What is my plumbing business worth?

Plumbing companies sell on a multiple of owner earnings (SDE). The mix between service-and-repair work and new construction, and how much the business depends on you holding the license, move the multiple more than anything else.

Avg SDE multiple

2.61×

Typical range

1.88–3.16×

Avg revenue multiple

0.69×

Median sale price

$699K

BizBuySell industry row: Plumbing Businesses. Range applies the typical quartile spread (0.72×–1.21× of the average, from BizBuySell's HVAC quartiles) because no trade quartiles are published. Source: BizBuySell — Business Valuation Multiples by Industry (businesses sold Q3 2021–Q2 2026).

Value your plumbing business

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Trade: Plumbing ·

Which state is it in?

Worked example

Hypothetical. A 14-year-old residential service plumber with 6 trucks. The owner runs the office and dispatch; techs do the work. About 20% of revenue is maintenance plans and repeat property-manager work.

Revenue $1,200,000, owner earnings (SDE) $300,000, 14 years, about 20% recurring, “I manage, my team does the work”.
Start at the published 2.61× average.
Owner involvement: I manage, my team does the work: +0.15×. Buyers pay more when the business runs without the owner.
14 years in business: +0.10×. Long, proven history.
Adjusted multiple 2.86× × $300,000 = $858,000, range $618,000 – $1,038,000.
Revenue cross-check: $1,200,000 × 0.69× = $828,000.

What raises the price

A service-and-repair book with repeat residential or commercial customers
Maintenance agreements or warranty work that recurs
A licensed master plumber on staff other than the owner
Clean job-costing in field software (ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber)
Newer, owned trucks and a stocked warehouse

What lowers it

Heavy dependence on one or two builders or general contractors
The owner is the only license holder
Cash jobs that don't show up in the books
Seasonal swings without a backlog

Calculating SDE for a plumbing business

Start from net profit on your tax return or P&L, then add back:

Owner salary and payroll taxes
Owner's personal truck, phone and health insurance
Depreciation on vans and equipment
Interest on equipment loans
One-time costs such as a lawsuit or a software migration

Only add back what a buyer can verify. If there are two working owners, the second owner's salary usually stays as a cost, because a buyer will need to replace that person.

Questions

Do plumbing businesses sell for a multiple of revenue?

Buyers and lenders price on earnings. The revenue multiple is a sanity check only, because two plumbers with the same revenue can have very different margins.

Does the license transfer?

Usually not. A buyer needs their own license or a licensed employee to stay on. A business where a non-owner holds the master license is easier to sell.

Compare other trades

Trade	Avg SDE multiple	Avg revenue multiple	Median sale price	Basis
Plumbing	2.61×	0.69×	$699,000	Trade row
HVAC	2.83×quartiles 1.99–3.33×	0.60×	$750,000	Trade row
Electrical	2.77×	0.63×	$1,009,000	Trade row
Landscaping	2.49×	0.72×	$449,950	Trade row
Pool service / routes	2.61×	0.83×	—	Sector average (no trade row)
Pest control	2.46×quartiles 1.69–3×	1.01×	$250,000	Trade row
Cleaning	2.25×	0.72×	$281,500	Trade row
Roofing	2.65×	0.59×	$750,500	Sector average (no trade row)
Auto repair	2.85×	0.65×	$430,000	Trade row
Salon / barbershop	2.10×	0.52×	$117,375	Trade row
Other main-street business	2.61×	0.83×	$350,000	General main-street range

Source: BizBuySell, Business Valuation Multiples by Industry, businesses sold Q3 2021–Q2 2026; quartiles from BizBuySell's HVAC and pest-control benchmark pages (sold 2021–2025). Pool and roofing use sector averages; “Other” uses the Service Businesses sector. Retrieved Oct 30, 2026.

Estimates for information only; not an appraisal or an offer. MainStreetKeys is not a business broker. Data retrieved Oct 30, 2026.