Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,499
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$12,231
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,146
Virginia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Virginia — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$59,730
Kept after tax
$47,499
Worth in national money
$47,146
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Virginia pays this job around $59,730 at the midpoint, 33 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 247 among 489 occupations Virginia publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $59,730, take-home of $47,499 is worth roughly $47,146 in national money. The average comes to $61,190, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers the Virginia median is $59,730, ranking 33 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 247 of 489 in Virginia places heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers, whose median is $59,730, the adjusted figure of $47,146 differs little from $47,499 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $61,190 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,420 |
| This salary | $59,730 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Virginia | $47,499 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,173 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,486 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $56,402 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,425 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in Virginia earn under $59,730 and half over. The published range runs $39,760 at the tenth percentile to $83,420 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $47,499 take-home in Virginia comes from $59,730. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 247 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $47,146, the adjusted value of that $59,730 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 247 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,760 to $83,420; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $47,499, from $59,730, assumes a single Virginia filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 247 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $47,146 — the adjusted value of that $59,730 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 247 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $39,760 and the top tenth $83,420 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Virginia run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $47,146 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $47,499 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($39,760) and the ninetieth ($83,420) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Virginia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $47,146 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $47,499 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Virginia income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.