $27.95, Mean Annual Wage $58,140",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "Roofing is the smallest of the ten trades in this dataset by national headcount — 135,490 workers — concentrated heavily in Florida and California."
    },
    {
      "id": "carpenters-median-hourly-wage",
      "metric": "Median hourly wage, carpenters (SOC 47-2031), nationwide",
      "value": "$29.12",
      "valueNumeric": 29.12,
      "unit": "per hour",
      "period": "May 2025 OEWS",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles",
        "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=470000&occupation=472031&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "Percentile 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% / Hourly Wage $19.43 $23.32 $29.12 $36.94 $48.03; National employment 670,090; Mean Hourly Wage $31.55, Mean Annual Wage $65,630",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "Carpenters are the second-largest construction trade by headcount in this dataset after electricians, at 670,090 nationally."
    },
    {
      "id": "maids-median-annual-wage",
      "metric": "Median annual wage, maids and housekeeping cleaners (SOC 37-2012), nationwide",
      "value": "$35,510",
      "valueNumeric": 35510,
      "unit": "per year",
      "period": "May 2025 OEWS",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles",
        "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=370000&occupation=372012&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "Percentile 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% / Annual Wage $27,640 $30,350 $35,510 $39,590 $48,570; Mean Hourly Wage $17.83, Mean Annual Wage $37,080",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "OEWS national employment for this occupation is 860,670; the Occupational Outlook Handbook's Employment Projections figure for the same occupation is notably higher — see disagreements."
    },
    {
      "id": "landscaping-median-hourly-wage",
      "metric": "Median hourly wage, landscaping and groundskeeping workers (SOC 37-3011), nationwide",
      "value": "$18.82",
      "valueNumeric": 18.82,
      "unit": "per hour",
      "period": "May 2025 OEWS",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles",
        "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=370000&occupation=373011&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "Percentile 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% / Hourly Wage $14.98 $17.40 $18.82 $22.52 $27.28; National employment 952,640; Mean Hourly Wage $20.33, Mean Annual Wage $42,290",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "This is the narrow SOC 37-3011 occupation only. The related Occupational Outlook Handbook page 'Grounds Maintenance Workers' reports growth for the broader SOC 37-3000 group, which also includes tree trimmers and pesticide applicators, so its growth figure isn't a like-for-like match and isn't quoted here."
    },
    {
      "id": "general-maintenance-employment",
      "metric": "National employment, maintenance and repair workers, general (SOC 49-9071) — wage-survey count",
      "value": "1,529,700",
      "valueNumeric": 1529700,
      "unit": "workers",
      "period": "May 2025 OEWS",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles",
        "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=490000&occupation=499071&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "National estimates for maintenance and repair workers, general — Employment: 1,529,700; Employment Relative Standard Error: 0.5%",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "This is the single largest occupation of the ten measured here. It's a generalist role — a mix of two or more maintenance or craft skills, plumbing plus carpentry plus electrical, for example — concentrated in real estate, local government, and hospitality, not a licensed single-trade specialist."
    },
    {
      "id": "first-line-supervisors-median-annual-wage",
      "metric": "Median annual wage, first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (SOC 47-1011), nationwide",
      "value": "$79,920",
      "valueNumeric": 79920,
      "unit": "per year",
      "period": "May 2025 OEWS",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Profiles",
        "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=470000&occupation=471011&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "Percentile 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% / Annual Wage $53,280 $63,400 $79,920 $101,460 $128,260; National employment 812,210; Mean Hourly Wage $41.56, Mean Annual Wage $86,450",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "This is the highest-paid occupation of the ten measured here. It covers supervisors and foremen across all construction trades, not owners or general contractors as a business classification."
    },
    {
      "id": "construction-establishment-5yr-survival-rate",
      "metric": "Share of new construction establishments (NAICS 23) still operating five years after opening",
      "value": "56.5%",
      "valueNumeric": 56.5,
      "unit": "still open at year 5",
      "period": "Establishments opened year ended March 2020, tracked to year ended March 2025 — the most recent cohort with a full 5-year figure",
      "source": {
        "name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics, Establishment Age and Survival Data",
        "url": "https://www.bls.gov/bdm/us_age_naics_23_table7.txt",
        "type": "government"
      },
      "quote": "March 2020          57,753         215,627            100.0               _                  3.7 / March 2025          32,608         203,715             56.5             91.0                 6.2",
      "accessed": "2026-09-09",
      "verification": "manual",
      "note": "57,753 construction establishments opened in the year ended March 2020; 32,608 of them (56.5%) were still open five years later. BLS doesn't break this out by home-service trade."
    }
  ],
  "disagreements": [
    {
      "topic": "How many plumbers, electricians, and HVAC mechanics actually work in the U.S. — OEWS wage-survey employment vs. the Occupational Outlook Handbook's 'Number of Jobs'",
      "positions": [
        {
          "sourceName": "BLS OEWS Profiles (wage survey)",
          "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=470000&occupation=472152&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
          "value": "465,840 plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters",
          "period": "May 2025"
        },
        {
          "sourceName": "BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters (Quick Facts)",
          "url": "https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters.htm",
          "value": "510,600 ('Number of Jobs, 2025')",
          "period": "2025"
        },
        {
          "sourceName": "BLS OEWS Profiles (wage survey)",
          "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=470000&occupation=472111&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
          "value": "757,220 electricians",
          "period": "May 2025"
        },
        {
          "sourceName": "BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Electricians (Quick Facts)",
          "url": "https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/electricians.htm",
          "value": "821,000 ('Number of Jobs, 2025')",
          "period": "2025"
        },
        {
          "sourceName": "BLS OEWS Profiles (wage survey)",
          "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=490000&occupation=499021&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
          "value": "409,670 HVAC mechanics and installers",
          "period": "May 2025"
        },
        {
          "sourceName": "BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers (Quick Facts)",
          "url": "https://www.bls.gov/ooh/installation-maintenance-and-repair/heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers.htm",
          "value": "440,900 ('Number of Jobs, 2025')",
          "period": "2025"
        }
      ],
      "why": "OEWS is an establishment-based wage survey that excludes the self-employed. The 'Number of Jobs' figure in the Occupational Outlook Handbook comes from BLS's separate Employment Projections program and its National Employment Matrix, which uses a different method and counts the self-employed — so it runs consistently higher than the matching OEWS count for the same occupation and year. In a trade full of one-van operators, that's not a rounding error — it's the size of the informal workforce OEWS never sees."
    },
    {
      "topic": "How many maids and housekeeping cleaners work in the U.S. — the gap here is proportionally larger than for the construction trades above",
      "positions": [
        {
          "sourceName": "BLS OEWS Profiles (wage survey)",
          "url": "https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=370000&occupation=372012&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY,STATE,MSA",
          "value": "860,670",
          "period": "May 2025"
        },
        {
          "sourceName": "BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Data for Occupations Not Covered in Detail",
          "url": "https://www.bls.gov/ooh/about/data-for-occupations-not-covered-in-detail.htm",
          "value": "1,332,100 ('2025 employment')",
          "period": "2025"
        }
      ],
      "why": "Same OEWS-vs-Employment-Projections split as above, but the gap — about 55% — is far wider for this occupation than for the construction trades, likely reflecting a larger share of self-employed and informally arranged domestic cleaning work that OEWS's establishment survey simply doesn't capture."
    }
  ],
  "dropped": [
    {
      "claim": "OEWS occupation wage data at the classic per-occupation URL format (bls.gov/oes/current/oesNNNNNN.htm and the year-specific bls.gov/oes/2025/may/oesNNNNNN.htm)",
      "why": "Both URL patterns now redirect to a generic OEWS Tables index page instead of occupation-specific data — confirmed by opening bls.gov/oes/current/oes472152.htm directly. BLS moved individual occupation wage data behind the JavaScript-rendered profile tool at data.bls.gov/oesprofile, which every OEWS row in this dataset cites instead."
    },
    {
      "claim": "Projected 2025-2035 job growth, absolute employment change, and annual openings for first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (SOC 47-1011)",
      "why": "No Occupational Outlook Handbook narrative page exists for this occupation — a guessed URL at the standard construction-and-extraction path returned a blank page, confirmed by opening it directly — and it doesn't appear on BLS's 'Data for Occupations Not Covered in Detail' summary page either. No projection figure could be verified."
    },
    {
      "claim": "Annual average job openings for maids and housekeeping cleaners (SOC 37-2012)",
      "why": "The only BLS projections source for this occupation is the 'Data for Occupations Not Covered in Detail' page, which publishes 2025 employment, median wage, and 2025-35 employment change and growth rate — confirmed manually — but no annual-openings figure the way full Occupational Outlook Handbook occupation pages do."
    },
    {
      "claim": "2025-2035 job growth for painters, roofers, and carpenters",
      "why": "Not attempted — out of scope for this row budget. Occupational Outlook Handbook pages exist for all three and likely carry a verifiable Job Outlook section; flagged for a follow-up pass if more growth rows are wanted."
    }
  ]
}