Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2024
HVAC Technician vs Sheet Metal Worker
HVAC Technicians earn a national median of $62,556 versus $67,236 for Sheet Metal Workers, a gap of $4,680 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. HVAC Technicians have posted +6% 5-year wage growth versus +4% for Sheet Metal Workers.
How These Trades Stack Up
Sheet Metal Workers out-earn HVAC Technicians on national median by $4,680 — $67,236 versus $62,556, or about 7% more. That gap reflects differences in apprenticeship length, certification requirements, industry concentration, and union footprint between the two trades.
HVAC Technicians have grown faster — +6% over five years versus +4% for Sheet Metal Workers. 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.
HVAC Technician
HVAC · 4yr apprenticeship
Sheet Metal Worker
Metalwork · 4yr apprenticeship
City-by-City Comparison
| City | HVAC Technician | Sheet Metal Worker | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston, MA | $77,600 | $69,040 | +$8,560 |
| San Francisco, CA | $76,760 | $98,140 | -$21,380 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $76,090 | $62,550 | +$13,540 |
| Seattle, WA | $75,500 | $102,680 | -$27,180 |
| Chicago, IL | $74,400 | $97,970 | -$23,570 |
| New York, NY | $74,090 | $77,350 | -$3,260 |
| Denver, CO | $64,990 | $60,730 | +$4,260 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $64,820 | $78,560 | -$13,740 |
| Portland, OR | $64,290 | $77,950 | -$13,660 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $63,490 | $79,490 | -$16,000 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $62,830 | $81,140 | -$18,310 |
| Indianapolis, IN | $62,030 | $64,100 | -$2,070 |
| Columbus, OH | $61,990 | $65,460 | -$3,470 |
| St. Louis, MO | $61,880 | $82,150 | -$20,270 |
| Detroit, MI | $61,140 | $61,750 | -$610 |
| Kansas City, MO | $61,080 | $81,500 | -$20,420 |
| Nashville, TN | $59,840 | $60,510 | -$670 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $59,530 | $63,830 | -$4,300 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $58,820 | $53,320 | +$5,500 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $58,790 | $46,800 | +$11,990 |
| Charlotte, NC | $57,950 | $52,870 | +$5,080 |
| Houston, TX | $57,910 | $56,020 | +$1,890 |
| New Orleans, LA | $57,780 | $61,090 | -$3,310 |
| Dallas, TX | $57,670 | $57,270 | +$400 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $57,110 | $63,390 | -$6,280 |
| Atlanta, GA | $56,830 | $49,630 | +$7,200 |
| Raleigh, NC | $54,180 | $51,610 | +$2,570 |
| San Antonio, TX | $53,770 | $54,830 | -$1,060 |
| Miami, FL | $53,510 | $56,580 | -$3,070 |
| Tampa, FL | $50,010 | $48,770 | +$1,240 |
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 Sheet Metal Workers make more money?
Sheet Metal Workers earn more on national median — $67,236 versus $62,556, a gap of $4,680 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?
HVAC Technicians have posted faster wage growth at +6% versus +4% for Sheet Metal Workers. 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. Sheet Metal Workers 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; Sheet Metal Workers have 45,860. 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 Sheet Metal Worker 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 $67,236 for Sheet Metal Workers, a gap of $4,680 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. HVAC Technicians have posted +6% 5-year wage growth versus +4% for Sheet Metal Workers.
The side-by-side above pulls the the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey data for both HVAC Technician and Sheet Metal Worker. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for HVAC Technician versus Sheet Metal Worker, 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 Sheet Metal Worker detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.