Heating and cooling (HVAC): what owners spent in 2021–2023
When owners hired someone for heating and cooling (HVAC) work, the middle half paid $3,500 to $9,000 and the typical job cost $6,000. Counting do-it-yourself jobs, the typical U.S. job was $5,500, and across 15 big metros it ran $4,000 to $8,440.
What owners paid
$6,000
The typical job when owners hired it out. The middle half paid $3,500 to $9,000.
Every job, do-it-yourself included: $5,500 typical.
Hired out, by home size: the typical job and the middle half
- Under 1,500 sq ft$5,000$3,000 to $7,500
- 1,500 to 2,499 sq ft$6,000$3,500 to $8,500
- 2,500 sq ft or more$6,500$4,300 to $10,000
Every job by big metro, do-it-yourself included: lowest $4,000 in Detroit, highest $8,440 in Boston.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Housing Survey 2023, the latest release: work owners did in about 2021–2023. Checked . Hired-out figures: our percentiles from the survey’s public use file.
When owners hired the work out
88% 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$6,000$3,500–$9,000
- Boston$8,500$5,100–$15,000
- Los Angeles$8,000$5,000–$10,600
- Phoenix$8,000$5,000–$12,000
- San Francisco$8,000$4,500–$12,500
- Seattle$8,000$4,900–$15,000
- Riverside$7,600$4,200–$12,600
- Washington DC$7,000$4,800–$10,000
- Houston$6,400$4,000–$9,300
- New York City$6,400$3,000–$10,000
- Dallas$6,000$2,700–$10,000
- Philadelphia$6,000$3,000–$9,500
- Atlanta$5,500$3,100–$8,000
- Miami$5,000$3,000–$7,400
- Chicago$4,500$3,000–$7,000
- Detroit$4,100$2,600–$6,400
The hired-out figures as a table, with margins of error
| Homes | Sample jobs | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Every home size | 3,602 | $3,500 ±$52 | $6,000 ±$186 | $9,000 ±$420 |
| Under 1,500 sq ft | 874 | $3,000 ±$198 | $5,000 ±$45 | $7,500 ±$653 |
| 1,500 to 2,499 sq ft | 1,566 | $3,500 ±$489 | $6,000 ±$26 | $8,500 ±$457 |
| 2,500 sq ft or more | 1,053 | $4,300 ±$598 | $6,500 ±$836 | $10,000 ±$667 |
| Boston | 130 | $5,100 ±$1,597 | $8,500 ±$1,549 | $15,000 ±$2,355 |
| Los Angeles | 80 | $5,000 ±$1,170 | $8,000 ±$859 | $10,600 ±$2,507 |
| Phoenix | 179 | $5,000 ±$691 | $8,000 ±$564 | $12,000 ±$1,496 |
| San Francisco | 104 | $4,500 ±$1,117 | $8,000 ±$2,395 | $12,500 ±$2,330 |
| Seattle | 138 | $4,900 ±$1,600 | $8,000 ±$1,389 | $15,000 ±$1,417 |
| Riverside | 135 | $4,200 ±$1,764 | $7,600 ±$1,103 | $12,600 ±$3,125 |
| Washington DC | 203 | $4,800 ±$1,253 | $7,000 ±$807 | $10,000 ±$2,500 |
| Houston | 164 | $4,000 ±$561 | $6,400 ±$893 | $9,300 ±$1,783 |
| New York City | 120 | $3,000 ±$825 | $6,400 ±$1,163 | $10,000 ±$866 |
| Dallas | 164 | $2,700 ±$732 | $6,000 ±$508 | $10,000 ±$2,226 |
| Philadelphia | 155 | $3,000 ±$1,050 | $6,000 ±$272 | $9,500 ±$1,906 |
| Atlanta | 128 | $3,100 ±$785 | $5,500 ±$857 | $8,000 ±$1,054 |
| Miami | 98 | $3,000 ±$951 | $5,000 ±$495 | $7,400 ±$838 |
| Chicago | 184 | $3,000 ±$292 | $4,500 ±$590 | $7,000 ±$1,129 |
| Detroit | 144 | $2,600 ±$695 | $4,100 ±$1,003 | $6,400 ±$977 |
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. Leaving out do-it-yourself jobs is why these figures usually sit above the every-job medians in the Census table below. The public file also rounds costs, so its every-job median can differ a little from the published one.
Every job in each big metro, do-it-yourself included
The typical (median) job in each of the survey's 15 metro areas, highest first, from the Census Bureau's published table. The margin of error is the Census Bureau's 90% range around each median.
- Boston$8,440
- Phoenix$8,000
- San Francisco$7,501
- Los Angeles$7,500
- Riverside$7,500
- Seattle$7,500
- Washington DC$7,000
- Dallas$6,000
- Houston$6,000
- Philadelphia$6,000
- New York City$5,800
- Atlanta$5,200
- Miami$5,000
- Chicago$4,023
- Detroit$4,000
What these figures cover: Heating, cooling and ventilation equipment, added or replaced, every system size together.
The figures as a table, with margins of error
Scroll the table sideways to see every column on a small screen.
| Metro area | Typical job (median) | Margin of error (90% confidence) |
|---|---|---|
| Boston | $8,440 | ±$1,453 |
| Phoenix | $8,000 | ±$834 |
| San Francisco | $7,501 | ±$1,796 |
| Los Angeles | $7,500 | ±$1,013 |
| Riverside | $7,500 | ±$885 |
| Seattle | $7,500 | ±$1,222 |
| Washington DC | $7,000 | ±$925 |
| Dallas | $6,000 | ±$950 |
| Houston | $6,000 | ±$879 |
| Philadelphia | $6,000 | ±$382 |
| New York City | $5,800 | ±$1,470 |
| Atlanta | $5,200 | ±$759 |
| Miami | $5,000 | ±$502 |
| Chicago | $4,023 | ±$729 |
| Detroit | $4,000 | ±$306 |
Source: Census Bureau and HUD, 2023 American Housing Survey, Table 16, category “HVAC” under “Interior Additions and Replacements”. Checked October 13, 2026. The metro values and margins of error use the survey's metropolitan areas, not city limits. A metro with no published figure stays blank; we never fill it in from its neighbors.
Why do cost guides disagree?
They measure different things. An estimate prices one defined job at today's rates; these figures are what owners actually paid, across every size and kind of job in the category. Do-it-yourself jobs mostly pay for materials, which is why this page keeps hired-out jobs apart. A full job on a large house can sit well above the typical figure, and a small one well below it. Your own quotes, compared line by line, are the price that counts. Seven reasons cost guides disagree, each with its figures.
Put your quotes side by side in the quote worksheet.
The permit in each big metro
Cities and counties set their own permit rules for a furnace or air conditioner. Here is what each of the 15 big metros’ fee schedules says, where we could read one. The building department decides whether your job needs a permit and which one, so ask whether the quote includes the permit and who files it.
- New York City: New York City’s Department of Buildings charges a filing fee of $130 or $170, by the type of alteration, for the first $5,000 of work on a one- to three-family home, plus $2.60 for each further $1,000; it decides how a furnace or air conditioner replacement is filed (schedule checked ).
- Los Angeles: Unincorporated Los Angeles County charges $40.66 for each furnace, heater or compressor of up to 100,000 BTU and $78.33 up to 500,000 BTU, $6.32 for each air inlet or outlet, plus $41.35 for issuing the permit; the City of Los Angeles and other cities set their own (schedule checked ).
- Chicago: Chicago charges $75 for a permit to repair or replace heating, cooling or air-handling equipment in kind in a home, for each type of equipment, so a furnace and an air conditioner together are $150; new air-conditioning equipment is $150. The fee table also lists a $25 stand-alone permit review fee: ask whether it applies to your permit (schedule checked ).
- Dallas: Dallas charges $181 a home for alterations and repairs to a one- or two-family house, plus $100 for each additional trade: ask how it files a furnace or air conditioner replacement (schedule checked ).
- Houston: The City of Houston charges $47 plus 2% of the work’s value to repair or alter an existing heating or air-conditioning system, and $47 plus $11.41 for each ton of a complete air-conditioning system, or its $91.06 minimum HVAC permit fee if that is more (schedule checked ).
- Philadelphia: Philadelphia charges $69 for each heating or cooling appliance, such as a boiler, air conditioner or heat pump, filed apart from any ductwork for a one- or two-family home, and $189 when the job includes ductwork (schedule checked ).
- Washington, DC: Washington, DC charges $46 for each air-conditioning or refrigeration unit of up to 120,000 BTU an hour and $26 for the first gas appliance, such as a furnace, each plus a 10% enhanced fee; the electrical work has its own permit (schedule checked ).
- Miami: The City of Miami charges 0.5% of the estimated cost for homes of up to three units; its schedule also lists $45 for residential work under $2,500 and a $110 minimum, so ask which applies. A solid-waste charge of $0.22 per $100 of cost, $26 to $600, comes on top (schedule checked ).
- Atlanta: Atlanta’s mechanical permit has a $150 base fee and a $175 minimum, plus a $25 technology fee on each permit. On a one- or two-family home, repairing or replacing an existing air conditioner’s condenser, or repairing a furnace, needs no permit (schedule checked ).
- Boston: Boston’s gas permit for a boiler, heater or furnace is $20, plus $50 for each one, plus $0.09 for each 1,000 BTU: $75.40 for one 60,000 BTU furnace. Its permit pages give no fee for an air conditioner itself, so ask Inspectional Services which permits a replacement needs (schedule checked ).
- San Francisco: San Francisco charges $290 to issue a mechanical permit for a gas appliance, such as a furnace or a heat pump, in a single home, plus surcharges from its other fee tables; work no category covers is charged by the hour (schedule checked ).
- Phoenix: Phoenix charges $195 for the first $1,000 of work plus $12 for each further $1,000 up to $10,000, then $303 plus $10 for each $1,000 up to $50,000, on the higher of the city’s valuation and yours (schedule checked ).
- Riverside: Riverside charges $24.50 for plan check and $24.50 for the permit for a furnace, or for an air conditioner of up to 3 tons, before its $41 issuance fee and surcharges (schedule checked ).
- Detroit: Detroit charges $142 for each burner of up to 500,000 BTU and $148 for each alteration to an existing burner or furnace installation; air conditioning is on another schedule (schedule checked ).
- Seattle: Seattle charges $60.35 for each furnace, heat pump or other listed heating appliance, its ducts included; air conditioning, electrical permits and plan review are separate, and a minimum fee may apply (schedule checked ).
Before you compare quotes
Ask every contractor to price the same scope, in writing. Compare equipment models, capacity and sizing basis, efficiency, ducts, electrical work, start-up checks and warranty.