Statewide pay Government data
Hvac technicians in Delaware earn a statewide median of $62,320 a year, 5% above the typical U.S. metro, ranking #21 of 50 states and DC. About 1,730 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Delaware
See all states on the hvac technician overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes hvac technician pay for 1 Delaware metro: Dover.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| DoverDELAWARE · DE | $59,810 | $61,339 | 180 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
Pay outside the cities Government data
BLS also reports pay for Delaware's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Install or repair heating, central air conditioning, HVAC, or refrigeration systems, including oil burners, hot-air furnaces, and heating stoves.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10.9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 40,600 openings a year. Typical training: long-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, hvac technicians have 214 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 2.5× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is being struck by or caught in objects and equipment.
What the work is like Government data
How often hvac technicians deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes medium preparation (vocational training or an apprenticeship, often 1–2+ years).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Registered apprenticeships Government data
Of hvac technician apprentices in Delaware who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 52% completed (U.S.: 52%), about 55 graduates a year. The typical program runs 8,000 hours, about 4 years of full-time work. Union programs had a 100% completion rate, compared with 48% for non-union programs. Some apprentices here are registered through a state agency that reports only partly to the federal system, so counts may be low. Search open registered programs near you on the official Apprenticeship Finder.
U.S. Department of Labor, RAPIDS apprentice records (Completion Rate Analysis), FY2020–2024 exits.
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
From 2015 to 2024, plumbing and HVAC contractors in Delaware filed 10 severe injury reports (a hospital stay, amputation or loss of an eye), 1 of them involving an amputation. The most common cause was contact with objects and equipment (50% of reports). These cover everyone at those employers, not only hvac technicians.
OSHA Severe Injury Reports, January 2015–December 2024 (states under federal OSHA only).
Where to train in Delaware Government data
3 schools in Delaware offer HVAC/R programs below the bachelor's level, 2 of them at public colleges. Many people in this trade learn through an apprenticeship instead; a program can shorten it or get you hired as a helper.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polytech Adult Education Woodside, DE · Public | Certificate | — | 92 | — |
| Dawn Career Institute LLC Newark, DE · Private for-profit | Certificate | $19,112 | 20 | $42,951 |
| Delaware Technical Community College-Terry Dover, DE · Public | Associate degree | $14,498 | 12 | — |
| Delaware Technical Community College-Terry Dover, DE · Public | Certificate | $14,498 | 1 | — |
U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (data updated October 2026). Cost is the school's average yearly cost of attendance before financial aid; earnings are the median for graduates one year after finishing, shown only where the school has enough graduates to publish. “—” means not published.
Licensing in Delaware Official source
The main state licensing office in Delaware is the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation. The state licenses electricians and plumbers; general contractors need a business license. It can point you to the right license for hvac technicians.
Official Delaware licensing site ↗
Requirements for hvac technicians vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 10.4% of wage and salary workers in Delaware were union members, close to the U.S. rate of about 10% (#21 of 51 states and D.C.), and 11.5% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only hvac technicians.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Delaware
All trades in Delaware.