There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a heating technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.74 an hour? That's $51,453 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 13% and produce 46,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does a Heating Technician Do

Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers—often called HVACR technicians—work on heating, ventilation, cooling, and refrigeration systems that control the temperature and air quality in buildings.

Learn more about what a Heating Technician does

How To Become a Heating Technician

Because HVACR systems have become increasingly complex, employers generally prefer applicants with postsecondary education or those who have completed an apprenticeship. Some states and localities require technicians to be licensed. Workers may need to pass a background check prior to being hired.

Heating Technician Career Paths

Average Salary for a Heating Technician

Heating Technicians in America make an average salary of $51,453 per year or $25 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $75,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $35,000 per year.
Average Heating Technician Salary
$51,453 Yearly
$24.74 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Heating Technician

There are several types of heating technician, including:

Technician

Role:

To be a technician, you have to know your stuff. Some may refer to you as an expert in your field or maybe people will know you as skilled in an art or craft. Then again, you may just be needed to look after technical equipment.

Your workload as a technician will vary, depending on what you're trained in. You may be needed to set up a new computer system or maybe you'll need to fix an electricity problem. Either way, you'll probably only need to work 40 hours a week.

The degree of education required for this job depends on what you're specific skillset is. Some technicians only need a high school diploma, others may want to complete an associate's program or earn a certificate to help their employment opportunities. There's definitely something for everyone in the field of technicians.

  • Average Salary: $38,045
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Maintenance Technician

Role:

A maintenance technician mainly focuses their time on making repairs to equipment and property structures. When the HVAC unit stops working on the hottest day of the year, the maintenance technicians are the ones who will be called on to save the day.

Generally, maintenance technicians only need a high school diploma to get by in their career, although higher positions in the maintenance technician field may require a two-year program of some sort.

You know how we said that maintenance technicians may be called upon in emergency situations? Well, that may mean you'll be working outside of your normal hours. For the most part, you'll work a normal, full-time schedule. But emergencies may get you out of bed or interrupt your weekend. Just be prepared for those emergencies.

  • Average Salary: $43,293
  • Degree: High School Diploma

Service Technician

Role:

As a service technician, you'll be coming home with a lot of grease on your hands. Unless, of course, you wash your hands before leaving work. Guess where all that grease comes from. Vehicles! That's right, you'll be inspecting and repairing cars, left and right.

Generally, you'll be working in a well-ventilated, well-lit garage of some sort. You'll need to be familiar with automotive issues in a car's computer system, such as figuring out why the check engine light is on. And you'll probably need to know how to change a tire or change the oil. But we're not telling you how to do your job.

Instead of getting your training from us, you should complete a program from a postsecondary institution. Again, not telling you what to do but rather what employers like to see. Once you have the job, you may need to go a step further by becoming certified.

  • Average Salary: $40,379
  • Degree: Associate Degree

States With The Most Heating Technician Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active heating technician jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where heating technicians earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Heating Technician Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1Texas1,955$44,224
2California1,917$63,066
3Florida1,842$42,842
4New York1,332$62,287
5Illinois1,197$57,243
6Georgia1,181$44,900
7North Carolina1,160$49,887
8Virginia983$59,817
9Pennsylvania981$60,553
10Ohio892$46,432
11New Jersey836$66,964
12Massachusetts810$75,878
13Iowa753$50,306
14Michigan738$54,504
15Tennessee733$36,508
16Indiana691$56,707
17Colorado663$54,793
18Arizona649$50,077
19Minnesota648$54,583
20Missouri585$54,676
21Maryland571$75,559
22South Carolina538$52,021
23Washington497$64,365
24Wisconsin497$50,027
25Oregon388$59,616
26Alabama365$43,040
27Connecticut358$76,252
28Kentucky331$45,645
29Utah325$49,139
30Nebraska297$47,884
31Oklahoma297$43,400
32Louisiana274$55,681
33Kansas254$48,663
34Arkansas237$39,056
35Maine231$54,808
36Mississippi230$43,609
37Nevada228$58,355
38New Hampshire185$64,748
39Delaware148$62,861
40West Virginia138$39,173
41New Mexico132$41,896
42South Dakota127$44,201
43Montana111$57,130
44Idaho109$52,303
45Alaska104$76,640
46Rhode Island102$63,382
47Vermont90$48,137
48North Dakota71$60,053
49Hawaii64$48,321
50Wyoming43$52,044

Heating Technician Education

Heating Technician Degrees

High School Diploma

38.4 %

Associate

24.3 %

Bachelors

14.3 %

Top Colleges for Heating Technicians

1. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

2. Bucknell University

Lewisburg, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,092

Enrollment

3,583

3. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,880

Enrollment

6,590

4. North Carolina State University

Raleigh, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,101

Enrollment

23,708

5. Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,711

Enrollment

5,504

6. Vermont Technical College

Randolph, VT • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,108

Enrollment

1,350

7. Texas Christian University

Fort Worth, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$46,950

Enrollment

9,407

Top Skills For a Heating Technician

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 8.6% of heating technicians listed plumbing on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and detail oriented are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Heating Technician Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Heating Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Heating Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Heating Technician diversity

Heating Technician Gender Distribution

Male
Male
96%
Female
Female
4%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among heating technicians, 3.9% of them are women, while 96.1% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among heating technicians is White, which makes up 66.6% of all heating technicians.

  • The most common foreign language among heating technicians is Spanish at 45.0%.

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Best States For a Heating Technician

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a heating technician. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maryland. Heating technicians make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $76,640. Whereas in Connecticut and Massachusetts, they would average $76,252 and $75,878, respectively. While heating technicians would only make an average of $75,559 in Maryland, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Connecticut

Total Heating Technician Jobs: 358
Highest 10% Earn:
$119,000
Location Quotient:
1.1

2. Alaska

Total Heating Technician Jobs: 104
Highest 10% Earn:
$88,000
Location Quotient:
1.27

3. New Hampshire

Total Heating Technician Jobs: 185
Highest 10% Earn:
$98,000
Location Quotient:
1.08
Full List Of Best States For Heating Technicians

How Do Heating Technicians Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Heating Technician Employers

Most Common Employers For Heating Technician

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Pentair$64,881$31.192
2Superheat$61,588$29.6110
3Kellogg Elementary$56,028$26.945
4Sears Holdings$55,993$26.927
5IAF$54,538$26.223
6Suarez Industries$53,571$25.763
7Jabil$53,284$25.623
8TEAM$49,765$23.9322
9USAF Police Alumni Association$48,865$23.496
10US Air Conditioning Distributors$48,132$23.1411