TradeFooting
Paid apprenticeship

Seattle Area Plumbers Housing Plumbers Pipefitters HVAC-Service Controls Technician/Refrigeration Mechanics and Marine Pipefitters Apprenticeship Committee

HVAC/Refrigeration Mechanic

Renton, Washington · Union · SOC 49-9021

Tuition
$0

Registered apprenticeships are paid employment.

Year-one pay
$36.89/hr

First step on the registered wage scale.

Journey rate
$73.77/hr

Paid once you turn out, not during the term.

Term
10,000 hours

Plus 1,237 hours of classroom instruction.

Four years from now

Our estimate, calculated by TradeFooting from this program's published first-step wage, journey rate and registered term. The registry publishes those three facts. The projection below is ours, and the workings are shown.

YearRateGross pay
Year 1$39.47/hr$78,943
Year 2$44.63/hr$89,269
Year 3$49.80/hr$99,595
Year 4$54.96/hr$109,920
Total earned$377,727
Tuition paid$0
Debt$0
How this is worked out
  • Assumes 2,000 paid hours a year. No overtime.
  • Pay rises evenly from the registered first step to the registered journey rate. Real schedules usually rise faster later, so the early years here are, if anything, generous and the four-year total is not overstated.
  • Gross pay before tax. Tools, dues and exam fees are not deducted.
  • The first-step and journey rates are published by the registry. The steps between them are not, so they are spread evenly across the term.

What hvacs earn in Washington

$75,660median, per year

Half earn more, half less, across all experience levels. National median $61,010.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS · SOC 49-9021 · survey 2025-05 · retrieved 2026-08-26

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