WestwardAI Consulting

Local market data · Plumbers · Chicago

AI for plumbers in Chicago

The Chicago metro area had 3,093 plumbers in 2022, the 3rd most of 387 US metros and 3% of all in the country. They employed 30,287 people at an average of $83,854 a year. 80% have fewer than 10 staff, so the same few people answer the phone, book, follow up and do the paperwork. Those are the jobs AI tools take on today.

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Plumbers in Chicago vs the US

Chicago metroUnited States
Businesses3,093109,601
People employed30,2871,176,759
Average staff per business9.810.7
Average yearly pay per employee$83,854$69,883
Share with fewer than 10 staff80%77%

Pay here is 20% higher than the national average for plumbers, so every hour of staff time costs more to spend on admin. The average plumbing company here has 9.8 people on payroll, 9% lower than the US figure of 10.7.

How big plumbers in Chicago are

Fewer than 5 staff1,989 (64%) US 58%
5 to 9490 (16%) US 19%
10 to 19331 (11%) US 12%
20 to 49180 (6%) US 7%
50 or more100 (3%) US 4%

Businesses with paid employees, by number of employees, March 2022.

Plumbers by county in the Chicago area

Cook County has the most, with 1,400 of the metro's 3,093 (45%). Among the 10 big metros on this page, Chicago ranks 2nd for average pay and 3rd for the share of small firms.

CountyBusinessesEmployeesAvg pay
Cook County1,40015,102$81,813
DuPage County4004,519$86,296
Will County2872,530$94,726
Lake County2852,198$80,093
Kane County2371,926$84,228
McHenry County1701,160$82,823
Lake County1311,615$93,657
Porter County67511$67,427
Kendall County48250$61,572
DeKalb County34200$78,155
Grundy County18215$97,693
Jasper County1458$40,466

Census withholds pay where few firms would make it identifiable.

Where AI helps a plumbing company first

A plumber should automate the phone first, because every call you miss while under a sink is a job that goes to the next name on Google. After that come quotes, dispatch notes and follow-up on estimates. AI sorts and drafts, and you stay in charge of diagnosis, safety and price.

What your team's admin hours cost in Chicago

Change any number. The starting values are the Chicago averages above; the hours and the share are yours to set.

Those hours cost you$160,000 a year

The share you would hand off$48,000 a year

Hours your team gets back1,200 a year

See what we would build for this

Guides for plumbers, one job each

Plumbers in other big metros

MetroBusinessesAvg payRank of 387
Los Angeles3,681$76,3312nd
New York7,675$77,9061st
Miami2,568$56,1244th
Dallas2,336$71,4685th
Houston1,890$70,0788th
Atlanta1,783$69,3019th
Washington1,663$76,18911th
Philadelphia2,113$80,5937th
Boston2,179$89,8616th

Where these numbers come from

From the U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (released 2024), industry code NAICS 238220 (Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors), for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area (13 counties). It counts businesses with paid employees in March 2022, so solo owners with no payroll are not in it. Average pay is total yearly payroll divided by employees. The calculator uses 50 working weeks and 2,080 hours a year. Page checked 2026-11-12.

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A free 30-minute call. You leave knowing which part of your plumbing company to hand to AI first, what we would build, and roughly how long it takes.

Related businesses in Chicago

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