Last reviewed: September 2026 · By the HVAC Brief Editorial Team · Our sourcing and editorial standards
Average hourly earnings for employees of plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors reached $42.61, up 40.2% since 2019. That is faster than construction overall (34.8%) and faster than all private employers (34.4%).
The trade also grew. Employment rose from about 1,141 thousand in 2019 to 1,352 thousand, an increase of 18.5%. A workforce that added roughly a fifth of its headcount is not a workforce in collapse.
Labour cost is the driver contractors get blamed for and the one they can least easily explain. The federal data lets you be precise about it, and the precise version is more useful than the trade-press version, because it shows pay rising faster than the wider economy but slower than the equipment on the truck.
Pay is rising faster than the wider economy
Since 2019, average hourly earnings in the trade have risen 40.2%, from $30.39 to $42.61. Construction as a whole rose 34.8% and the total private economy rose 34.4%. The trade is outpacing both, but the margin is a few percentage points, not the runaway premium sometimes described.
| Average hourly earnings | 2019 | Latest | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbing, heating and AC contractors | $30.39 | $42.61 | +40.2% |
| Construction, all | $30.75 | $41.46 | +34.8% |
| All private employers | $28.00 | $37.62 | +34.4% |
The shortage story does not fit the headcount
Employment among plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors rose from roughly 1,141 thousand in 2019 to about 1,352 thousand, up 18.5%. Whatever hiring difficulty individual shops experience, and it is real, the sector in aggregate added workers at a healthy clip. A pure shortage narrative does not explain a workforce that grew by nearly a fifth while pay rose faster than the economy around it.
The more defensible framing is competition for experienced people inside a growing trade, which is a different problem with different answers. It argues for retention and training economics rather than for treating wage growth as an external shock.
Labour is not the main reason quotes went up
Set the two series side by side. Wages in the trade are up 40.2% since 2019. Producer prices for the equipment being installed are up 60% over the same period. Both outpaced consumer inflation at 31%, but equipment moved substantially further and faster.
If equipment is up 60% and your labour cost is up 40.2%, a fixed percentage markup on equipment has quietly inflated your equipment margin in dollar terms while your labour margin compressed. Shops that have not re-cut their pricing model since 2019 are often winning on the box and losing on the truck. Price the labour line deliberately instead of letting it ride as a percentage of a number that rose 60%.
Methodology
All figures are BLS Current Employment Statistics. Series CEU2023822003 is average hourly earnings of all employees for NAICS 238220, plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors. CEU2000000003 is the same measure for construction, and CES0500000003 for total private. Employment is CEU2023822001, all employees in thousands. Baselines are each series’ 2019 annual average, the mean of twelve monthly observations. Index values set each series to its own 2019 base so growth rates are comparable.
Limitations
- NAICS 238220 covers plumbing alongside heating and air conditioning contractors. BLS does not publish HVAC separately at this level, so these figures are not HVAC-only.
- Average hourly earnings for all employees includes office and supervisory staff, not only field technicians. It is a payroll measure, not a technician wage.
- These are national averages. Metro-level pay varies widely around them.
- Earnings are nominal. Against consumer inflation of 31% over the same period, real pay gains are considerably smaller than the headline.
Frequently asked questions
What do HVAC contractor employees earn?
Average hourly earnings for employees of plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors were $42.61 in the latest BLS reading, up 40.2% from a 2019 average of $30.39. This is a payroll-wide average including office staff, not a field technician wage.
Is HVAC pay rising faster than other work?
Yes, modestly. Since 2019 the trade rose 40.2% against 34.8% for construction overall and 34.4% for all private employers.
Is there really an HVAC labour shortage?
Employment in the sector grew about 18.5% since 2019, so the aggregate workforce expanded. Individual shops report genuine hiring difficulty, but the national data does not show a shrinking trade.
Is labour why my quote went up?
Partly, but it is the smaller factor. Wages rose 40.2% since 2019 while equipment producer prices rose 60%.
Sources
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, series CEU2023822003, CEU2023822001, CEU2000000003 and CES0500000003, retrieved via the BLS Public Data API v2.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Producer Price Index by Industry, series PCU333415333415, and Consumer Price Index, series CUUR0000SA0.
The HVAC Brief is an independent trade publication. Corrections welcome.
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