TradeSalary

HVAC technician salary in Salem, OR

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

HVAC technicians in the Salem, OR area earn a median of $65,050 a year, or $31.27 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $91,330 a year. Statewide, HVAC technicians earn a median of $62,940; Salem is 3% above it.

Median yearly pay$65,050
Bottom 10% under$46,810Top 10% over$91,330
Apprentice starting pay (estimate)
$22.51/hr
Jobs in this area
350
After cost of living
$62,760
Median hourly pay
$31.27/hr
vs U.S. median
+7%
vs Oregon median
+3%
Mean (average) pay
$68,450 a year · $32.91 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 41420, Salem, OR). 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 Salem, OR 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$22.51$46,810
25th percentile$27.93$58,090
Median (50th)$31.27$65,050
75th percentile$37.38$77,750
90th percentile$43.91$91,330

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

How Salem, OR compares

  • Salem ranks 2nd of 8 Oregon metro areas for HVAC technician pay.
  • HVAC technicians are less concentrated in the Salem area than nationally: 1.9 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.71 times the U.S. share.

Other Oregon metro areas

Other trades in Salem, OR

Questions

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

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 41420 (Salem, OR). 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 (103.6, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures