HVAC technicians held about 440,900 jobs in the United States in 2025. The occupation is projected to reach 489,100 jobs by 2035, while May 2025 wage data placed the median annual pay at $61,010. These figures describe the broader BLS occupation covering heating, air-conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers, commonly called HVAC technicians.
In this guide
- Employment size and outlook
- Wages and pay distribution
- Industries and employer settings
- States and metropolitan areas
- Education, training, and preparation
- Work conditions and job requirements
Employment size and outlook
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook reported about 440,900 HVAC technician jobs in the United States in 2025. Its projection for 2035 is 489,100 jobs, an increase of 48,200 jobs between 2025 and 2035. BLS describes that change as 11% projected growth over the period.
That projected rate is faster than the 5% projection for installation, maintenance, and repair occupations and the 3% projection for all occupations. BLS also projects an average of 40,600 HVAC technician openings per year from 2025 through 2035. Annual openings can include opportunities created by employment growth as well as positions that become available when workers leave the occupation.
The BLS occupational projections and worker characteristics table supplies the 2025–2035 employment comparison. Its employment projection is not the same measurement as every other occupational database. For example, O*NET OnLine’s summary display reports 425,200 HVAC technician employees for its 2024 employment display. BLS and O*NET use different reference years and methodologies, so these totals should be labeled by source rather than reconciled into one number.
Wages and pay distribution
The May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimate put HVAC technician median pay at $61,010 per year, or $29.33 per hour. The mean was higher: $64,780 annually and $31.14 hourly. Median pay divides workers into two equal groups, while mean pay is an arithmetic average and can be pulled upward by higher wages.
The May 2025 annual wage distribution shows a wide range:
| May 2025 annual wage point | HVAC technician pay |
|---|---|
| Lowest-paid 10% | $38,070 or less |
| 25th percentile | $47,450 |
| Median | $61,010 |
| 75th percentile | $76,260 |
| Highest-paid 10% | $97,680 or more |
The hourly estimates show the same spread. The lowest-paid 10% earned $18.30 or less per hour, while the highest-paid 10% earned $46.96 or more per hour in May 2025. These are national estimates for the BLS occupation, not a guaranteed starting wage or a salary quote for a particular employer.
For an earlier reference point, the May 2023 BLS OEWS table reported a median annual wage of $57,300 and a mean annual wage of $59,620. The 2023 and 2025 estimates come from different measurement years and should be compared with their dates kept explicit.
Industries and employer settings
Most HVAC technician employment was concentrated among specialized contractors in 2025. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors employed 68% of HVAC technicians. Self-employed workers accounted for 6%.
Several other settings each represented 3% of employment: wholesale trade, educational services, and retail trade. That mix means the occupation can appear in contractor businesses, supply and sales environments, schools, and retail operations, in addition to independent work.
The May 2023 BLS OEWS industry table gives selected employment counts. Building equipment contractors employed 294,280 HVAC technicians. Fuel dealers employed 9,490, while commercial and industrial machinery and equipment repair and maintenance employed 7,460.
Industry pay also varied. Scheduled air transportation reported a mean annual HVAC technician wage of $99,380 in May 2023, the highest published industry wage in that table. This is an industry-specific mean estimate, not the national median and not a forecast of what a technician will earn after entering the field.
The industry figures should be read as a map of where the occupation appears, not as a ranking of every possible HVAC career path. The 68% contractor share describes the main employment setting in the 2025 BLS outlook data, while the detailed 2023 OEWS counts identify selected industries using a separate reference year. Self-employment is included in the 2025 occupational description but excluded from OEWS wage and geographic estimates. That difference matters when comparing employment shares with wage tables.
States and metropolitan areas
The May 2023 BLS geographic estimates show that large HVAC technician workforces were distributed across several populous states. Florida had the largest state employment, with 37,370 workers. California had 35,630, Texas had 31,910, New York had 22,700, and Pennsylvania had 18,980.
Employment totals measure the number of workers, while concentration measures the occupation’s presence relative to all jobs. Delaware had the highest state HVAC technician concentration in the May 2023 table, at 4.23 workers per 1,000 jobs. The District of Columbia had the highest state-level mean annual wage, at $77,970.
State employment totals can help describe the scale of a local labor market, but they do not by themselves show pay, hiring difficulty, or the number of openings available to a new entrant. A state with more technicians may simply have a larger overall workforce. Concentration answers a different question: how common HVAC technician work is relative to the number of jobs in that location. Mean wage also differs from median wage, so geographic comparisons should retain the measure named in the BLS table.
Selected state and local figures from the May 2023 BLS OEWS estimates are summarized below:
| Geography or measure | May 2023 estimate |
|---|---|
| Florida employment | 37,370 workers |
| California employment | 35,630 workers |
| Texas employment | 31,910 workers |
| Delaware concentration | 4.23 per 1,000 jobs |
| District of Columbia mean wage | $77,970 annually |
Among metropolitan areas, New York–Newark–Jersey City had the largest HVAC technician employment, with 22,780 workers. Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington had 10,060, and Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach had 9,540. San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara had the highest published metropolitan mean annual wage, at $91,500.
Concentration was highest in Clarksville, Tennessee–Kentucky, at 10.03 HVAC technicians per 1,000 jobs. In a nonmetropolitan area, Piedmont North Carolina had 790 HVAC technicians. These geographic estimates describe May 2023 conditions; they should not be read as current 2026 counts.
Education, training, and preparation
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook describes HVAC technician certificate or associate-degree programs as generally lasting from 6 months to 2 years. Program length therefore depends on the type of credential and the training route.
O*NET OnLine’s summary display places HVAC technicians in Job Zone 3, labeled “medium preparation needed.” O*NET also reports a typical training duration of 1 or 2 years combining on-the-job and informal training. Its Specific Vocational Preparation range is 6.0 to less than 7.0.
These figures describe preparation levels and typical training duration; they do not state that every employer has the same hiring requirements. They also come from an O*NET 2026 display and a BLS 2026 occupation description, while the employment and wage figures above use earlier reference periods.
Work conditions and job requirements
O*NET’s reported work-context percentages describe respondent distributions, not a census of every HVAC technician. In the O*NET work-context display, 81% of respondents said HVAC technicians have constant contact with others. Teamwork was rated extremely important by 77% and important by another 13%.
The same display records several physical and environmental conditions. Respondents said 68% of HVAC technicians work exposed to contaminants every day, and 74% work indoors in an environment that is not environmentally controlled every day. Hazardous equipment was reported every day for 45% of respondents. Very hot or very cold temperatures were reported every day for 34%, while working at high places was reported every day for 31%.
O*NET’s summary display reports that 83% of HVAC technicians typically work 40 hours per week. A 40-hour schedule is therefore the typical response shown in that source, not a universal schedule for every job, season, employer, or service call.
Taken together, the figures point to an occupation combining customer or coworker interaction with hands-on work in variable environments. The most useful preparation questions for a prospective technician are therefore practical: which training route fits the intended employer, what local wages look like in the relevant labor market, and whether the job’s physical conditions match the worker’s expectations.