Why Specialists Get Paid More in the Trades

Quick answer: Why do specialists get paid more in the trades? Because customers pay extra for the person who can find and solve what others could not, while the generalist competes on price with every truck in town. Pay in the trade runs wide: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says the top 10% of plumbers earned more than $108,420 in May 2025.

In this short video, Roger Wakefield, a Texas Master Plumber with 45 years in the trade, explains why the generalist competes on price with every truck in town while the specialist gets referred.

What is a specialist in the trades?

A specialist is a tradesperson who is known for one kind of work and gets the first call when that problem shows up. A generalist is the opposite: someone who takes every kind of call and does a little bit of everything. Both can be good plumbers. Only one of them gets called by name.

Roger puts it plainly in his video: “Nobody pays extra for the guy who does a little bit of everything.” His advice in that same video is just as short: pick your specialty, get trained, and get known for it.

Why do specialists get paid more than generalists?

Because the customer is paying for an answer nobody else could give them. In another of his videos, Roger says customers “pay extra for the guy who found it after three other companies couldn’t.” Once you are that person, you are not competing on price anymore.

The generalist has a different problem. When every truck in town can do the same job, the customer picks the cheapest one. In Roger’s words: “The generalist competes on price with every truck in town. The specialist gets referred.” A referral is when someone sends a customer to you by name because you are the one who can do the job.

Roger also teaches that the skill that pays is usually the diagnosis, which means figuring out exactly what is wrong before anything gets fixed. Here is what a customer is really paying a specialist for:

• The finding: knowing where the problem is before anything gets torn open.
• The proof: as Roger says, “Anybody can swap a part. Very few can tell you which part, why, and prove it.”
• The end of guessing: Roger’s example is three holes in the drywall and still no leak. That is not bad luck, he says. That is guessing.

What does the government say about the gap in plumber pay?

The BLS does not publish pay for each specialty, so no government number says exactly how much more a specialist makes. What the BLS does show is how far apart paychecks can be inside the same trade.

Here is what the BLS reports for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters as of May 2025:

• Median pay: $63,800 a year, or $30.67 an hour. Median means the middle: half made more than that, and half made less.
• Lowest 10%: earned less than $44,150 a year.
• Highest 10%: earned more than $108,420 a year.
• Government jobs: a median of $71,660 a year (government, excluding state and local education and hospitals).
• Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors: a median of $63,010 a year.

The BLS notes that within every occupation, earnings vary by experience, responsibility, performance, tenure and geographic area. You can read the full report on the BLS plumbers page, and Roger’s guide to how much plumbers make walks through pay from apprentice to master.

Why is leak detection a good example of a specialty?

Leak detection is the skill of finding a hidden water or sewer leak without tearing a house apart to look for it. As Roger says, the repair is usually small. Finding the leak is the hard part, and that is why leak detection is a specialty.

Roger’s advice to plumbers who can do it: “If you can find what nobody else can find, stop charging like it’s a service call. The finding is the skill. The finding is the value. Charge for it.” A service call is a regular visit to fix a common problem, billed at a company’s standard rate.

The LeakPro leak detection training page says leak detection is one of the highest-margin services a plumbing company can add, and that locate jobs commonly bill $250 to $500 or more and lead directly to major repair work. A locate job is a visit where the plumber finds the leak and marks it. Margin means the part of the price left over after the costs are paid.

What does a leak detection specialist learn?

LeakPro, the Wylie, Texas company Roger co-founded, runs a 2-day hands-on certification for plumbers. It is led by Henry Wakefield, LeakPro’s lead trainer, and built on Roger’s methods. The training covers three skills:

• Line locating: finding exactly where the water and sewer lines run under the slab, which is the concrete floor a house sits on.
• Leak detection: locating water line leaks with the LeakPro Complete Kit and training your ears for the sounds a leak makes.
• Sewer isolation testing: testing a cast iron or PVC (polyvinyl chloride, a plastic pipe) sewer system one section at a time to find the section that leaks.

The class trains on a purpose-built slab with 12 real, live leaks, so plumbers learn on water, not theory. Sessions typically run 6 to 8 hours a day, and the training page says most plumbers locate their first live leak within the first morning.

What other specialties can a plumber learn?

Leak detection is one path, not the only one. The BLS describes fitters who specialize inside the same trade, and Roger points to one more:

• Pipefitters: install and maintain pipes that may carry chemicals, acids and gases, mostly in manufacturing, commercial and industrial settings.
• Steamfitters: specialize in systems designed for the flow of liquids or gases at high pressure.
• Sprinklerfitters: work on fire sprinkler systems. The BLS expects their employment to increase because of building codes that require fire suppression systems.
• Gasfitters: work on gas lines. The BLS notes that some states require a special license to work on gas lines.
• Water treatment: in Texas, Roger points out that the plumbing license already covers water treatment, so the license is not what stops a plumber. Knowing the water is. Outside Texas, check with your own state board.

For the Texas details, read Roger’s post on the Texas plumbing license and water treatment.

How do you pick the right specialty?

Start with the work you already see. Roger’s method begins with your own job records, not a guess about what might sell. Follow these steps:

1. Go back through your last three months of jobs.
2. Find the calls you struggled with. As Roger says, that is not your weakness. That is your opportunity.
3. Pick the thing you want to be the call for.
4. Get trained in it.
5. Get known for it, and be willing to tell the other calls “that’s not what we do.”

If you are not in a trade yet, start one step earlier. The free TradesOnRamp quiz matches you to the one of 30 skilled trades that fits you, and Roger’s post on how to become a plumber is the next place to read.

Is it hard to become a specialist?

The skill takes training, but Roger says the hardest part is something else: “you have to be willing to say ‘that’s not what we do.'” If you say yes to everything, he says, you get known for nothing.

A specialty also sits on top of the basics, not in place of them. The BLS says most plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters learn the trade through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship, with about 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training each year. An apprenticeship means you learn on the job while you get paid.

How does a specialty help a plumbing company owner?

For an owner, a specialty changes what happens when the phone rings. Roger’s message to plumbing company owners is that every leak call you take right now, you are either guessing or passing. The company with the equipment and the training finds it, marks it and charges for the finding.

Roger’s training programs are built for tradespeople who want to grow, and he speaks on the trades to industry and workforce audiences. Event planners can book Roger to speak.

Frequently asked questions about why specialists get paid more

These are the questions people ask most about specializing in the trades.

Do specialists really get paid more than generalists?

The BLS does not track pay by specialty, so there is no single government number for it. It does show a wide spread: the top 10% of plumbers earned more than $108,420 in May 2025, and the bottom 10% earned less than $44,150. Roger teaches that the specialist gets referred while the generalist competes on price.

What is the best specialty for a plumber?

There is no single best one. Roger’s advice is to look back at your last three months of jobs and find the calls you struggled with. Leak detection is one example, because finding the leak is the hard part and the finding is what the customer pays for.

How long does leak detection training take?

The LeakPro leak detection training is a 2-day hands-on certification in Wylie, Texas, typically 6 to 8 hours a day, on a training slab with 12 real, live leaks.

How much does a leak locate job bill?

The LeakPro training page says locate jobs commonly bill $250 to $500 or more, and that they lead directly to major repair work. What you charge depends on your company and your market.

Do you need a license to work as a plumber?

Most states and some localities require plumbers to be licensed, and the BLS says they often require 2 to 5 years of experience and a passed exam. Some states also require a special license to work on gas lines.

Who is Roger Wakefield?

Roger Wakefield is a Texas Master Plumber with 45 years in the trade, a blue-collar keynote speaker and one of the most watched trades educators in the world, with 1.7 million followers and more than 160 million YouTube views.

About Roger Wakefield

Roger Wakefield has spent 45 years in plumbing. Today he teaches the trades to 1.7 million followers across social media, on his YouTube channel and on The Trade Talks podcast. Read Roger’s story, or watch his videos on YouTube.