How to become an HVAC technician in Illinois

The path in Illinois, step by step

There is no state HVAC license in Illinois. Cities may license HVAC contractors and charge a license fee of up to $50. Check the building department in your home city first, then each city where you take jobs. The training is the same as anywhere: learn the trade under someone experienced, ideally in a registered apprenticeship.

1. Call the building department in the city where your business is based and ask if it licenses HVAC contractors.
2. Meet that city's exam, insurance and bond rules and get the local license.
3. Before each job in another city, confirm its permit rules. Your home city license should carry over under state law.
4. Get EPA 608 certification for refrigerant work.
5. Carry the liability insurance the Home Repair and Remodeling Act requires for residential work.

The full license guide, with every fee and form: HVAC license in Illinois.

Finding an apprenticeship in Illinois

Illinois has no recognized State Apprenticeship Agency, so the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship registers and oversees programs there through a state field office. Apprenticeship.gov lists the Illinois Apprenticeship Office as the contact.

Either way, a registered program means paid work with a mentor, raises as you progress, classroom instruction and a credential recognized in every state. Search open spots in the Apprenticeship Job Finder.

Across the country. Some technicians train through an apprenticeship, which usually lasts several years. Each year mixes paid on-the-job training with some classroom work on safety, blueprint reading, and heating and cooling systems.

Licenses and exams around Illinois

The license to aim for: None at state level.

Trade exam. Set by each city. State law lets a city appoint a board of examiners.

Business exam. Set by each city.

Keeping it. Set by each city.

Coming from another state. State law says an HVAC contractor licensed by the city where its main place of business is located can install systems in other Illinois cities without another license, as long as it follows that city's rules.

What HVAC technicians earn in Illinois

The median HVAC technician in Illinois earned $37.21 an hour in May 2025, 3rd of 51 states, with 9,740 on payrolls. The national median was $29.33.

At the bottom of the range, a quarter of HVAC technicians in Illinois earned under $28.94 an hour and a tenth under $22.45. At the top, a quarter earned over $46.17 and a tenth over $56.51.

Every state, the neighbors and what a business should charge: HVAC technician salary in Illinois.

Jobs ahead in Illinois

Illinois's labor market office projects jobs for HVAC technicians growing from 11,980 in 2022 to 12,700 in 2032, a change of 6%. Counting people who retire or change careers, that is about 1,100 openings a year.

Jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2022 to 2032, about the same as the 5.5% projected nationally, ranking 44th of the 50 states in the file.

These are the state's own long-term projections, published together on Projections Central for the occupation group heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers.

Starting your own HVAC technician business in Illinois

Insurance. Set by each city.

Bond. Set by each city.

Cities may license HVAC contractors and charge a license fee of up to $50. Check the building department in your home city first, then each city where you take jobs.

Pricing comes next. Paying yourself the Illinois median of $37.21 an hour, the labor rate calculator's starting numbers (one person, 2 unbilled hours a day, $90,000 of overhead, 15% profit) come to $135.94 per billable hour. Try your own in the HVAC technician labor rate calculator.

The full checklist is in how to start an HVAC business. The free Koira Office plan gives you a website on a Koira address, estimates customers sign with a deposit, invoices with card payments and your day's jobs in one place, with no per-person fee. See the plans.