A plumber apprenticeship is a paid job with training, and you don't need experience to start one. Missouri has 17 registered plumber apprenticeship programs, with 1,906 apprentices in training at the latest federal count.
About $890 a week at 40 hours. The middle half of starting wages is $20.30 to $27.00 an hour.
Median pay at the end
$45.10 an hour
About $1,800 a week at 40 hours.
From 917 recent starting wages in 15 programs, and 409 people who finished recently in 13 programs. The 2 figures come from different groups of apprentices, not the same people followed from start to finish.
How to get in
Pick 2 or 3 programs near you
Use the list below. Search each program's name with its city to find it.
Each program takes applications in its own way. Ask each program how and when it takes applications.
Applications are closed at Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562 while it sets its next application periods, and it will post the dates on its apprenticeship page. You can fill out the Local 562 interest form now, but the form isn't an application. Plumbers Local 8 takes applications online, and enrollment at ABC Heart of America begins in July.
No program matches. Pick another area or check the spelling.
Also trains other trades: these 5 sponsors train more than one trade, so their count includes apprentices in their other trades.A count of 0 means the federal data recorded no apprentices in training, and it doesn't always mean the program has closed.
How one program works: Plumbers Local 8
Each program runs in its own way. This is how one of them takes apprentices and trains them, as its own pages describe it.
Plumbers Local 8
1
Get your documents ready
To apply to Plumbers Local 8, you must be 18 years old before the month you apply. You need a copy of your birth certificate, a copy of your diploma or GED certificate with scores, and your high school transcripts.
2
Apply online
Apply through the Apply Now link on the Plumbers Local 8 Training Center site. Include every document, because the training center doesn't process an incomplete application.
3
Pass the drug test
If Plumbers Local 8 accepts you on condition, you take a urinalysis drug test, which costs you nothing. If you test positive or refuse the test, you aren't admitted.
4
Work days and attend class 2 nights a week
The Plumbers Local 8 apprenticeship takes 5 years. You work during the day and attend class 2 nights a week, 4 hours a night.
Class cost at the Plumbers Local 8 Training Center in Kansas City
$0
Plumbers Local 8 apprentices pay nothing for their classes. Each year, you complete at least 240 classroom hours and 1,750 hours on the job before you move to the next level.
To apply for the Kansas City Journeyman Plumber Certificate of Qualification
$60
In Kansas City, the Journeyman Plumber Certificate of Qualification costs $60 to apply, and the fee isn't refunded. You must be at least 21, and you need at least 2 years of plumbing installation work and a passing journeyman plumbing exam. The certificate allows you to work in Kansas City as an employee of a licensed plumbing contractor.
The contractor associations run their own schools. Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Heart of America trains plumbers in Kansas City and Eastern Missouri, in a 4-year program with 144 classroom hours a year. Classes meet on weeknights from 5 pm to 8 pm, September through April, and some classes are available online.
Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562 runs the largest program, listed as the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee of the Plumbers and Pipefitters Welfare Educational Fund in Earth City. Local 562 trains pipefitters as well as plumbers, so its count on the list includes apprentices in its other trades. To apply, you need these things.
a high school diploma or the equivalent
a passing score on a math exam
a passing drug test and physical
a valid driver's license
The Local 562 apprenticeship takes 5 years. Each year has up to 2,000 hours of training on the job and at least 216 hours of classroom instruction. When you complete the 5 years, you're a journeyperson.
Note: Plumbers Local 8 in Kansas City doesn't accept college or technical school transcripts. It needs your high school transcripts.
Missouri has no statewide plumber license. Cities and some counties issue their own licenses and set their own rules, so the rules change from one city to the next. Check the rules in the city or county where you plan to work.
U.S. Department of Labor national apprenticeship data, extract of August 17, 2026: the programs, the apprentice counts, the 2 median wages and the range of starting wages
Missouri Revisor of Statutes, chapter 341, sections 341.010 to 341.220: the rule that cities and some counties license plumbers
The U.S. Department of Labor data has 10 Missouri filings whose registration numbers name a different state. No figure counts those filings. Every bar uses the same scale.
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