HVAC Service Technician
We place this role between $48,000 and $72,000 a year at mid experience, before overtime, bonus and on-call.
What this role pays.
That band is mid experience, built from our own engagement history. Experience and region move it - the salary calculator applies both.
The federal occupation this role reports under is Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers (SOC 49-9021), May 2025. Nationally it reports a median of $61,010 , with the middle of the market between $40,050 and $95,210. BLS counts this job inside that occupation rather than publishing it separately, so the figures cover a slightly wider group than this exact title.
Where it pays most.
Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers across the metros we cover, May 2025. BLS publishes a median for 112 of them and withholds the rest, where the local sample was too small to be reliable.
| Metro | Median | Employed there |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose | $82,050 | 1,740 |
| Seattle | $80,100 | 3,940 |
| santa rosa ca | $79,510 | 560 |
| Boston | $78,530 | 6,050 |
| San Francisco | $78,490 | 3,980 |
| New York | $77,990 | 21,820 |
| Chicago | $77,960 | 7,210 |
| Bridgeport | $77,490 | 1,050 |
| McAllen | $47,170 | 530 |
| El Paso | $47,270 | 790 |
| Little Rock | $48,000 | 1,470 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. The last three rows are the lowest-paying metros in the same set. Headcount is metro-wide across every industry, not this trade alone.
HVAC Service Technician vs HVAC Install Technician (Commercial).
Service is diagnostics on somebody else's equipment: the call comes in, the unit is already installed, and the technician has to find the fault before touching anything. Install is a build. The two share EPA 608 and one federal occupation code, so the wage table here covers both, but they screen differently - service hires on troubleshooting and customer contact, and NATE is the certification that moves the offer; install hires on equipment families and rigging.
HVAC Install Technician (Commercial): what it pays and what the search takes
Credentials that move an offer.
- EPA 608
- NATE
Licensing is a state question, not a national one. The HVAC & Mechanical hiring page carries the state-by-state position, and every market page names the authority for that state.
What the search actually takes.
Across 34 closed hvac & mechanical searches in 2026 year to date, our median was 17 days from first contact with the candidate to hire. That is not a time-to-fill benchmark - our clock starts when we reach the candidate, not when the requisition opened. The full distribution is in the Hiring Index.
Searches we have closed in this seat
22 of them were for this exact seat rather than the trade in general. Each is written up in full on our placements page: what the opening was, what made it hard, and what the person we placed brought.
- Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Houston, TX - 14 days from first contact to hire.
- Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Mansfield, TX - 3 days from first contact to hire.
- Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Denver, CO - 4 days from first contact to hire.
- Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Overland Park, KS - 8 days from first contact to hire.
- Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Danvers, MA - 25 days from first contact to hire.
- Lead Commercial HVAC Service Technician - Skokie, IL - 9 days from first contact to hire.
Keep reading.
- 2026 HVAC & Mechanical Salary Guide - the full benchmark by role.
- HVAC & Mechanical recruiting - how we run this trade.
- Salary calculator - the band by experience and region.
- HVAC & Mechanical hiring in Houston - one market in detail.
- Hiring Index - how long our searches actually take.
Other HVAC & Mechanical roles we recruit
- HVAC Install Technician (Commercial)
- HVAC Controls Technician (BAS / Niagara)
- HVAC Service Manager
- HVAC Project Manager (Commercial)
All 56 roles we recruit - every trade, every seat.