Ohio is One of the Best States for HVAC jobs
The HVAC industry has been rapidly growing over the past 20 years, bringing with it a demand for a larger workforce and a unique competitive landscape across the United States. HVACR contractors looking for strong job opportunities, training, an abundance of service calls and high salaries should consult this list of top states for HVACR compiled by Emerson Climate Technologies to find the best states to set their roots down.
The Top 10
Emerson created this top 10 list by comparing salary and employment data from the U.S. department of labor, trade school information from the Partnership for Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigeration Accreditation, residential home values from the U.S. Census, and Certified North American Technician Excellence (NATE) contractors by state. Emerson also utilizes their own data to discover wholesaler locations and commercial service volumes from its ProAct™ Service Center.
The top 10 States for HVACR according to Emerson Climate Technologies are:
- California
- Ohio
- Florida
- Texas
- Illinois
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- Georgia
Why Ohio
Ohio ranks second, just below the sunny state of California, but with the highest number of accredited HVACR schools in the country, Ohio offers many more opportunities for training. With its dense packing of accredited training and education institutions, the Buckeye State makes it easier than ever before to launch into a productive career in HVAC.
Ohio also ranks in the top 10 nationwide for the number of wholesaler locations, meaning that after a technician finishes their training they are set up in a location that has a plethora of job opportunities at their fingertips. Many of these wholesalers work directly with the locations offering HVACR educations, allowing the state of Ohio to have a smooth and direct funnel straight into a strong career.
The third perk following education opportunities and wholesaler locations is the natural weather of the greater Ohio area. Due to the fact that Ohio has such a diversity of weather forecasts depending on the season, HVAC professionals can easily have work year-round without any big gaps in business.
Contractor Reactions
The best evidence of a great industry comes straight from industry professionals. Scott Merritt, owner of Fire & Ice Heating & Air Conditioning Inc., Columbus, Ohio, said, “We have four full seasons. Some days your system will be calling for cooling during the day, and the same night it will be calling for heating. The spring and fall make it very routine for regular customers to know exactly when they should be getting preseason tune-ups. Due to it always being different seasons, often on the same day, homeowners that don’t carry a maintenance plan with an HVAC company often lose track of time and don’t realize that their system is old and needs to be repaired and/or replaced. Thus causing a lot of demand service.”
Mitch Byrne, of Northeast Cooling LLC states, “Once you realize there will be slow periods dependent on weather, you can better plan your advertising and vacation times.”
Key Challenge
The biggest challenges that exists in the HVACR industry is the sheer need for a larger workforce. In the next 5 years it is predicted that there will be an additional 100,000 jobs in the HVACR industry nationwide that will need to be filled. Part of this is due to the fact that there is a large part of the current workforce that is comprised of baby boomers, with 53% of the workforce being over the age of 45.
The HVACR field will experience 14% annual growth, double the national average of 7%, from now until 2024. This alone will create an additional 84,200 job openings in the industry, creating an environment of real job stability and need for a larger workforce.
Ohio truly is one of the best places to work in the HVAC industry, from initial education to job stability, Ohio is remaining steadfast and growing rapidly.