HVAC Apprentice Statistics 2026: Job Market, Pay, Demand & Workforce

HVACHires had 383 open HVAC apprentice listings from 174 employers on October 13, 2026.

179 were first posted in the previous 14 days and 275 in the previous 30 days.

At least 1.6% of HVAC apprentice listings were part-time on October 13, 2026.

Listings that name no schedule are counted as full-time, so the real part-time share may be higher.

The benefit HVAC apprentice listings named most often on October 13, 2026 was paid time off, in 66.6% of listings, followed by health insurance (53.5%).

A listing that does not mention a benefit may still offer it.

To browse the openings themselves, see all HVAC apprentice listings.

BLS publishes no wage for HVAC apprentices; the bottom of the heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers pay range ran from $40,050 to $48,360 a year in May 2025 (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 49-9021 (whole trade)).

Employers hiring HVAC apprentices on HVACHires advertise a median of $21.00 an hour across 93 employers on October 13, 2026; this is advertised pay, not earnings.

36 HVAC apprentice listings from 18 employers stated annual pay instead, at an employer median of $55,000 a year.

For BLS pay by percentile, see the HVAC apprentice salary guide.

Florida had the most open HVAC apprentice listings on October 13, 2026, with 35 (9.1% of the national total).

Texas followed with 32 (8.4%).

To browse the openings in one state, start with HVAC apprentice openings in Florida.

174 employers had open HVAC apprentice listings on HVACHires on October 13, 2026, and the five largest posted 31.1% of them.

136 employers (78.2%) had exactly one open HVAC apprentice listing.

BLS counted 409,670 wage-and-salary jobs in heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers (SOC 49-9021) in May 2025, a count that excludes the self-employed (BLS OEWS).

297,290 of those jobs, 72.6%, were at plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors in May 2025 (BLS OEWS, NAICS 238220; share calculated).

BLS projects employment of heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers (SOC 49-9021) to grow 10.9% from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 40,600 openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35).

For what drives that projection, and whether the trade is short of workers, see the HVAC technician job outlook.

For how to enter the field, see the HVAC apprentice career guide.

Listing figures are computed from every active, paid HVAC apprentice listing on HVACHires at the time shown, and refreshed every six hours.

Listings on a job board are not a random sample of all HVAC apprentice jobs, so read them as a picture of current hiring, not of total employment.

Advertised pay is the midpoint of the range an employer posts, or its single figure, and hourly and annual postings are never converted into each other.

The headline is the employer median: each employer’s own median, then the median across employers, so a contractor or franchise network posting hundreds of openings counts once.

A pay figure needs at least 30 listings from 10 employers and is withheld when one employer posted more than half of them.

Federal figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025 and Employment Projections 2025–35) and are quoted as published, with the year in each sentence.

OEWS wages cover wage-and-salary workers only and leave out overtime and the self-employed.