Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2024
Electrician vs HVAC Technician
Electricians earn a national median of $70,935 versus $62,556 for HVAC Technicians, a gap of $8,379 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Electricians have posted +11% 5-year wage growth versus +6% for HVAC Technicians.
How These Trades Stack Up
Electricians out-earn HVAC Technicians on national median by $8,379 — $70,935 versus $62,556, or about 13% more. That gap reflects differences in apprenticeship length, certification requirements, industry concentration, and union footprint between the two trades.
Electricians have grown faster — +11% over five years versus +6% for HVAC Technicians. Sustained growth gaps of this size can compound meaningfully over a 20-30 year career, so workers comparing the two trades should weigh growth alongside the headline median.
Both trades follow a 4-year apprenticeship pathway — paid on-the-job training combined with classroom instruction, registered through the U.S. Department of Labor at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/. Apprentice pay typically scales from roughly 40% of journeyman wage in year one to 95% by the final year.
Electrician
Electrical · 4yr apprenticeship
HVAC Technician
HVAC · 4yr apprenticeship
City-by-City Comparison
| City | Electrician | HVAC Technician | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland, OR | $102,070 | $64,290 | +$37,780 |
| Seattle, WA | $101,600 | $75,500 | +$26,100 |
| Chicago, IL | $99,540 | $74,400 | +$25,140 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $95,090 | $76,090 | +$19,000 |
| San Francisco, CA | $93,750 | $76,760 | +$16,990 |
| Boston, MA | $83,450 | $77,600 | +$5,850 |
| Detroit, MI | $80,330 | $61,140 | +$19,190 |
| St. Louis, MO | $79,280 | $61,880 | +$17,400 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $76,820 | $63,490 | +$13,330 |
| New York, NY | $76,450 | $74,090 | +$2,360 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $76,120 | $64,820 | +$11,300 |
| Kansas City, MO | $74,560 | $61,080 | +$13,480 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $74,040 | $62,830 | +$11,210 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $64,950 | $58,790 | +$6,160 |
| Indianapolis, IN | $64,120 | $62,030 | +$2,090 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $63,890 | $59,530 | +$4,360 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $63,430 | $57,110 | +$6,320 |
| Columbus, OH | $63,160 | $61,990 | +$1,170 |
| Denver, CO | $63,010 | $64,990 | -$1,980 |
| Nashville, TN | $61,130 | $59,840 | +$1,290 |
| New Orleans, LA | $60,840 | $57,780 | +$3,060 |
| Atlanta, GA | $60,400 | $56,830 | +$3,570 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $59,940 | $58,820 | +$1,120 |
| Houston, TX | $59,180 | $57,910 | +$1,270 |
| Dallas, TX | $57,760 | $57,670 | +$90 |
| Miami, FL | $56,080 | $53,510 | +$2,570 |
| Charlotte, NC | $55,790 | $57,950 | -$2,160 |
| Raleigh, NC | $54,820 | $54,180 | +$640 |
| Tampa, FL | $53,790 | $50,010 | +$3,780 |
| San Antonio, TX | $52,650 | $53,770 | -$1,120 |
How These Numbers Are Calculated
All wage figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (2024) release at bls.gov/oes. National medians are the BLS-published median wages for the trade's Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code; metropolitan medians come from the same OEWS release at the metropolitan statistical area level. Five-year wage growth compares the current OEWS median to the same series five releases prior, expressed as a percent change. The Trade Pay Score weights raw pay (30%), wage growth (25%), employment depth (25%), and cost-of-living-adjusted purchasing power (20%) into a single 0-100 grade — read the full methodology.
Forward-looking employment projections through 2032 for both trades are published in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at bls.gov/ooh. Apprenticeship pathway detail comes from the U.S. Department of Labor's apprenticeship.gov registry. All three are public-domain federal data sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Electricians or HVAC Technicians make more money?
Electricians earn more on national median — $70,935 versus $62,556, a gap of $8,379 per 2024 BLS OEWS data. The full BLS dataset is published at https://www.bls.gov/oes/.
Which trade has stronger 5-year wage growth?
Electricians have posted faster wage growth at +11% versus +6% for HVAC Technicians. Sustained gaps in growth often compound meaningfully over a 20-30 year career.
How long is the apprenticeship for each trade?
Electricians typically complete a 4-year registered apprenticeship. HVAC Technicians typically complete a 4-year registered apprenticeship. Programs are listed at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/.
Which trade has better employment depth?
Electricians have 309,770 workers employed nationally; HVAC Technicians have 157,240. Larger employment bases generally translate into more job openings, easier mobility between employers, and lower volatility — useful when comparing the long-term resilience of two trade pathways.
Where can I find apprenticeships for either trade?
Registered apprenticeship programs for both Electrician and HVAC Technician are listed on the U.S. Department of Labor's apprenticeship.gov site at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/, which lets you filter by trade, state, and city. Projected employment growth through 2032 for each occupation is published in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Electricians earn a national median of $70,935 versus $62,556 for HVAC Technicians, a gap of $8,379 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Electricians have posted +11% 5-year wage growth versus +6% for HVAC Technicians.
The side-by-side above pulls the the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey data for both Electrician and HVAC Technician. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for Electrician versus HVAC Technician, and which differences are large enough to influence a real decision.
Practical use of the comparison: read the data above, then drill into the individual Electrician and HVAC Technician detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.