What Plumbers Charge in 2026: Hourly Rates and Job Prices
- Weekday labor runs $75 to $150 an hour, and the trip fee to get a truck out is another $50 to $250.
- After-hours work is 1.5 to 3 times the daytime price: roughly $100 to $500 an hour, plus a $150 to $300 fee.
- A toilet repair is $150 to $391. A whole new toilet, installed, is $350 to $800.
- A leak you can reach costs $100 to $500. The same leak inside a wall runs $500 to $5,000 or more.
Nobody pays only the hourly rate
Ordinary work, weekday, daylight hours: $75 to $150 an hour. That's the band most homeowners land in. Nationally the spread is wider, roughly $45 to $200 an hour, and where you fall in it depends on your metro area, the license of whoever walks through the door, and how ugly the access is. Then there is the part people forget. Almost every shop charges a service call fee just to put a truck in your driveway, usually $50 to $250, and some quote a $100 to $250 dispatch charge that swallows the first hour of labor. Nobody pays only the hourly rate.
Close the stop valve and clear the path
The clock starts when the van pulls up. A plumber hunting for your shutoff valve, or hauling supplies out from under your sink, bills at the same rate as one fixing the leak.
- Find your main water shutoff and close it. If the handle won't budge, that's the first thing you say on the phone.
- Close the stop valve under the leaking fixture. Most drips stop right there, and a nighttime emergency turns into a weekday appointment.
- Clear the cabinet under the sink and the path to the water heater or the floor cleanout.
- Photograph the leak, the fixture, and the model sticker on the tank. Texted pictures get you a tighter number over the phone than any description does.
What's actually on the invoice
Three lines: the trip fee, labor, parts. The trip fee pays for the truck, the drive, and the diagnosis. Some shops bill it no matter what. Some credit it toward the repair once you approve the work. Labor depends on who they send. A journeyman handles most residential calls at $80 to $130 an hour. A master plumber — the license level you need for permits, gas lines, and a re-pipe — runs $120 to $200 an hour. Plenty of shops skip the clock and quote a flat per-task price instead. Neither model is dishonest. They move the risk to different people, which is why two bids on the same kitchen can read like they're about different houses.
"Is the service call fee credited toward the repair if I approve the work?" Write down the answer and who gave it. A dispatcher who won't answer that on the phone will not get clearer once the van arrives.
Faucets, toilets, drains — and how little the parts cost
Notice how much of this is labor, not parts. A leaky faucet runs $75 to $250, and the cartridge inside costs almost nothing — you're paying for the visit. Toilets mostly sit between $150 and $391, and what broke decides where you land: a flapper or fill valve is the low end at $50 to $150, a fresh wax ring under the bowl runs $50 to $200, and a whole new toilet, unit and labor together, is $350 to $800. Drains price by where the clog sits, not by how badly it is wrecking your evening. One slow sink, tub, or toilet clears for $100 to $275. Out at the main line it's $175 to $600. Roots, or years of grease, and you're hydro jetting: $600 to $1,400. Ask which one is in your quote. Water heater repairs land between $228 and $1,017, and replacing the tank runs $600 to $2,500 installed — HomeGuide puts a leaking-tank swap at $600 to $1,800, Angi at $850 to $1,800, and NerdWallet a standard 40- to 50-gallon unit at $1,200 to $2,500.
| Job | Typical range (2026) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Service call fee | $50–$250 | Sometimes credited back once you approve the work |
| Leaky faucet repair | $75–$250 | Cartridge, washers, O-rings — mostly labor |
| Toilet repair | $150–$391 | Flapper, fill valve, or a fresh wax ring |
| Toilet replacement | $350–$800 | Unit and labor for a standard swap |
| Clogged drain, one fixture | $100–$275 | Snaking a sink, tub, or toilet |
| Main drain line snaking | $175–$600 | Hydro jetting runs $600–$1,400 |
| Water heater repair | $228–$1,017 | Elements, thermostats, valves |
| Tank water heater replacement | $600–$2,500 | HomeGuide $600–$1,800, Angi $850–$1,800, NerdWallet $1,200–$2,500 installed |
Pipes, and what the clock costs you
Pipe work has the widest spread on the list, and the reason is drywall. A leak you can see and reach is often $100 to $500. A burst pipe is $400 to $2,000. The same leak inside a wall is $500 to $5,000 or more, because now somebody is opening the wall, drying it out, and putting it back. Timing is the other lever, and it's the one you control. After-hours plumbers run roughly $100 to $500 an hour on top of a $150 to $300 after-hours fee — 1.5 to 3 times what you'd pay on a weekday morning. If you can kill the water and sleep on it, sleep on it.
Why one bid is double the other
A quote at half the price of another doesn't mean anyone is lying to you. An hourly shop bills the time it actually spends; a flat-rate shop prices in the risk that the job runs long. Diagnoses differ too: one plumber patches a corroded section, the next replaces the whole run. Then there's scope, and scope is what gets people. A water heater bid with the permit, the haul-away, an expansion tank, and a drip pan in it is not the same product as one that leaves all four out. Read the line items. The number at the bottom tells you almost nothing.
Flat rate or hourly, and which one is on your side
Short and predictable? Hourly usually wins — a fill valve, a faucet cartridge, you pay for the hour it takes. Unknowns in the job? Take the flat rate. Old galvanized pipe, roots in the sewer, anything living behind drywall: if the work runs twice as long as planned, that's the contractor's problem and not your invoice. Two questions settle it. What exactly is inside this number, and what happens to it if the job turns out bigger than anyone thought?
When the after-hours money is worth paying
Some things genuinely don't wait until morning.
- Water you can't shut off anywhere in the house.
- Sewage backing up into the house.
- A gas smell near the water heater. Leave first, then call the utility, not a plumber.
- A pipe about to burst in a hard freeze.
A dripping faucet, a running toilet, one slow drain: close that fixture's stop valve and the emergency becomes an ordinary appointment at ordinary rates.
Questions people ask
How much does a plumber cost per hour in 2026?
Weekday, daytime, ordinary work: $75 to $150 an hour. Nationally it stretches from about $45 to $200, depending on the metro area and how awkward the job is. Who they send matters too. A journeyman bills $80 to $130 an hour; a master plumber, the license you need for permits and gas lines, bills $120 to $200. The service call fee sits on top.
Do plumbers charge just to come out?
Almost always. The service call fee usually runs $50 to $250 and covers the truck, the drive, and the diagnosis. Some shops quote $100 to $250 instead and fold the first hour of work into it. Ask on the phone whether the fee is credited toward the repair if you approve it. On a small job, that one answer moves the total.
How much more does a plumber cost at night?
Expect roughly $100 to $500 an hour, plus a $150 to $300 after-hours fee. That's 1.5 to 3 times what the same repair costs on a weekday morning. So the real question is not the price. It's whether you can shut the water off and wait, and for a drip or a running toilet you almost always can.
How much does it cost to replace a 40 gallon water heater?
Replacing the tank runs $600 to $2,500 installed: HomeGuide $600 to $1,800 for a leaking tank, Angi $850 to $1,800, NerdWallet $1,200 to $2,500 for a standard 40- to 50-gallon unit. Repairs cost far less, landing between $228 and $1,017. If you are replacing, check what is inside the bid: the permit, haul-away, an expansion tank, a drip pan. Leaving those out is how a low bid gets low, and you'll pay for them either way.
- Find your main water shutoff now, and turn it far enough to know it still moves
- Ask whether the service call fee is credited toward the repair, and get that on the estimate
- Flat rate or hourly? Ask which one you're being quoted, and what is inside the number
- Bundle small fixes into one visit so they ride on a trip fee you're already paying
- Clear the cabinet, the water heater, and the cleanout before anyone arrives
- Confirm the after-hours surcharge before you accept a night or weekend slot
- Get a second written estimate on water heaters, main lines, and anything inside a wall
- Permits and gas lines need a master plumber. Don't take a journeyman price on that work
Every dollar figure on this page comes from a published source, listed below. Ranges are national unless a state is named, and real prices vary by region, by the age and size of the system, and by how quickly the work is needed. We update this page when the underlying sources change. Spotted something wrong? Write to contact@homegradereport.com and name the page — corrections are made on the page itself.
- The national average rate to hire a plumber is $75–$150 per hour — fixr.com
- Plumber hourly rates range from roughly $45 to $200 nationally depending on service type and complexity — homeguide.com
- Journeyman plumbers typically charge $80–$130 per hour; master plumbers charge $120–$200 per hour — homeguide.com
- Service call fees typically run $50–$250 in addition to labor — homeguide.com
- Service call fees of $100–$250 usually include the first hour of work — angi.com
- Emergency plumbers charge $100–$500 per hour, averaging about $200 per hour, and most add a $150–$250 service fee for calls outside business hours — homeguide.com
- Flat emergency service or trip fee of about $150–$300; emergency work runs roughly 1.5x–3x standard rates, with weeknight after-hours calls near 1.5x and weekend or holiday calls 2–3x; hourly rates about $60–$300 on a weekday evening, $80–$400 on a weekend, $120–$600 on a holiday — angi.com
- Repairing a leaky faucet typically costs $75–$250 — consumeraffairs.com
- Toilet repairs typically range from $150 to $391 — angi.com
- Toilet valve replacements cost $50–$150; a new wax ring installation or repair costs $50–$200 — angi.com
- Toilet installation costs $350–$800 on average for the unit and plumbing labor — angi.com
- Unclogging a simple sink, tub, or toilet drain costs about $100–$275 — homeguide.com
- Snaking a main drain line or complex blockage runs about $175–$600 — homeadvisor.com
- Severe blockages requiring hydro jetting raise sewer cleaning prices to $600–$1,400 — homeguide.com
- Most professional water heater repairs cost $228–$1,017 nationally (2026 verified project data) — angi.com
- Replacing a standard 40- to 50-gallon tank water heater typically costs $1,200–$2,500 installed — nerdwallet.com
- Water heater leak repair costs $100–$1,000 depending on the source; a leaking tank typically requires replacement at $600–$1,800 — homeguide.com
- Replacing a leaking water heater tank runs $850–$1,800 — angi.com
- Burst pipe repair costs $400–$2,000 on average including materials and labor — homeguide.com
- Accessible pipe leaks cost $100–$500 to repair; leaks inside a wall run $500–$5,000+ — homeguide.com
- Plumbers bill either by the hour or at a flat rate per job; a flat rate is quoted upfront and holds even when the job runs longer than expected — homeguide.com