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The HVAC industry is one of the most dependable and profitable trades. Because people need heating and cooling year-round, skilled business owners can count on steady work, solid income, and plenty of room to grow. However, various factors can influence how much money you actually take home.
In this guide, we’ll break down how much HVAC business owners typically make, explain what affects profitability, and provide expert-backed tips to boost your income as your company grows.
Key takeaways
Here’s a quick look at HVAC business owner salaries and what drives profits:
Average income: Most HVAC business owners make $70,000–$150,000 per year, with top earners exceeding $200,000.
Profit drivers: Earnings depend on location, team size, service mix, and how efficiently your business runs.
Owner pay: Most owners take 30%–50% of the net profit as salary and reinvest the remainder in growth and operations.
Profit boosters: Tracking cost, scheduling efficiently, and automating reminders with smart systems helps protect margins.
Jump ahead
National average HVAC business owner salary
The national average salary for an HVAC business owner in the United States is $86,197.* However, the amount you make can range anywhere from $70,000 to $150,000. Some HVAC business owners even crack the $200,000 threshold. Because there are so many factors that affect your salary as a business owner, it’s tough to provide a hard, catch-all number. The more you invest in growing your business, the more your earning potential grows.
*All pricing in this article is based on data from ZipRecruiter.
Factors that affect your salary
There are a handful of factors that affect what you’ll take home as an HVAC business owner, including:
- Years in business: The longer you’re in the game, the more you’re likely to make. In those early days, startup costs and the time it takes to build a customer base can mean a lower salary.
- Team size and workload: An operation with a single truck and a 1- or 2-man crew tends to bring in less revenue than a larger company with several crews and a fleet of trucks.
- Service focus: Offering the basics will get the money flowing in, but companies that add high-margin services like installations, maintenance contracts, or commercial work often see stronger profits.
- Location: The cost of living and local market demand make a huge impact on average pay. More rural HVAC business owners might bring in notably less than their big-city counterparts.
How much should you pay yourself as an HVAC business owner?
Figuring out how much to pay yourself as an HVAC business owner can be tricky. You need to earn a fair wage, but you also need to keep enough cash in the business to cover payroll, materials, and growth. The goal is to find the sweet spot between rewarding your time and protecting your company’s long-term health.
Most HVAC owners go one of two ways:
- Fixed salary: You set a consistent amount to pay yourself each month, just like an employee. This makes budgeting easier and shows stability to lenders or investors.
- Profit-based pay: You take a percentage of the company’s net profit after expenses. This option can be more unpredictable since it ties your income directly to performance, but it encourages smarter spending and stronger margins.
A helpful starting point is to take 30%–50% of your net profit as owner compensation, depending on the size and stability of your business.
Example
Let’s say your HVAC business nets $150,000 after expenses. You might take home $45,000–$75,000 after all is said and done. As revenue grows, you can increase that number gradually while still keeping some profits in the business for reinvestment.
Every business is different, and it may take some trial and error to figure out what works best for yours. Pay yourself on a set schedule, be it monthly or biweekly. This helps separate personal income from business funds and makes tax planning easier.
Pro tip: Use Housecall Pro’s Job Costing feature to track labor hours, materials, and overhead on every job. When you know your numbers, you can set prices that keep both your paycheck and profit margin healthy.
HVAC company owner salaries by state and city
Where you run your HVAC business can make a big difference in what you bring home. Costs of living, seasonal demand, and local competition all play a role in how much customers are willing to pay—and, in turn, how much you can afford to pay yourself.
In states with hot summers or freezing winters, HVAC work stays steady year-round. These areas of high demand often command higher service prices, which can boost your income. On the flip side, smaller markets or regions with more temperate weather often see lower average pay, especially for new HVAC companies.
If we zoom in on individual cities, this gap shows up fast. Owners in Nome, Alaska, Berkeley, California, and Aspen, Colorado often clear $100,000 a year thanks to higher service prices and steady demand. In parts of the Southeast and Midwest, including Georgia and Arkansas, averages land closer to $70,000. Market size and labor rates matter big time, but so does strategy. Many pros in lower-pay regions increase earnings by building maintenance memberships and adding light commercial work to smooth out seasonal swings.
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How to maximize profits as an HVAC business owner
Revenue alone doesn’t build a profitable HVAC business. The real kicker is how much you keep after expenses. Smart pricing, tight scheduling, and careful tracking can all add up to major gains.
Here are nine ways you can increase your profit margins to build a stronger, more predictable income.
Step 1: Diversify your services
If you’re just starting out, the basics are perfect. “Don’t try to be everything to everyone at first. Focus on a niche,” says Danny Reddick, founder and president of Reddick & Sons.
Once you can deliver your core services at a consistent quality, expand by offering optional extras such as:
- Maintenance plans
- Seasonal tune-ups
- Air quality upgrades
Jay Villegas, owner of Frontier Air Conditioning, offers every customer a branded membership option (the “Cowboy Kool Club”) to build recurring revenue. This is one of the many reasons he was able to scale his business from $1M to $6M.
Pro tip: Use Housecall Pro’s Service Plans feature to manage recurring jobs without any extra admin work.
Step 2: Increase profit margins
Raising your profit margins doesn’t always mean raising prices—it’s about getting the most out of every job. Start by tracking job costs carefully, including labor, materials, and overhead, so you know exactly where money is going. Identify services that deliver the highest returns and consider adjusting pricing on lower-margin work to reflect true costs.
Housecall Pro’s Price Book feature lets you update pricing instantly across your services, so your quotes always reflect true costs and target margins.
Step 3: Cut costs
Every dollar saved is a dollar earned. Look carefully at recurring expenses—think warehouse supplies, fuel, software, and marketing subscriptions—and cut what doesn’t generate return.
Set up job costing reports monthly to identify which jobs or services are dragging down profitability. From there, make adjustments. That might mean bulk ordering filters or optimizing truck routes. Each little tweak adds up.
Step 4: Boost efficiency
Profitability depends on how smoothly your team runs day-to-day. Review your workflow from booking to billing and eliminate bottlenecks. Duplicate data entry, unclear job notes, or miscommunication between the office and the field all eat into billable time. Hiring skilled techs and cross-training them on installs and maintenance will help you stay flexible when demand shifts.
Pro tip: Tools like Housecall Pro’s Scheduling and Dispatching make it easy to assign jobs, track progress, and keep your team productive. When everyone knows where they’re headed and what’s next, the whole operation runs smoother—and your profits reflect it.
Step 5: Upsell and cross-sell to existing customers
Maximize the value of every service call by offering add-ons and upgrades. During visits, offer higher-value versions of the services customers are already getting, like a premium air filter, and recommend complementary services, such as duct cleaning alongside a seasonal tune-up. These small upsells can significantly boost your revenue without extra marketing costs.
Step 6: Focus on customer retention and referrals
Repeat business is one of the most reliable ways to grow your income. Homeowners who know and trust your team are more likely to book maintenance, leave reviews, and refer their friends. Encourage referrals with small incentives, like discounts on future service or free tune-ups.
Pro tip: Use Housecall Pro to automate review requests, service reminders, and seasonal offers. Villegas uses our Campaigns feature to automate follow-up emails, prompting one customer to say, “I’d almost forgotten about you”—then greenlight an install totaling $39,000.
Step 7: Reinvest in your business
As your profits grow, set aside funds for marketing, equipment upgrades, and technician training. Investing money back into your company helps you stay competitive while building long-term value. It also helps you balance your books for tax purposes and positions your business for expansion when the timing’s right.
Step 8: Monitor key financial metrics
Keeping an eye on your numbers helps you make better, faster decisions. Review your profit margins, job costs, and cash flow regularly. This way, you can spot issues early and tweak your pricing or spending before they affect your bottom line.
Pro tip: Track exactly where your money is going and identify the most profitable areas of your business with Housecall Pro’s Advanced Reporting.
Step 9: Leverage partnerships and subcontracting
Partnerships with builders, remodelers, or property managers can help keep your schedule full, even during the slower parts of the year. During peak seasons, consider enlisting help from trusted subcontractors to handle extra installs or service calls so you can take on more work without overloading your full-time crew or turning customers away.
Choose your collaborations strategically. This will allow you to stay booked while keeping quality high and grow revenue if you’re not ready to add more full-time staff.
How Housecall Pro can help HVAC business owners
Running a profitable HVAC business means juggling calls, quotes, invoices, and crews all while keeping customers happy and operations running smoothly. Housecall Pro makes it easier to manage all those moving parts in one place, saving time so you can focus on growing your business.
Here’s how our HVAC software helps you run your business:
- Scheduling and Dispatching: Keep your techs on track with live calendars and GPS tracking.
- Invoicing and Payments: Send invoices instantly and get paid faster—online or on-site.
- Job Costing: Track labor, materials, and overhead to see which jobs drive the most profit.
- Price Book: Standardize your HVAC pricing and update it anytime as costs change.
- Service Plans: Build steady income with automated recurring maintenance visits.
- Reviews and Campaigns: Automatically request reviews and send customer follow-ups.
- Advanced Reporting: Monitor profit margins, revenue, and customer trends at a glance.
Each of these tools is designed to help you make smarter business decisions, manage your team more effectively, and keep your schedule full. In fact, HVAC Pros increase the number of monthly jobs they complete through Housecall Pro by more than 22% after their first year.
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FAQ
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How much can I make owning my own HVAC company?
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You can make anywhere from $70,000 to $150,000 or more each year owning your own HVAC company. Earnings depend on your location, experience, and business size, but most HVAC business owners fall within this range.
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Are HVAC businesses profitable?
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Yes, when well managed, HVAC businesses can be very profitable. Average net profit margins range from 10% to 20%, with top-performing companies reaching 25% or higher.
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How to make $100,000 in HVAC?
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To make $100,000 or more in HVAC, focus on efficiency and steady revenue growth. Expand your service offerings, build a reliable maintenance plan base, and use scheduling and dispatch tools to keep your calendar full. If you’re a business owner, profit depends less on working more hours and more on running smarter systems that increase billable work and reduce downtime.
