HVAC Service Manager: Runs the service department of an HVAC company: technicians, scheduling, and quality. Typical pay $100k.
Chiller & Commercial Systems Technician: Maintains the giant cooling machines that air-condition skyscrapers, hospitals, and data centers. Typical pay $95k.
HVAC Technician: Installs and repairs heating, cooling, and ventilation systems. Typical pay $60k.
Commercial Refrigeration Technician: Repairs refrigerated cases, walk-in freezers, and ice machines in supermarkets and restaurants. Typical pay $66k.
Building Automation Technician: Programs the computer systems that control heating, cooling, and lighting in big buildings. Typical pay $75k.
Test & Balance Technician: Measures and adjusts airflow in buildings so every room gets the right amount of air. Typical pay $68k.
Sheet Metal Worker: Fabricates and installs the ductwork and metal parts that move air through buildings. Typical pay $60k.
Transport Refrigeration Technician: Repairs the refrigeration units on semi-trailers, trains, and shipping containers that keep food cold on the road. Typical pay $57k.
Hydronic Heating Specialist: Installs and repairs boilers and hot-water heating systems, including radiators and radiant floor heat. Typical pay $62k.
HVAC Comfort Advisor: Visits homeowners to recommend and sell new heating and cooling systems, often after working as a technician. Typical pay $75k.
Ice Rink Refrigeration Technician: Runs and repairs the big refrigeration plants under hockey and figure-skating rinks that keep the ice hard and smooth. Typical pay $68k.
Cooling Tower Technician: Repairs and rebuilds the large cooling towers on top of hospitals, data centers and power plants that dump building heat into the air. Typical pay $60k.
Cleanroom & Biosafety Cabinet Certifier: Tests the airflow, filters and particle counts in cleanrooms, lab fume hoods and biosafety cabinets so they keep germs and dust in check. Typical pay $65k.
Starter: fastest way in
HVAC Apprentice: Learns to install and repair HVAC systems while working under an experienced tech. Typical pay $42k.
HVAC Installer: Installs new furnaces, air conditioners, and ductwork in homes. Typical pay $48k.
Air Duct Cleaning Technician: Cleans dust, debris, and mold out of ductwork in homes and buildings. Typical pay $40k.
Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaner: Cleans the grease out of restaurant exhaust hoods, ducts and roof fans at night so kitchens don't catch fire. Typical pay $40k.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.