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Boston Career Explorer

Construction and Extraction

Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

Help plumbers, pipefitters, steamfitters, or pipelayers by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include using, supplying, or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.

Also called: Pipefitter Helper, Plumber Apprentice, Plumber Assistant, Plumber Helper, Plumbing Apprentice, Plumbing Helper

Median pay in Greater Boston
$44,360
$21.33/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
Not published
Massachusetts 2024–2034
Not published
Typical U.S. entry requirement
High school diploma or equivalent
plus Short-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$41,430$43,790$44,360$49,870$59,360

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Fit or assist in fitting valves, couplings, or assemblies to tanks, pumps, or systems, using hand tools.
  • Mount brackets and hangers on walls and ceilings to hold pipes, and set sleeves or inserts to provide support for pipes.
  • Perform rough-ins, repair and replace fixtures and water heaters, and locate, repair, or remove leaking or broken pipes.
  • Cut pipe and lift up to fitters.
  • Measure, cut, thread and assemble new pipe, placing the assembled pipe in hangers or other supports.
  • Assist pipe fitters in the layout, assembly, and installation of piping for air, ammonia, gas, and water systems.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Lower exposure3 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 3
  • Language-model AIOE 3
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 3

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is low, and observed AI use is little or none. The work is physical: cutting and fitting pipe, mounting hangers, and finding leaks. AI tools do not do these tasks. Federal projections note that construction laborers are increasingly assigned helper tasks, which is a separate change from AI.

Likely to change

  • Digital tools for planning pipe layouts
  • Tracking materials and supplies

Still relies on people

  • Cutting, threading, and fitting pipe by hand
  • Finding and fixing leaks on site

What federal projections say

“Occupational substitution - share decreases as construction laborers are increasingly assigned helpers tasks because they can support various trades, including pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

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    Working from measurements and using hand tools carry over. This apprenticeship path has a Boston median pay of $120,840.

    Pay difference
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    AI exposure
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    To get started
    High school diploma or equivalent

  • Brickmasons and Blockmasons

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  • Roofers

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.

Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.

Related occupations

Talk to a career coach

A coach at the Office of Workforce Development can help you plan your next step, and connect you with training, apprenticeships and City partner programs that are not listed here.

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