HVAC Industry
Statistics2026
How many HVAC technicians and plumbers there are, who employs them, where the jobs are, what they earn and how fast the trades are growing — plus live openings from our own job board.
Every figure is sourced, dated and linked to the agency that published it.
Live HVAC & Plumbing Job Openings
Every other figure on this page comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics or O*NET.
These numbers are ours — aggregated from employer career sites and direct postings on HVAC Hires, and updated continuously.
| Role | Listings with hourly pay | Median posted low | Median posted high |
|---|---|---|---|
| HVAC Service Technicians | 129 | $25/hr | $35/hr |
| HVAC Installers | 120 | $25/hr | $36/hr |
| HVAC Technicians | 98 | $25/hr | $35/hr |
| Plumbers | 88 | $27.50/hr | $35/hr |
| Service Plumbers | 62 | $25/hr | $37.50/hr |
| Commercial HVAC Technicians | 59 | $40/hr | $60/hr |
| Plumbing Apprentices | 45 | $17/hr | $20/hr |
| HVAC Apprentices | 42 | $18/hr | $22/hr |
| Boiler Technicians | 23 | $31/hr | $64/hr |
| HVAC Dispatchers | 20 | $20/hr | $25/hr |
| Drain Technicians | 19 | $21/hr | $30/hr |
| Journeyman Plumbers | 19 | $33/hr | $45/hr |
1,271 of 4,326 live listings (29%) state pay; 769 state it as an hourly range. Roles with at least 15 hourly-pay listings are shown; each column is the median of the posted range’s low or high end. Posted ranges are what employers advertise, not what workers are paid, and they are not comparable to the BLS wage percentiles further down this page.
How many HVAC technicians and plumbers are there?
BLS counted 409,670 HVAC mechanic and installer jobs and 465,840 plumber, pipefitter and steamfitter jobs in May 2025 — wage-and-salary jobs, not counting the self-employed.
Most of them sit inside one industry: plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors employed 1,310,510 people, and HVAC techs and plumbers together are 47.9% of that workforce (calculated).
| Occupation (SOC) | Jobs | 10th pct | Median | 90th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbers, Pipefitters & Steamfitters 47-2152 | 330,570 | $43,720 | $63,010 | $107,780 |
| HVAC Mechanics & Installers 49-9021 | 297,290 | $38,920 | $60,030 | $93,790 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades 47-1011 | 60,520 | $61,200 | $93,320 | $138,720 |
| Sheet Metal Workers 47-2211 | 51,680 | $44,420 | $69,830 | $115,790 |
| General & Operations Managers 11-1021 | 40,250 | $57,570 | $105,740 | $214,590 |
| Helpers — Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters & Steamfitters 47-3015 | 38,600 | $33,660 | $42,210 | $57,780 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers & Repairers 49-1011 | 31,350 | $55,420 | $81,800 | $128,500 |
| Helpers — Installation, Maintenance & Repair Workers 49-9098 | 25,180 | $30,430 | $39,550 | $51,040 |
| Sales Representatives of Services 41-3091 | 24,510 | $42,710 | $79,530 | $139,990 |
| Construction Managers 11-9021 | 21,680 | $75,490 | $109,150 | $171,880 |
| Electricians 47-2111 | 16,840 | $44,490 | $64,530 | $107,070 |
| Customer Service Representatives 43-4051 | 16,240 | $36,810 | $46,210 | $62,760 |
| Cost Estimators 13-1051 | 13,650 | $51,310 | $81,820 | $129,250 |
| Dispatchers (except police, fire & ambulance) 43-5032 | 12,070 | $36,830 | $47,480 | $64,260 |
| All occupations | 1,310,510 | — | $61,690 | — |
Wage-and-salary employment and annual wages at plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors (NAICS 238220), BLS OEWS May 2025; the fourteen occupations shown are the ones our sources report for the industry, so they do not sum to the total. Contractors employ far more than techs: 60,520 construction-trade supervisors, 40,250 general and operations managers, 24,510 service sales reps and 12,070 dispatchers. These are BLS occupation titles, not job-ad titles.
Three counts, three meanings.
OEWS (409,670 HVAC jobs) is a payroll survey and leaves out the self-employed.
BLS Employment Projections (440,900) adds them back.
The Current Population Survey asks households and counted about 561,000 employed HVACR mechanics and 624,000 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters in 2025.
In BLS’s Occupational Outlook data for 2025, 68% of HVAC jobs and 65% of plumbing jobs were with plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors; 6% and 8% were self-employed.
Refrigeration techs are counted inside the HVAC occupation and sprinkler fitters inside the plumbing one, with no separate federal pay or outlook figure for either.
HVAC & Plumbing Job Growth, 2025–2035
BLS projects HVAC employment to grow 10.9% and plumber, pipefitter and steamfitter employment 6.8% between 2025 and 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations.
Together the two trades are projected to need about 82,600 new workers a year (sum of the two projections); for HVAC, BLS says many of those openings come from replacing workers who retire or change occupations.
| Occupation (SOC) | 2025 | 2035 | Change | Openings / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HVAC Mechanics & Installers 49-9021 | 440.9k | 489.1k | +10.9% | 40,600 |
| Electricians (for comparison) 47-2111 | 821.0k | 896.9k | +9.2% | 72,700 |
| Plumbers, Pipefitters & Steamfitters 47-2152 | 510.6k | 545.2k | +6.8% | 42,000 |
| Helpers — Installation, Maintenance & Repair 49-9098 | 97.1k | 102.2k | +5.3% | 13,600 |
| Sheet Metal Workers 47-2211 | 131.1k | 134.4k | +2.5% | 9,800 |
| Helpers — Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters & Steamfitters 47-3015 | 45.3k | 46.4k | +2.4% | 4,400 |
| All occupations | — | — | +3.5% | — |
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, released 27 August 2026; employment in thousands, including the self-employed. Openings count jobs from growth and from replacing workers who leave the occupation. These projections supersede the 2024–34 projections.
Where the HVAC & Plumbing Jobs Are
Florida has the most HVAC jobs (39,160), ahead of California and Texas; California has the most plumber, pipefitter and steamfitter jobs (47,660), ahead of Texas and Florida.
The New York metro area leads both trades.
Wage-and-salary employment, BLS OEWS May 2025: the top five states and metro areas as published. Metro names are shortened; the full BLS area names are New York-Newark-Jersey City, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
Who Works in HVAC & Plumbing — and the Risks
The median HVAC tech is 39.9 years old and the median plumber 40.2, both younger than the all-worker median of 42.1.
Both trades are overwhelmingly male, and their injury rates run well above average.
Private industry, 2023–2024 annualized, cases per 10,000 full-time workers (BLS). The HVAC rate is about 2.5 times the all-occupation rate; counting restricted-duty and job-transfer cases too, HVAC mechanics had 330.3 cases per 10,000 against 140.8 for all occupations. By industry, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors recorded 3.0 total recordable cases per 100 full-time workers in 2024, above all private industry (2.3) and construction overall (2.2). See is HVAC dangerous? for what drives it.
Union membership: BLS’s annual union release table gives no rate for HVAC techs or plumbers specifically.
For the occupation groups they fall in, 16.4% of wage-and-salary workers in construction and extraction occupations were union members in 2025 (17.4% represented by a union), and 12.5% in installation, maintenance and repair occupations.
HVAC & Plumbing Salaries by Role
The national median for HVAC mechanics and installers was $61,010 in May 2025 and for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters $63,800 — the same BLS release our salary pages use.
The bar is the 25th-to-90th-percentile range (10th-to-90th for the contractor office roles); the notch is the median.
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions the sourced data on this page can actually answer — nothing beyond it.
01How many HVAC technicians are there in the U.S.?
BLS counted 409,670 wage-and-salary jobs for heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers in May 2025 (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics).
Counting the self-employed, BLS Employment Projections put HVAC employment at 440,900 in 2025, and the household-based Current Population Survey counted about 561,000 employed HVACR mechanics.
The three figures measure different things, so cite the one that matches your question and name its series.
02How many plumbers are there in the U.S.?
BLS counted 465,840 wage-and-salary jobs for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters in May 2025.
Including the self-employed, employment was 510,600 in 2025 (BLS Employment Projections), and the Current Population Survey counted about 624,000.
BLS publishes one combined figure for plumbers, pipefitters, steamfitters and sprinkler fitters, with no separate count for each trade.
03Is the HVAC industry growing?
Yes.
BLS projects HVAC mechanic and installer employment to grow 10.9% from 2025 to 2035, from 440,900 to 489,100 jobs, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 40,600 openings a year.
Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters are projected to grow 6.8%, with about 42,000 openings a year.
BLS expects commercial construction, including data centers, residential construction and retrofit and replacement work to drive HVAC growth.
04How many people work for plumbing and HVAC contractors?
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors (NAICS 238220) employed 1,310,510 wage-and-salary workers in May 2025, with an annual median wage of $61,690 across all occupations.
Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters (330,570) and HVAC mechanics and installers (297,290) are the two largest occupations; the rest are supervisors, sheet metal workers, helpers, managers, sales, office and dispatch staff.
05How much do HVAC technicians make?
The national median wage for HVAC mechanics and installers was $61,010 a year ($29.33 an hour) in May 2025.
The 25th percentile was $48,360 and the 90th $95,210.
By state median, the District of Columbia ($84,390), Alaska ($77,430) and Illinois ($77,410) paid the most.
OEWS wages exclude overtime, so techs who work overtime can earn more than these figures.
06Do plumbers make more than HVAC technicians?
In BLS data, slightly.
The May 2025 national median for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters was $63,800, $2,790 higher than the $61,010 median for HVAC mechanics and installers.
At the 90th percentile the gap widens to $13,210 ($108,420 vs $95,210).
07How dangerous is HVAC work?
HVAC mechanics and installers had 214.5 injury and illness cases involving days away from work per 10,000 full-time workers in 2023–2024, about 2.5 times the all-occupation rate of 86.6.
The rate for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters was 144.5.
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors recorded 3.0 total recordable cases per 100 full-time workers in 2024, above all private industry (2.3).
08What share of HVAC technicians and plumbers are women?
Women were 2.7% of employed HVACR mechanics and installers and 3.1% of plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters in 2025, according to the Current Population Survey.
Hispanic or Latino workers were 26.7% and 30.3% of the two occupations.
09How old is the average HVAC technician?
The median age of employed HVACR mechanics and installers was 39.9 in 2025, below the 42.1 median for all workers; for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters it was 40.2.
About 19% of HVACR mechanics (105,000 of 561,000) and 18% of plumbers (115,000 of 624,000) were 55 or older.
Source: BLS Current Population Survey.