HVAC Technician Salary by State (2026): BLS Wage Rankings for All 50 States

Last reviewed: October 2026 · By the HVAC Brief Editorial Team · Our sourcing and editorial standards

This report ranks HVAC technician pay in all 50 states and the District of Columbia using median wages from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program, May 2025 estimates, the most recent release. The occupation is SOC 49-9021, heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers. For headcount and density, see our companion HVAC technicians per capita by state study; for growth through 2034, see HVAC job outlook by state.

The headline spread is wide. A technician at the median in Alaska earns $77,430 a year. A technician at the median in Arkansas earns $48,110. That is a gap of $29,320, or 61 percent, for the same occupation code.

Executive summary

The national median wage for HVAC technicians was $61,010 a year, or $29.33 an hour, in May 2025, across 409,670 wage-and-salary jobs. That is $10,030 above the median for all US occupations ($50,980) and $5,570 above roofers ($55,440), but $2,790 below plumbers ($63,800) and $2,180 below electricians ($63,190).

District of Columbia pays the highest median ($84,390), followed among states by Alaska ($77,430), Illinois ($77,410) and Massachusetts ($77,300). Arkansas ($48,110), Alabama ($48,370) and Mississippi ($48,680) pay the least. Only 24 of 51 jurisdictions pay at or above the national median, because the national figure is pulled up by large, high-wage states.

Adjusted for cost of living with the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities, North Dakota moves to first place ($83,735 in national-average dollars), ahead of Illinois and Minnesota. The two largest HVAC labor markets in the South, Florida and Texas, rank 41st and 38th on nominal pay.

Pay grew more slowly than the wider labor market. The national HVAC median rose 2.0 percent between the May 2024 and May 2025 surveys ($59,810 to $61,010), while the median for all occupations rose 3.0 percent. The shortage narrative common in the trade press is not, on this evidence, translating into above-market wage growth at the median.

Key findings

1. US median HVAC technician wage: $61,010 per year, $29.33 per hour (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
2. Highest-paying jurisdiction: District of Columbia, $84,390. Highest-paying state: Alaska, $77,430.
3. Lowest-paying state: Arkansas, $48,110. Alaska pays 61 percent more at the median.
4. Only 24 of 51 jurisdictions pay at or above the US median.
5. Cost-of-living leader: North Dakota, worth $83,735 in national-average purchasing power (HVAC Brief calculation using BEA RPP 2024).
6. Top 10 percent of HVAC technicians nationally earn at least $95,210; the bottom 10 percent earn $40,050 or less.
7. In 13 jurisdictions the 90th-percentile technician earns six figures, led by Washington ($120,360).
8. National median growth, 2024 to 2025: +2.0 percent, versus +3.0 percent for all occupations.
9. Fastest median growth: New Hampshire (+14.7%), Oklahoma (+13.0%), Florida (+12.0%).
10. Pay is inversely related to technician density: correlation of -0.38 between median pay and technicians per 100,000 residents (HVAC Brief calculation).
11. Highest-paying large metro (1,000+ jobs): San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, $82,050.
12. HVAC technicians out-earn roofers by $5,570 at the median but trail plumbers by $2,790 and electricians by $2,180.

National wage benchmark

OEWS estimates wages from a survey of about 1.1 million establishments, pooled over three years. It covers wage and salary workers only, which matters in this trade: owner-operators and self-employed technicians are excluded. The May 2025 national distribution for HVAC technicians runs from $40,050 at the 10th percentile to $95,210 at the 90th, with a median of $61,010 and a mean of $64,780. The mean sits above the median because the top of the distribution, largely commercial, refrigeration and union work, stretches further than the bottom.

The comparison with plumbers and electricians is the one that matters for recruiting. All three trades draw from the same pool of trade-school and apprenticeship candidates, and HVAC pays roughly $2,200 to $2,800 less at the median. That gap is consistent with HVAC’s larger non-union residential service segment. For a fuller labor picture, see our HVAC employment and wages index.

HVAC technician salary by state, ranked

The table ranks all 51 jurisdictions by median annual wage. The cost-of-living column divides each median by the state’s 2024 Regional Price Parity, which expresses it in national-average dollars. Employment is the OEWS wage-and-salary count.

Highest-paying states

The top of the ranking is a mix of high-cost coastal states and the upper Midwest. District of Columbia leads at $84,390, though with only 400 jobs it behaves more like a metro than a state. Among states, Alaska ($77,430) and Illinois ($77,410) are effectively tied; OEWS medians carry sampling error, and differences of a few hundred dollars should not be read as a meaningful ranking. Illinois stands out: $77,410 at a price level exactly equal to the national average, and the second-lowest technician density of any state (77 per 100,000 residents). Minnesota shows the same pattern, high pay and few technicians per resident.

Lowest-paying states

The bottom ten are concentrated in the South and the interior West. Arkansas ($48,110), Alabama ($48,370) and Mississippi ($48,680) are among the lowest-cost states in the country, and the cost-of-living adjustment lifts them to roughly $54,000 to $56,000 in national-average dollars. They still rank in the bottom half after adjustment. Low nominal pay here is not fully explained by low prices.

Florida is the notable case. It has the largest HVAC technician workforce of any state (39,160), one of the highest densities (167 per 100,000 residents) and near-universal air conditioning demand. Its median of $56,670 ranks 41st of 51. Demand is high, but so is supply, and the state’s training pipeline is one of the largest in the country (see our HVAC training programs by school data).

Year-over-year change by state

Between the May 2024 and May 2025 surveys, the state median moved by a median of +3.3 percent, with a wide spread. Because OEWS pools three years of survey panels, single-year movements in small states are noisy and partly reflect sample rotation, not real raises.

Metro area wages

Metro wages run higher than state wages at the top. Among metros with at least 1,000 HVAC jobs, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA pays the most ($82,050), followed by Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($80,100) and Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH ($78,530). Full metro rankings, including smaller markets, are in our HVAC technician pay by metro analysis.

Entry-level HVAC pay by state

The 10th percentile is the closest thing OEWS offers to an entry-level wage: nine in ten technicians in the state earn more. Nationally it is $40,050. It varies less than the median, because the floor in every state is set partly by minimum wage law and by the general market for semi-skilled work, while the top of the distribution depends on commercial and union work that is unevenly spread.

Across states, the 10th percentile averages 68 percent of the median. Apprentices and trainees are often coded to the separate helper occupation (SOC 49-9098) rather than 49-9021, so this figure describes the floor for workers classified as technicians, not a typical first-year offer.

Original synthesis (HVAC Brief calculations)

1. Cost-of-living adjusted HVAC pay

Dividing each state median by its BEA Regional Price Parity reorders the ranking. North Dakota rises to first at $83,735: its nominal median of $74,490 goes further because prices there are 11 percent below the national average. Illinois and Minnesota follow. The biggest losers from the adjustment are the high-cost coastal states: California falls from a nominal $72,560 to $65,535 in real terms.

Calculation: adjusted median = OEWS May 2025 state median / (BEA RPP all items 2024 / 100). RPPs for 2025 had not been published at the time of writing.

2. The scarcity premium: fewer technicians per resident, higher pay

Across the 51 jurisdictions, median pay and technician density move in opposite directions (correlation -0.38). Splitting states into thirds by technicians per 100,000 residents, the third with the fewest technicians has a median state wage of $65,450, against $59,730 in the third with the most. Price levels explain much of this (pay and RPP correlate at 0.70), since high-cost states also tend to have fewer technicians per head. But the pattern survives in places with average prices: Illinois and Minnesota have near-national price levels, the lowest densities in the country and top-five pay. For a technician deciding where to work, low density is a better signal of bargaining power than climate.

3. The six-figure HVAC technician

OEWS does not publish individual wages, but the 90th percentile marks the threshold of the top 10 percent. Nationally it is $95,210. In 13 jurisdictions the 90th percentile clears $100,000: Washington ($120,360), Illinois ($117,550), New Jersey ($116,550), California ($109,060), District of Columbia ($108,240), Maryland ($106,740), Alaska ($105,140), Rhode Island ($104,080), Colorado ($103,640), Massachusetts ($102,410), New York ($100,680), Connecticut ($100,160), Minnesota ($100,030). These are largely states with significant commercial and union mechanical work. The often-repeated claim that HVAC technicians ‘make six figures’ is true for the top tenth in these states, and for few technicians elsewhere.

4. Wage growth trailing the labor market

The national HVAC median grew 2.0 percent between the May 2024 and May 2025 OEWS releases, compared with 3.0 percent for all occupations. Over the same window, HVAC wage-and-salary employment rose from 396,870 to 409,670 (+3.2 percent). Employment growth with below-market wage growth is not what a binding labor shortage would normally produce. The likelier reading is that supply has kept pace: completions in HVAC programs have grown (see the HVAC training gap), and the workforce has gotten younger (see HVAC workforce demographics).

Charts worth building from this data

• Choropleth map of median HVAC technician wage by state, May 2025.
• Dumbbell chart: nominal vs cost-of-living adjusted median by state.
• Scatter plot of median pay against technicians per 100,000 residents, sized by employment.
• Bar chart comparing HVAC with plumber, electrician and roofer medians.
• Slope chart of state medians, May 2024 to May 2025.

Most quotable statistics

• The median HVAC technician in the US earned $61,010 in 2025, or $29.33 an hour (BLS OEWS).
• An HVAC technician at the median in Alaska earns $29,320 more a year than one in Arkansas.
• Only 24 of 51 US jurisdictions pay HVAC technicians at or above the national median.
• After adjusting for living costs, North Dakota is the best-paying state for HVAC technicians, at $83,735 in national-average dollars (HVAC Brief calculation).
• National HVAC pay rose 2.0 percent in a year, less than the 3.0 percent gain for all US occupations.
• HVAC technicians earn $5,570 more than roofers but $2,790 less than plumbers at the median.
• The top 10 percent of HVAC technicians earn at least $95,210 nationally, and more than $100,000 in 13 jurisdictions.

Data limitations

• OEWS covers wage and salary workers. Self-employed technicians and business owners are excluded, which understates earnings at the top of the trade and excludes a large share of small-shop owners.
• Wages are base pay plus certain incentives; overtime premiums, tips and most bonuses are excluded. Flat-rate and commission technicians may be imperfectly captured.
• OEWS estimates pool six semiannual survey panels over three years. Year-over-year changes, especially in small states, partly reflect sample rotation.
• OEWS medians carry sampling error; small differences between neighbouring ranks are not statistically meaningful.
• Regional Price Parities are for 2024 and measure average price levels for all items; they do not capture local housing variation within a state.
• The occupation code combines residential, commercial and refrigeration technicians and installers; separate pay for these segments is not published.

Downloadable dataset: recommended fields

Press summary

Suggested headlines

• HVAC technician pay ranges from $48,110 to $77,430 depending on the state
• North Dakota is the best state to be an HVAC technician once living costs are counted
• HVAC wages are rising slower than the rest of the labor market
• Where HVAC technicians are scarce, they earn more
• Florida has the most HVAC technicians, and ranks 41st for pay

Source quality ranking

Methodology

• Wages: BLS OEWS May 2025 state, national and metropolitan files, occupation 49-9021, cross-industry, all ownerships. Medians, percentiles and employment are BLS published values.
• Change: compared with OEWS May 2024 state and national files, same occupation and definitions.
• Cost-of-living adjustment: state median divided by BEA SARPP all-items Regional Price Parity for 2024, divided by 100.
• Density: OEWS employment divided by Census Bureau Vintage 2025 July 1 resident population, per 100,000.
• Correlations are Pearson coefficients across 51 jurisdictions (50 states and DC), unweighted.
• National occupation comparisons use OEWS May 2025 national estimates for 47-2152, 47-2111, 47-2181 and 00-0000.

Frequently asked questions

Cite this report

Sources

1. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 and May 2024, state, national and metropolitan files, occupation 49-9021.
2. US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities by State, SARPP, 2024.
3. US Census Bureau, State Population Totals, Vintage 2025.
4. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers.

The HVAC Brief is an independent trade publication. We do not sell equipment, take manufacturer advertising, or accept payment for placement in our research. Corrections welcome.