HVAC Salary in Illinois

Illinois HVAC Notes

Illinois HVAC looks like a state market on paper. In practice it's Chicago, the western suburbs, and everywhere else. Roughly 8,500 HVAC technicians work across the state, with paycheck size mostly related to how close to the Loop you are.

High-rise commercial real estate along the Loop and River North dominates the union side. Data-center cooling infrastructure has pulled steady work into the western suburbs, while food-processing refrigeration carries the downstate market. The 25% jump in median wage from 2019 to 2024 is mostly from Chicago pulling the average up.

Licensing in Illinois tends to trip people up as there's no statewide HVAC license. You work under whatever the local jurisdiction of the job requires. Chicago has its own refrigeration-tech and steam-fitter licenses through the Department of Buildings. Pipefitters Local 597 covers Chicago HVAC piping. Sheet Metal Workers Local 73 handles the ductwork. For non-union jobs, a lot of the work routes through the larger Chicago mechanical contractors like F.E. Moran or Hill Mechanical Group.

It's not all sunshine and rainbows though, Illinois winters are brutal on the equipment and on you. Boiler service calls at 5 AM in the dead of winter are routine. Summer cooling work is easier, but it's also the more crowded market. Service technicians who can troubleshoot hydronic boilers or ammonia refrigeration units are paid better and travel less.