You want to look at median numbers, not average numbers. Also you want to look at real earnings, which take into account cost of credentials, tooling, ongoing

You want to look at median numbers, not average numbers. Also you want to look at real earnings, which take into account cost of credentials, tooling, ongoing education, things like that. In particular, pipefitters make a significant amount more money than plumbers, so I'd gather that that number is skewed downwards.