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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Plumbers, Pipefitters, And Steamfitters Salary: Mayaguez, PR vs Rochester, MN

Plumbers, Pipefitters, And Steamfitters earn a median of $29,340 in Mayaguez, PR and $99,400 in Rochester, MN. That is a nominal gap of $70,060 (-70.5%), with Rochester, MN paying more before any cost-of-living adjustment.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates. Cost-of-living adjustment uses BEA Regional Price Parities, most recent release.

$29,340
Mayaguez, PR median
$99,400
Rochester, MN median
$109,446 after COL
-70.5%
Nominal gap
Rochester, MN leads
Adjusted gap
COL data not available

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, Rochester, MN pays $70,060 more per year than Mayaguez, PR for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, a gap of +70.5%.

Cost-of-living data is not available for one or both locations, so we cannot show a purchasing-power view of this comparison. The nominal wage numbers above still reflect real paychecks in each area.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Plumbers, Pipefitters, And Steamfitters

Mayaguez, PR

Median salary
$29,340
Mean salary
$28,790
Employment
50
Location quotient
0.31
Jobs per 1,000
0.9
COL-adjusted median
N/A
Regional Price Parity
N/A

Full Plumbers, Pipefitters, And Steamfitters page for Mayaguez, PR →

Plumbers, Pipefitters, And Steamfitters

Rochester, MN

Median salary
$99,400
Mean salary
$86,710
Employment
460
Location quotient
1.28
Jobs per 1,000
3.8
COL-adjusted median
$109,446
Regional Price Parity
90.8%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Plumbers, Pipefitters, And Steamfitters page for Rochester, MN →

Related pages

Keep digging into plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters from a different angle.

Common questions about this comparison

What does the cost-of-living adjustment actually do? +

It divides each location's nominal median wage by its Regional Price Parity (RPP), which measures how local prices compare to the national average (100 = national). A wage of $100,000 in an area with RPP 120 has the same purchasing power as roughly $83,000 nationally.

Why would the nominal and adjusted winners disagree? +

High-cost metros often pay higher salaries, but not by enough to fully offset the higher cost of housing, goods, and services. When that happens, the location with the lower nominal wage actually offers more real purchasing power.

What is a location quotient? +

The location quotient measures how concentrated an occupation is in a given area versus the national average. A value of 2.0 means the occupation is twice as common there as nationally. It is a signal of what a metro specializes in.