Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers Salary
In St. Louis, MO-IL, heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers earn $63,000 at the median, or about $30.29 an hour. The range runs from $46K at the entry level to $100K for experienced workers. Adjusted for local prices (RPP 95.09), that's roughly $66,253 in purchasing power. Rent on a 2-bedroom averages $1,218/month, or 29.4% of estimated take-home pay.
So what does $63K get you in St. Louis?
Groceries, utilities, transportation, and healthcare scaled from national averages by St. Louis’s Regional Price Parity (95.09). Rent from HUD Fair Market Rents. Taxes estimated for single filer, standard deduction. * Healthcare is the employee-paid share only (premiums + out-of-pocket). Actual costs vary by coverage type: employer-sponsored, ACA marketplace, or uninsured.
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What this looks like in St. Louis
Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers pay in St. Louis tracks closely to the national median, $63K locally vs. $61K nationwide, a 3% difference. Rent runs $1,218/month for a 2-bedroom (HUD FMR), taking 29% of the median take-home. That's within the 30% rule, though not by much. Cost of living (RPP 95.09) is near the national average, so spending patterns here track the typical American budget fairly closely. Pay and costs are both near average, leaving limited margin for savings at the median wage.
Compared to nearby metros
Median pay for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in metros near St. Louis, adjusted for local cost of living.
| Metro | Median pay | COL-adjusted |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas City | $63K | $68K |
| Springfield | $56K | $64K |
| Columbia | $59K | $66K |
| Joplin | $55K | $65K |
COL-adjusted = median salary ÷ (BEA Regional Price Parity ÷ 100). Expresses purchasing power in national-average dollars.
Compensation breakdown
Annual earnings by percentile, St. Louis, MO-IL
Entry-level heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers (10th percentile) start around $46K. Mid-career wages sit at $63K. Top earners bring in $100K or more, a $54K spread from bottom to top.
Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers pay across states
Median income ranked highest to lowest, compared to the national figure
View Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers salary in all states
| State | Median salary | vs. national | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $84K | +38% | 400 |
| Alaska | $77K | +27% | 610 |
| Illinois | $77K | +27% | 9,740 |
| Massachusetts | $77K | +27% | 8,200 |
| Connecticut | $77K | +26% | 3,800 |
| Minnesota | $76K | +25% | 4,200 |
| Washington | $76K | +24% | 7,370 |
| North Dakota | $74K | +22% | 970 |
| New Jersey | $74K | +22% | 10,330 |
| New York | $74K | +22% | 24,430 |
| New Hampshire | $74K | +21% | 2,560 |
| California | $73K | +19% | 35,130 |
| Maryland | $70K | +15% | 8,560 |
| Rhode Island | $67K | +10% | 1,450 |
| Hawaii | $65K | +7% | 1,300 |
| Colorado | $65K | +7% | 8,940 |
| Maine | $63K | +4% | 2,250 |
| Oregon | $63K | +3% | 3,980 |
| Ohio | $63K | +2% | 14,150 |
| Pennsylvania | $62K | +2% | 15,880 |
| Delaware | $62K | +2% | 1,730 |
| Vermont | $62K | +2% | 970 |
| Wisconsin | $62K | +1% | 6,630 |
| South Dakota | $61K | +1% | 1,610 |
| Montana | $61K | -0% | 1,230 |
| Michigan | $61K | -0% | 12,590 |
| Iowa | $61K | -1% | 3,840 |
| Nevada | $61K | -1% | 4,170 |
| Kansas | $60K | -1% | 3,770 |
| Indiana | $60K | -1% | 8,530 |
| Missouri | $60K | -2% | 7,220 |
| Nebraska | $60K | -2% | 3,020 |
| Virginia | $60K | -2% | 14,690 |
| Arizona | $59K | -3% | 10,860 |
| Utah | $59K | -4% | 5,580 |
| Louisiana | $59K | -4% | 5,380 |
| Kentucky | $59K | -4% | 5,100 |
| Texas | $58K | -5% | 34,730 |
| Oklahoma | $58K | -6% | 5,650 |
| North Carolina | $57K | -6% | 15,230 |
| Florida | $57K | -7% | 39,160 |
| South Carolina | $57K | -7% | 6,920 |
| Georgia | $56K | -8% | 12,290 |
| Idaho | $56K | -8% | 4,550 |
| Tennessee | $55K | -9% | 9,740 |
| Wyoming | $55K | -10% | 690 |
| New Mexico | $50K | -18% | 1,950 |
| West Virginia | $49K | -20% | 1,690 |
| Mississippi | $49K | -20% | 2,700 |
| Alabama | $48K | -21% | 8,260 |
| Arkansas | $48K | -21% | 4,960 |
Showing 1–10 of 51 (all 50 states + DC)
Track heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers salary changes
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Frequently asked questions
Can a heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installer afford a 2BR apartment alone in St. Louis?
Yes — at the median salary of $63K, rent takes 29% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,218/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.
What’s the entry-level salary for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in St. Louis?
The 10th-percentile wage — what new heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers typically earn — is $46K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,752/month. At HUD’s $1,218/month FMR, rent would take 44% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.
Is heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installer a high-paying job in St. Louis?
Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $63K locally vs. $61K nationally, a 3% difference.
How does St. Louis compare to the national average for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers?
St. Louis pays $63K median vs. the U.S. average of $61K — that’s +3%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 95.09), the purchasing-power equivalent is $66K — still ahead of the national median.
How much do heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers make in St. Louis, MO-IL?
The median is $63,000 a year, that works out to about $30 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $45,870, and experienced heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers can clear $100,180. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.
Is $63K enough to live in St. Louis?
On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,204/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,218/month, which eats 29% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.
How far does a heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers salary go in St. Louis?
St. Louis has a Regional Price Parity of 95.09 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers salary is worth about $66,253 in national-average purchasing power.
Where do heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers get paid the most?
The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.