TradeSalary

HVAC technician salary in Buffalo, NY

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

HVAC technicians in the Buffalo–Cheektowaga, NY area earn a median of $62,180 a year, or $29.89 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $91,820. Statewide, HVAC technicians earn a median of $74,430; Buffalo is 16% below it.

Median yearly pay$62,180
Bottom 10% under$39,240Top 10% over$91,820
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$18.86/hr
Jobs in this area
1,370
After cost of living
$64,880
Median hourly pay
$29.89/hr
vs U.S. median
+2%
vs New York median
−16%
Mean (average) pay
$65,320 a year · $31.40 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 15380, Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY). Excludes self-employed HVAC technicians. Cost of living: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024. *Starting pay is estimated from the 10th percentile; BLS does not report pay by license level.

Pay by percentile

What HVAC technicians in Buffalo, NY earn at each point of the pay range, May 2025: 10% earn less than the 10th percentile, half earn less than the median, and 10% earn more than the 90th.

PercentileHourlyYearly
10th percentile$18.86$39,240
25th percentile$23.99$49,900
Median (50th)$29.89$62,180
75th percentile$37.33$77,640
90th percentile$44.15$91,820

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.

How Buffalo, NY compares

  • Buffalo ranks 9th of 13 New York metro areas for HVAC technician pay.
  • HVAC technicians hold about the same share of jobs in the Buffalo area as nationally: 2.6 of every 1,000 jobs.

Other New York metro areas

Other trades in Buffalo, NY

Questions

Do HVAC technicians make more in Buffalo or New York?
New York pays more: the median is $62,180 in Buffalo and $77,990 in New York, a 20% difference.

About this data

Wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, occupation 49-9021 (Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers), area code 15380 (Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY). BLS counts wage and salary workers only, so self-employed HVAC technicians and business owners aren't included. The cost-of-living figure divides the median by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for 2024 (95.8, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures