Illinois HVAC technicians earn a median $37.21/hr (BLS, May 2025). With payroll costs and margin, an HVAC company needs about $133/hr. Work out your own rate.
Data last verified October 23, 2026
BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 49-9021. Last verified: October 23, 2026. BLS series IDs: OEUS170000000000049902108, OEUS170000000000049902103, OEUS170000000000049902107, OEUS170000000000049902109, OEUS170000000000049902101.
The rate works out to about 3.6× the wage. Change any input below to use your own payroll, schedule and margin.
LeadDuo assumptions: payroll taxes 10%, workers' comp 8%, benefits $4 per paid hour, billable time 60% (typical range 55–65%), and a 40% target gross margin that covers overhead and profit. These are modeled values, not published data.
Charge at least
$133.08/hr
Labor only, at $133.08/hr. Parts, equipment, permits and trip charges are extra, so these are not full job prices.
| Job | Typical labor hours | Labor at this rate |
|---|---|---|
| AC tune-up / maintenance visit | 1 | $133 |
| Blower motor replacement | 2 | $266 |
| Split-system AC changeout (crew hours) | 10 | $1,331 |
Labor hours are LeadDuo planning assumptions.
Full job prices with parts: price list template →Illinois has no statewide HVAC contractor license. Cities and counties set their own registration and licensing rules, so what Chicago requires differs from Springfield or the suburbs. EPA Section 608 still applies to anyone handling refrigerant.
Mechanical permits come from the local building department. Many municipalities require contractor registration before they issue one, so check each town you work in.
A true two-season market: heating calls dominate winter and cooling calls dominate summer, which keeps technicians busier year-round than in single-season states.
The median HVAC technician wage in Illinois is $37.21 an hour ($77,410 a year) per BLS OEWS (May 2025), 27% above the national median of $29.33. The middle half earn $28.94–$46.17 an hour.
At the median wage and LeadDuo's published defaults (10% payroll taxes, 8% workers' comp, $4/hr benefits, 60% billable time, 40% gross margin), an HVAC company in Illinois needs about $79.85 per billable hour to cover the technician's cost and about $133.08 an hour to hit a 40% margin. Change the inputs in the calculator to use your own numbers.
Illinois has no statewide HVAC contractor license. Cities and counties set their own registration and licensing rules, so what Chicago requires differs from Springfield or the suburbs. EPA Section 608 still applies to anyone handling refrigerant.
BLS counts 9,740 employed HVAC technicians in Illinois (May 2025), about 2.4% of the 409,670 nationwide. The count leaves out self-employed owners.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates, SOC 49-9021 (Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers). Last verified: October 23, 2026.
Loaded cost, break-even, selling rate and labor per job are LeadDuo calculations from the stated assumptions, not BLS-published figures. How we use public data · Pricing changelog
