TradeSalary

HVAC technician salary in Burlington, NC

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

HVAC technicians in the Burlington, NC area earn a median of $52,450 a year, or $25.21 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $73,940 a year. That's 8% less than the North Carolina median of $57,260.

Median yearly pay$52,450
Bottom 10% under$37,490Top 10% over$73,940
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$18.02/hr
Jobs in this area
280
After cost of living
$56,280
Median hourly pay
$25.21/hr
vs U.S. median
−14%
vs North Carolina median
−8%
Mean (average) pay
$55,500 a year · $26.69 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 15500, Burlington, NC). 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 Burlington, NC 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$18.02$37,490
25th percentile$22.76$47,350
Median (50th)$25.21$52,450
75th percentile$29.36$61,060
90th percentile$35.55$73,940

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

How Burlington, NC compares

  • Burlington ranks 12th of 16 North Carolina metro areas for HVAC technician pay.
  • HVAC technicians are more concentrated in the Burlington area than nationally: 4.1 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.6 times the U.S. share.

Other North Carolina metro areas

Other trades in Burlington, NC

Questions

Do HVAC technicians make more in Burlington or Charlotte?
Charlotte pays more: the median is $52,450 in Burlington and $59,840 in Charlotte, a 12% 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 15500 (Burlington, NC). 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 (93.2, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures