Med spa · Austin, TX
$2,100–$4,900 /mo
Unanswered calls. ~30% of first calls hit voicemail, and 85% never call back.
First calls → voicemail
You30%
Healthy<10%
Where the rest goes
Every cost as a share of revenue, before owner pay and profit. If one of yours is well outside these, that is usually where the margin went.
| Line | Typical | Top performers |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | 28–38% | 30% |
| Product consumables | 15–25% | 17% |
| Rent occupancy | 3–7% | 4% |
| Marketing | 5–12% | 9% |
- Labor: licensed plumbers, apprentices, dispatcher; billable-hour efficiency is the biggest lever
- Product consumables: fixtures, water heaters, fittings, copper/PEX — rises fast with supply-house price increases
- Rent occupancy: shop/warehouse plus truck fleet costs and fuel
- Marketing: top performers spend more here — but they measure cost per booked job, not cost per click
The numbers that decide a plumbing company
| Metric | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Revenue per employeeAnnual revenue per employee. Midpoint is the measured 2022 Economic Census figure for NAICS 238220 (total receipts ÷ employment); the range spans operator variation around it. | $178k – $356k |
| Avg visit ticketAverage completed residential job value, blending drain calls with water heater and repair work. | $275 – $1,400 |
| Rebooking rateShare of first-time customers who buy a service agreement or return within 12 months. | 25% – 45% |
| Inbound voicemail shareShare of inbound calls that reach voicemail or an answering service at a shop this size. | 18% – 38% |
| Afterhours booking shareShare of plumbing service demand that surfaces outside 8-5 weekday hours. | 28% – 48% |
What to watch, in plain English
Booked call rate
Healthy range: 75–85%
how many people who call you actually end up on the schedule
You already paid to make that phone ring. Every caller who hangs up without a slot is marketing money burned, and a weak dispatcher quietly caps revenue no matter how many leads you buy.
Revenue per truck per day
Healthy range: $1,200–$2,200 per truck per day
how much each truck brings in on a working day
Trucks and licensed hands are your capacity ceiling. Windshield time, dead gaps between calls, and unsold estimates are revenue you can't get back.
How plumbing companies lose money
- Unanswered phones during a jetting job — emergency callers dial the next plumber within two minutes and never call back.
- No service agreement offered at the end of the job, so every customer has to be re-bought next time.
- Time-and-materials pricing that hides your real cost per truck hour and rewards the slowest jobs.
- Trucks running half-stocked — second trips for a $12 part cost you a billable hour.
- Chasing cheap drain-clearing leads that never convert to water heater or repipe work.
What plumbing companies charge
Typical US ranges. Metro markets sit at the top of these; rural sits at the bottom.
| Service | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Drain cleaning basic | $175–$450 |
| Water heater replacement 40 50gal | $1,600–$3,200 |
| Tankless water heater install | $3,500–$6,500 |
| Toilet replacement installed | $350–$750 |
| Hydro jetting | $450–$900 |
| Emergency after hours diagnostic | $150–$350 |
| Whole home repipe pex | $6,000–$16,000 |
The year, month by month
January
Freeze/burst-pipe emergency peak; staff the phones nights and weekends and hold your premium.
April
Spring sewer and drain season plus remodel starts; push camera inspections and repipe quotes.
November
Pre-winter water heater replacement and shutoff-valve checks; sell service agreements before the freeze.
These are the ranges. Want yours?
Put in your website and we'll show you where your plumbing company sits against these numbers, what it's likely costing you, and what to do first. 90 seconds, no account, free.
Free report · No account · No credit card · Ready in 90 seconds
Common questions
What is a good profit margin for a plumbing company?
A typical plumbing company keeps 8–20% of revenue as profit once the owner has been paid. Below 8% usually means labour or occupancy costs have crept up; the strongest operators sit at or above 20%.
How much does a plumbing company owner make?
Owner compensation runs 8–18% of revenue. On the $2,601,000 a typical plumbing company turns over in a year, that is roughly $208,000–$468,000 before any profit distribution on top.
How much revenue does a plumbing company make per year?
A typical US plumbing company turns over about $2,601,000 a year with roughly 10.2 people on the payroll, according to the 2022 Economic Census for NAICS 238220.
What percentage of plumbing company revenue goes to wages?
Labour typically takes 28–38% of revenue at a plumbing company. It is almost always the largest single cost, so a few points either way decides whether the year works.