Best programs to become a heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanic in Illinois
34 Illinois schools offer programs that train heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers, graduating 1,989 people a year. The job pays a median of $77,410 in Illinois across about 9,740 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
You do not need a college degree to become a heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanic. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job in Illinois are Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician, as well as Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering Technology/Technician (IPEDS completions). BLS lists a postsecondary nondegree award (a certificate) as the typical entry-level education.
Install or repair heating, central air conditioning, HVAC, or refrigeration systems, including oil burners, hot-air furnaces, and heating.
2 programs in Illinois that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Illinois (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Illinois page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technicianmain feeder CIP 47.0201In Illinois → | 1,730 | 87.0% | 33 | $35,970 | $10,649 |
| 2 | CIP 15.0501In Illinois → | 259 | 13.0% | 1 | $36,407 | $10,250 |
Top 25 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 6 of the 34 schools in this state.
All 34 schools in Illinois
Every school in Illinois with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ETI School of Skilled Trades | Willowbrook | Private for-profit | 268 | 1 |
| Midwest Technical Institute - Illinois | Springfield | Private for-profit | 259 | 1 |
| College of Lake County | Grayslake | Public | 250 | 1 |
| Chicago Professional Center | Prospect Heights | Private for-profit | 180 | 1 |
| HVAC Technical Institute | Chicago | Private for-profit | 155 | 1 |
| Elgin Community College | Elgin | Public | 111 | 1 |
| Moraine Valley Community College | Palos Hills | Public | 109 | 1 |
| College of DuPage | Glen Ellyn | Public | 73 | 1 |
| McHenry County College | Crystal Lake | Public | 60 | 1 |
| William Rainey Harper College | Palatine | Public | 55 | 1 |
| Illinois Central College | East Peoria | Public | 51 | 1 |
| Southwestern Illinois College | Belleville | Public | 44 | 1 |
| Stautzenberger College - Rockford Career College | Rockford | Private for-profit | 37 | 1 |
| Lincoln Land Community College | Springfield | Public | 34 | 1 |
| City Colleges of Chicago - Kennedy - King College | Chicago | Public | 33 | 1 |
Fields of study in Illinois that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
What heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $61,010. Illinois pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Illinois
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers page.
How to become a heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanic
- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Illinois
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 15.0501Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering Technology/Technician
- 47.0201Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician
Common questions
Answers for people weighing heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers programs in Illinois.
What degree do you need to become a heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanic?+
You do not need a college degree to become a heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanic. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job in Illinois are Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician, as well as Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering Technology/Technician (IPEDS completions). BLS lists a postsecondary nondegree award (a certificate) as the typical entry-level education.
Which college majors lead to becoming a heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanic?+
The fields of study that lead most directly to this job in Illinois are Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician, as well as Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering Technology/Technician (IPEDS completions). In all, 2 feeder programs graduate about 1,989 people a year in Illinois (IPEDS completions).
How much do heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers earn in Illinois?+
The median is $77,410 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 26.9% above the U.S. median of $61,010. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers growing?+
BLS projects a +8.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 40,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+
34 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Refrigeration Mechanic, Service Technician (Service Tech), Refrigeration Technician (Refrigeration Tech), HVAC Mechanic (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Mechanic) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 49-9021.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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