Statewide pay Government data
Hvac technicians in Texas earn a statewide median of $57,760 a year, 3% below the typical U.S. metro, ranking #38 of 50 states and DC. About 34,730 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Texas
See all states on the HVAC technician overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes HVAC technician pay for 25 Texas metros. The highest-paying is Austin at $60,820, followed by Dallas and Houston.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| AustinTEXAS · TX | $60,820 | $62,019 | 3,140 |
| DallasTEXAS · TX | $59,560 | $57,775 | 10,910 |
| HoustonTEXAS · TX | $58,940 | $59,759 | 7,680 |
| San AntonioTEXAS · TX | $58,590 | $61,859 | 3,160 |
| OdessaTEXAS · TX | $58,580 | $62,388 | 160 |
| MidlandTEXAS · TX | $57,800 | $60,345 | 260 |
| BeaumontTEXAS · TX | $56,720 | $62,990 | 390 |
| ShermanTEXAS · TX | $56,330 | $60,072 | 170 |
| WacoTEXAS · TX | $55,860 | $60,357 | 440 |
| LongviewTEXAS · TX | $55,050 | $61,519 | 350 |
| AbileneTEXAS · TX | $54,330 | $60,124 | 260 |
| Corpus ChristiTEXAS · TX | $51,760 | $55,854 | 640 |
| LubbockTEXAS · TX | $49,850 | $54,590 | 420 |
| AmarilloTEXAS · TX | $49,840 | $54,280 | 350 |
| KilleenTEXAS · TX | $49,630 | $54,459 | 410 |
| San AngeloTEXAS · TX | $49,330 | $53,357 | 130 |
| TylerTEXAS · TX | $49,300 | $53,496 | 290 |
| Wichita FallsTEXAS · TX | $49,240 | $55,009 | 160 |
| VictoriaTEXAS · TX | $48,550 | $54,041 | 100 |
| College StationTEXAS · TX | $48,530 | $53,358 | 270 |
| LaredoTEXAS · TX | $48,450 | $55,718 | 180 |
| BrownsvilleTEXAS · TX | $47,910 | $55,726 | 260 |
| TexarkanaTEXAS · TX | $47,760 | $56,849 | 130 |
| El PasoTEXAS · TX | $47,270 | $52,574 | 790 |
| McAllenTEXAS · TX | $47,170 | $54,916 | 530 |
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 Texas'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 Texas who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 45% completed (U.S.: 52%), about 68 graduates a year. The typical program runs 8,000 hours, about 4 years of full-time work. Union programs had a 60% completion rate, compared with 36% for non-union programs. 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.
Licensed contractors Government data
Texas had 18,529 active air conditioning and refrigeration contractor licenses in October 2026.
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, license files, October 2026 (active licenses only).
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
From 2015 to 2024, plumbing and HVAC contractors in Texas filed 228 severe injury reports (a hospital stay, amputation or loss of an eye), 32 of them involving an amputation. The most common cause was falls, slips and trips (47% of reports). These cover everyone at those employers, not only HVAC technicians. OSHA also opened 42 fatality investigations at plumbing and HVAC contractors in Texas over the same years (federal and state programs).
OSHA Severe Injury Reports, January 2015–December 2024 (states under federal OSHA only).
Fatality investigations: OSHA Fatality Inspection Data, events 2015–2024, all states.
Where to train in Texas Government data
42 schools in Texas offer HVAC/R programs below the bachelor's level, 28 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.
Where published, graduates earned a median of $41,138 in their first year out.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tulsa Welding School-Houston Houston, TX · Private for-profit | Certificate | $32,385 | 203 | $41,120 |
| Lone Star College System The Woodlands, TX · Public | Certificate | $21,720 | 184 | — |
| Del Mar College Corpus Christi, TX · Public | Certificate | $13,106 | 118 | $45,900 |
| San Jacinto Community College Pasadena, TX · Public | Certificate | $10,665 | 99 | — |
| Dallas College Dallas, TX · Public | Certificate | $23,698 | 90 | $44,447 |
| Lamson Institute San Antonio, TX · Private for-profit | Certificate | $30,093 | 89 | $50,558 |
| South Texas College McAllen, TX · Public | Certificate | $9,685 | 80 | $41,291 |
| Austin Career Institute LLC Austin, TX · Private for-profit | Certificate | $23,731 | 64 | $46,562 |
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 Texas Official source
The main state licensing office in Texas is the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Plumbers are licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. It can point you to the right license for HVAC technicians.
Official Texas licensing site ↗
Requirements for HVAC technicians vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 4.9% of wage and salary workers in Texas were union members, below the U.S. rate of about 10% (#41 of 51 states and D.C.), and 5.8% 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 Texas
All trades in Texas.