Central air installation cost: what owners paid
When owners hired someone for a central air conditioning system, the middle half paid $4,000 to $9,700 and the typical job cost $6,900. Counting do-it-yourself jobs, the typical job was $6,500.
What owners paid
$6,900
The typical job when owners hired it out. The middle half paid $4,000 to $9,700.
Every job, do-it-yourself included: $6,500 typical.
Hired out, by home size: the typical job and the middle half
- Under 1,500 sq ft$5,900$3,500 to $8,400
- 1,500 to 2,499 sq ft$6,600$4,000 to $9,300
- 2,500 sq ft or more$8,000$5,000 to $12,000
Lowest big metro, $4,600: Detroit. Highest, $10,000: Boston and San Francisco.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Housing Survey 2023, the latest release: work owners did in about 2021–2023. Our percentiles from the survey’s public use file, checked October 11, 2026.
A new central air conditioner at today’s prices
The figures above are what owners paid for work done in 2021 to 2023. Here is our estimate of replacing a central air conditioner’s outdoor unit and the coil on the furnace today, for the place you choose: the pair at one seller’s posted prices, or the price you were quoted for yours, the permit where your city’s schedule gives one clear fee, the installers’ time at what a heating and air-conditioning mechanic costs an employer, and the share of the price plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors spend on overhead and keep as profit. Each figure says where it comes from, and you can type over the equipment price, the hours and the overhead share.
Filled in as an example: a 2.5-ton outdoor unit and its matching coil, replacing a pair of the same size on a furnace and working ducts. A first installation, or a home with an air handler instead of a furnace, needs other parts. Type over any of it with your own equipment and your contractor’s figures.
Our estimate for this replacement: $5,423, itemized below.
| Part | Cost | Where the figure comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor unit and coil | $2,910 | Goodman GLXS5BA3010 outdoor unit (2.5 tons by the seller’s listing and the model number, R-32 refrigerant, charged at the factory for 15 feet of tubing; Goodman’s description of the GLXS5B), $1,980, and Goodman CAPTA3022B3 coil (2.5 tons, 17.5 inches wide, the part that sits on the furnace and cools the air it blows; Goodman’s description of the CAPTA coils), $930, at Budget Heating’s online store on . Prices vary between sellers, and contractors buy through their own suppliers |
| Permit | Not added | Set by your city or county. If your metro is in the list, choose it to see what its fee schedule says. |
| Labor: 12 worker-hours | $506 | At about $42 an hour, the employer’s cost of a heating and air-conditioning mechanic earning the median wage in the U.S. |
| Overhead and profit | $2,007 | 37% of the price, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors’ average in 2022, homes and commercial work together: what was left of their receipts after materials, work they subcontracted and the pay and benefits of their tradespeople, for office staff, rent, insurance, vans, fuel, taxes and profit (Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census) |
| Our estimate from these inputs | $5,423 | Not a contractor’s price: what this equipment, this time and this overhead share add up to. A fair quote can be higher, since it also pays for what is not counted here. Before sales tax and delivery. Not counted: the copper refrigerant lines between the two units (Trane describes installers fitting new ones), refrigerant for lines longer than the 15 feet the outdoor unit comes charged for, the pad, the electrical disconnect and wiring, the condensate drain, a new thermostat or filter, recovering the old refrigerant, hauling the old equipment away, and the permit until you choose your metro. A house without working ducts needs ductwork too, extra work that Trane says takes more time. |
What an hour costs: we found no public figure for what installers charge by the job, so the estimate counts their hours. Heating and air-conditioning mechanics in the U.S. earn a median $29.33 an hour (BLS, May 2025). Benefits are 30.5% of what construction employers pay for an hour of work, wages and benefits together (all construction trades, BLS, June 2026), so an hour of a mechanic at that wage costs an employer about $42.
Type a quote’s total above to set it against this estimate.
Check the contractor’s license
Below is who licenses or registers the contractor, or the trades, that replace a furnace or install central air in each big metro. Ask for the license or registration number with the quote and check it before you sign. We checked these rules on .
- New York City: New York City requires a Home Improvement Contractor license from its Department of Consumer and Worker Protection for repair or replacement work on a home, and gas piping for a furnace must be done by a master plumber licensed by the Department of Buildings. Check the contractor with the department and the plumber in the Buildings license search. NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection: check a license
- Los Angeles, San Francisco and Riverside: California licenses heating and air-conditioning contractors through the Contractors State License Board under the C-20 classification. Check that the contractor’s license is active and lists C-20 before you sign. California Contractors State License Board: check a license
- Chicago: Chicago has no separate heating or air-conditioning license: its permit for replacing heating and cooling equipment asks for a licensed general contractor. Check the contractor in the city’s list of licensed contractors. City of Chicago Department of Buildings: licensed contractors
- Dallas and Houston: Texas licenses air-conditioning, refrigeration and heating contractors through its Department of Licensing and Regulation. Check the contractor’s license in its search before you sign. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation: license search
- Philadelphia: Philadelphia has no separate heating or air-conditioning contractor license. A contractor who works only on existing one- and two-family homes registers as a Home Improvement Contractor with the Pennsylvania Attorney General: check the registration in its search. The city asks for a registered sheet metal technician for the ductwork. Pennsylvania Attorney General: home improvement contractor search
- Washington, DC: The District licenses refrigeration and air-conditioning mechanics, and the plumbers who connect a gas furnace, through its Board of Industrial Trades. Check the license under Industrial Trades in the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection’s search. DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection: license search
- Miami: Florida licenses air-conditioning and mechanical contractors through the state; an air-conditioning contractor’s license covers central air, heating and ventilating systems, and disconnecting and reconnecting a gas furnace being replaced, but not other gas lines inside the house, which take a contractor licensed for them. Check the license before you sign. Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation: license search
- Atlanta: Georgia licenses heating and air-conditioning contractors through the Secretary of State’s Division of Conditioned Air Contractors. Check the contractor’s conditioned air license in the state’s license lookup. Georgia Secretary of State: license lookup
- Boston: Massachusetts licenses the trades in the job: a gas fitter or plumber licensed by the Board of State Examiners of Plumbers and Gas Fitters pipes and vents a gas furnace, and a licensed sheet metal worker does the ductwork. Check both in the state’s license search. Massachusetts Division of Occupational Licensure: check a license
- Phoenix: Arizona licenses residential heating and air-conditioning contractors through its Registrar of Contractors, under classifications such as R-39. Check that the license is active and covers heating and air conditioning. Arizona Registrar of Contractors: contractor search
- Detroit: Michigan licenses mechanical contractors, who install heating and cooling equipment and gas piping, through its Bureau of Construction Codes. Check the contractor’s mechanical license with the state. Michigan LARA: licensee search
- Seattle: Washington requires contractors to register with Labor and Industries, and Seattle licenses refrigeration and air-conditioning contractors and gas piping work itself. Check the registration in the state’s lookup and ask for the city license. Washington Labor and Industries: verify a contractor
When owners hired the work out
89% of these jobs were hired out. Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile of what those owners paid, so half of the jobs sit inside it; the tick is the median.
- United States$6,900$4,000–$9,700
- Boston$10,000$6,300–$15,000
- San Francisco$10,000$6,000–$14,800
- Seattle$9,500$6,000–$15,000
- Los Angeles$9,200$6,300–$12,000
- Phoenix$8,000$5,000–$12,000
- Riverside$8,000$5,000–$12,700
- Washington DC$8,000$6,000–$11,200
- New York City$7,900$4,500–$10,000
- Dallas$7,200$4,000–$12,000
- Houston$7,000$4,500–$10,000
- Philadelphia$6,700$4,600–$10,000
- Atlanta$6,000$4,000–$8,700
- Chicago$5,900$4,000–$8,000
- Miami$5,400$3,500–$7,400
- Detroit$4,600$3,000–$6,500
The hired-out figures as a table, with margins of error
Scroll the table sideways to see every column on a small screen.
| Homes | Sample jobs | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Every home size | 2,011 | $4,000 ±$365 | $6,900 ±$682 | $9,700 ±$776 |
| Under 1,500 sq ft | 466 | $3,500 ±$406 | $5,900 ±$557 | $8,400 ±$865 |
| 1,500 to 2,499 sq ft | 901 | $4,000 ±$514 | $6,600 ±$542 | $9,300 ±$453 |
| 2,500 sq ft or more | 592 | $5,000 ±$328 | $8,000 ±$167 | $12,000 ±$1,786 |
| Boston | 42 | $6,300 ±$2,108 | $10,000 ±$1,387 | $15,000 ±$2,801 |
| San Francisco | 43 | $6,000 ±$2,341 | $10,000 ±$1,319 | $14,800 ±$2,301 |
| Seattle | 57 | $6,000 ±$2,228 | $9,500 ±$3,304 | $15,000 ±$7,028 |
| Los Angeles | 47 | $6,300 ±$1,639 | $9,200 ±$1,359 | $12,000 ±$1,598 |
| Phoenix | 121 | $5,000 ±$884 | $8,000 ±$618 | $12,000 ±$2,526 |
| Riverside | 93 | $5,000 ±$1,104 | $8,000 ±$1,463 | $12,700 ±$2,255 |
| Washington DC | 106 | $6,000 ±$920 | $8,000 ±$558 | $11,200 ±$2,501 |
| New York City | 55 | $4,500 ±$1,692 | $7,900 ±$1,247 | $10,000 ±$2,697 |
| Dallas | 119 | $4,000 ±$1,098 | $7,200 ±$1,488 | $12,000 ±$1,234 |
| Houston | 109 | $4,500 ±$864 | $7,000 ±$637 | $10,000 ±$589 |
| Philadelphia | 77 | $4,600 ±$952 | $6,700 ±$2,253 | $10,000 ±$1,254 |
| Atlanta | 80 | $4,000 ±$1,419 | $6,000 ±$821 | $8,700 ±$1,139 |
| Chicago | 86 | $4,000 ±$394 | $5,900 ±$1,231 | $8,000 ±$649 |
| Miami | 82 | $3,500 ±$576 | $5,400 ±$762 | $7,400 ±$1,027 |
| Detroit | 69 | $3,000 ±$1,020 | $4,600 ±$1,077 | $6,500 ±$1,126 |
What these figures cover: Central air conditioning added or replaced, as the Census survey asks it: every house size and system together. Heating equipment is counted on its own, and window units are not part of it.
How these figures are made: from the Census Bureau's 2023 American Housing Survey public use file, each job counted with its survey weight and a 90% margin of error from the survey's replicate weights. A job is hired out when the owners said someone outside the household did most of the work. The public file rounds costs.
What moves the price
- The cooling capacity the house needs, in tons, from a load calculation (Manual J) rather than the old unit’s label.
- The efficiency rating (SEER2) of the outdoor unit and the matching indoor coil.
- Whether working ducts exist: a house without them needs ductwork added too.
- Electrical work: a new circuit and disconnect, or a panel with no room for one.
- Removing the old equipment and its refrigerant, the pad, the refrigerant lines, the permit and the start-up check.
From the Department of Energy’s consumer guide to home heating and cooling and its 2023 central air conditioner standards. Your local building or health department decides what applies at your address.
Before you compare quotes
Ask every contractor to price the same scope, in writing. Do the quotes name the same equipment (brand, model, tons, SEER2), the same duct work and the same electrical work, and is the permit included?
Put the quotes side by side in the quote worksheet, or keep every price for the project in a budget worksheet.