Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2024
HVAC Technician vs Power Line Installer
HVAC Technicians earn a national median of $62,556 versus $101,512 for Power Line Installers, a gap of $38,956 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. HVAC Technicians have posted +6% 5-year wage growth versus +7% for Power Line Installers.
How These Trades Stack Up
Power Line Installers out-earn HVAC Technicians on national median by $38,956 — $101,512 versus $62,556, or about 62% more. That gap reflects differences in apprenticeship length, certification requirements, industry concentration, and union footprint between the two trades.
Both trades have posted comparable 5-year wage growth — HVAC Technicians at +6% versus Power Line Installers at +7%. That suggests both occupations sit in similar parts of the demand cycle, with neither pulling ahead structurally.
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.
HVAC Technician
HVAC · 4yr apprenticeship
Power Line Installer
Electrical · 4yr apprenticeship
City-by-City Comparison
| City | HVAC Technician | Power Line Installer | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston, MA | $77,600 | $115,430 | -$37,830 |
| San Francisco, CA | $76,760 | $128,470 | -$51,710 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $76,090 | $109,590 | -$33,500 |
| Seattle, WA | $75,500 | $130,730 | -$55,230 |
| Chicago, IL | $74,400 | $114,030 | -$39,630 |
| New York, NY | $74,090 | $119,760 | -$45,670 |
| Denver, CO | $64,990 | $99,550 | -$34,560 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $64,820 | $127,810 | -$62,990 |
| Portland, OR | $64,290 | $125,160 | -$60,870 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $63,490 | $108,840 | -$45,350 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $62,830 | $115,770 | -$52,940 |
| Indianapolis, IN | $62,030 | $105,660 | -$43,630 |
| Columbus, OH | $61,990 | $79,810 | -$17,820 |
| St. Louis, MO | $61,880 | $100,410 | -$38,530 |
| Detroit, MI | $61,140 | $106,360 | -$45,220 |
| Kansas City, MO | $61,080 | $100,130 | -$39,050 |
| Nashville, TN | $59,840 | $77,280 | -$17,440 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $59,530 | $105,910 | -$46,380 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $58,820 | $117,990 | -$59,170 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $58,790 | $120,260 | -$61,470 |
| Charlotte, NC | $57,950 | $75,630 | -$17,680 |
| Houston, TX | $57,910 | $80,480 | -$22,570 |
| New Orleans, LA | $57,780 | $76,710 | -$18,930 |
| Dallas, TX | $57,670 | $77,860 | -$20,190 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $57,110 | $96,150 | -$39,040 |
| Atlanta, GA | $56,830 | $82,050 | -$25,220 |
| Raleigh, NC | $54,180 | $76,420 | -$22,240 |
| San Antonio, TX | $53,770 | $76,040 | -$22,270 |
| Miami, FL | $53,510 | $93,910 | -$40,400 |
| Tampa, FL | $50,010 | $101,150 | -$51,140 |
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 HVAC Technicians or Power Line Installers make more money?
Power Line Installers earn more on national median — $101,512 versus $62,556, a gap of $38,956 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?
Power Line Installers have posted faster wage growth at +7% 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?
HVAC Technicians typically complete a 4-year registered apprenticeship. Power Line Installers typically complete a 4-year registered apprenticeship. Programs are listed at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/.
Which trade has better employment depth?
HVAC Technicians have 157,240 workers employed nationally; Power Line Installers have 39,600. 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 HVAC Technician and Power Line Installer 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/.
HVAC Technicians earn a national median of $62,556 versus $101,512 for Power Line Installers, a gap of $38,956 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. HVAC Technicians have posted +6% 5-year wage growth versus +7% for Power Line Installers.
The side-by-side above pulls the the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey data for both HVAC Technician and Power Line Installer. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for HVAC Technician versus Power Line Installer, 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 HVAC Technician and Power Line Installer detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.