TradeSalary

HVAC technician salary in Portland, OR-WA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

HVAC technicians in the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR-WA area earn a median of $65,260 a year, or $31.38 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $98,810. Across all of Oregon, the median is $62,940, so Portland pays 4% more than the state as a whole.

Median yearly pay$65,260
Bottom 10% under$48,650Top 10% over$98,810
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$23.39/hr
Jobs in this area
2,580
After cost of living
$61,900
Median hourly pay
$31.38/hr
vs U.S. median
+7%
vs Oregon median
+4%
Mean (average) pay
$72,700 a year · $34.95 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 38900, Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA). 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 Portland, OR-WA 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$23.39$48,650
25th percentile$28.93$60,170
Median (50th)$31.38$65,260
75th percentile$39.11$81,350
90th percentile$47.50$98,810

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

How Portland, OR-WA compares

  • Portland has the highest HVAC technician median of the 8 Oregon metro areas with published pay.
  • HVAC technicians are less concentrated in the Portland area than nationally: 2.1 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.81 times the U.S. share.

Other Oregon metro areas

Other trades in Portland, OR-WA

Questions

Do HVAC technicians make more in Portland or Salem?
Pay is about the same: the median is $65,260 in Portland and $65,050 in Salem.

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 38900 (Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA). 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 (105.4, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures