HVAC Technician Salary in California
Wage data for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in California from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025.
The federal wage data on this page covers heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers, work that is largely service, maintenance, and residential installation. The union scale shown is journeyman pipefitter, which covers refrigerant, chilled water, and hydronic piping on commercial construction and falls under a different federal occupation code than the wage data above. Duct fabrication and installation is sheet metal work, represented by a separate union called SMART (the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers), and is not reflected in either figure.
How to become an HVAC technician or pipefitter →Wage figures on this page reflect all HVAC technicians counted by the BLS, across union and non-union work, residential and commercial, apprentice through master. The BLS does not publish a separate journey-level tier. Figures shown are medians: half of workers earn more, half earn less. Wages vary within the state, and the metro area figures below show that range.
| Annual Median Wage | $72,560 |
| Annual Mean Wage | $75,370 |
| Hourly Median Wage | $34.88 |
| Hourly Mean Wage | $36.24 |
| Total Employed | 35,130 |
Ranked by BLS median annual wage, all HVAC technicians, May 2025. Smaller areas have fewer workers behind each figure.
City and regional wage data for California. Metro figures reflect workers in that specific market. Wages vary significantly between urban and rural areas within the same state.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 - SOC 49-9021 (Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers) - Cross-Industry, All Ownership