What is the average HVAC technician salary?

The national median wage for HVAC and refrigeration technicians is $61,010 a year, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 wage data. Half of HVAC technicians earn more than that and half earn less. State medians range from $48,110 to $84,390.

Which state pays HVAC technicians the most?

District of Columbia ($84,390), Alaska ($77,430), Illinois ($77,410) lead the country on median annual pay for HVAC and refrigeration technicians. Cost of living explains much of the spread — a higher median does not automatically mean more take-home value.

Which states pay HVAC technicians the least?

Arkansas ($48,110), Alabama ($48,370), Mississippi ($48,680) sit at the bottom of the range. Lower-cost states cluster there, so the gap in real purchasing power is narrower than the raw numbers suggest.

Should I set pay using the national median or my state's?

Neither, on its own. Use your state median as a floor and benchmark against the metro you actually hire in — within-state variation between a major metro and a rural county is often larger than the gap between two states.

HVAC technician salary by state: what techs earn in all 50 states (2026)

What does an HVAC technician make?

The national median is $61,010 a year for HVAC and refrigeration technicians, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 wage data. State medians run from $48,110 to $84,390 — a spread of roughly $36,280. 24 of 51 jurisdictions pay above the national median.

If you're hiring, that spread is the number that matters. Posting at your state median in a metro that pays well above it is the quiet reason a job sits open for weeks.

HVAC technician salary by state

Median annual wage, all 51 jurisdictions, ranked. The final column shows the gap against the $61,010 national median.

#	State	Median annual wage	vs. national
1	District of Columbia	$84,390	+$23,380
2	Alaska	$77,430	+$16,420
3	Illinois	$77,410	+$16,400
4	Massachusetts	$77,300	+$16,290
5	Connecticut	$76,610	+$15,600
6	Minnesota	$76,350	+$15,340
7	Washington	$75,660	+$14,650
8	North Dakota	$74,490	+$13,480
9	New Jersey	$74,450	+$13,440
10	New York	$74,430	+$13,420
11	New Hampshire	$73,850	+$12,840
12	California	$72,560	+$11,550
13	Maryland	$70,020	+$9,010
14	Rhode Island	$67,370	+$6,360
15	Hawaii	$65,450	+$4,440
16	Colorado	$65,200	+$4,190
17	Maine	$63,170	+$2,160
18	Oregon	$62,940	+$1,930
19	Ohio	$62,510	+$1,500
20	Pennsylvania	$62,400	+$1,390
21	Delaware	$62,320	+$1,310
22	Vermont	$62,150	+$1,140
23	Wisconsin	$61,710	+$700
24	South Dakota	$61,390	+$380
25	Michigan	$60,850	−$160
26	Montana	$60,850	−$160
27	Iowa	$60,680	−$330
28	Nevada	$60,510	−$500
29	Kansas	$60,460	−$550
30	Indiana	$60,430	−$580
31	Missouri	$59,950	−$1,060
32	Nebraska	$59,850	−$1,160
33	Virginia	$59,730	−$1,280
34	Arizona	$59,400	−$1,610
35	Utah	$58,730	−$2,280
36	Louisiana	$58,650	−$2,360
37	Kentucky	$58,620	−$2,390
38	Texas	$57,760	−$3,250
39	Oklahoma	$57,560	−$3,450
40	North Carolina	$57,260	−$3,750
41	Florida	$56,670	−$4,340
42	South Carolina	$56,610	−$4,400
43	Georgia	$56,390	−$4,620
44	Idaho	$56,240	−$4,770
45	Tennessee	$55,490	−$5,520
46	Wyoming	$54,700	−$6,310
47	New Mexico	$50,270	−$10,740
48	West Virginia	$48,850	−$12,160
49	Mississippi	$48,680	−$12,330
50	Alabama	$48,370	−$12,640
51	Arkansas	$48,110	−$12,900

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Figures are medians — half of HVAC technicians in that state earn more.

What the spread actually tells you

Three things worth reading out of that table.

Cost of living explains a lot of it, but not all of it. The high-paying states cluster around expensive metros and strong union density. But the ranking isn't purely a cost-of-living ranking — licensing regimes, commercial-versus-residential mix, and how tight the local labor market is all move the number.

Within-state variation is often bigger than between-state variation. A HVAC technician in your state's largest metro and one three hours away are frequently further apart on pay than two states are on this list. The state median is a starting point, not an answer.

The median is not the hiring rate. You don't hire the median tech. If you want someone experienced, licensed, and reliable — the kind of person who's currently employed somewhere else — you're bidding against their current employer, not against the median.

Why HVAC technician pay keeps climbing

The BLS projects HVAC and refrigeration technicians employment to grow 8% from 2024 to 2034, and most annual openings exist to replace people leaving the occupation rather than to staff new growth. When the pool of licensed techs shrinks faster than demand, pay is what moves.

That's the mechanism we break down in skilled-trades wage growth — and it's why raises alone rarely fix a retention problem. If pay were the only lever, the shortage would have solved itself already.

What to do with this if you're hiring

Benchmark to your metro, not the national median. Use your state row as the floor.
Re-benchmark annually. Wage growth quietly reprices your existing crew — a tech hired at market two years ago may be under market now, which is exactly the opening a competitor needs.
Publish the range in the job post. Trades candidates filter hard on pay, and a post without a number gets skipped in favour of one that has it.
Don't compete on pay alone. The shops that hold onto techs pair market pay with consistent hours and a real growth path — see how to retain HVAC and plumbing techs.

The bottom line

Pay is the price of entry, not the differentiator. Knowing your state's number keeps you from underbidding the market and losing candidates you never even heard from — but the shops that win the good techs are the ones already talking to them before a seat opens.

That's the always-on approach we run for plumbing and HVAC businesses: a pre-screened bench, so when a seat opens you're making an offer instead of starting a search. See how done-for-you hiring works.