How it works
- Hard costs = job ads + other hiring costs + (interview hours × what that time is worth) + (trainer hours × trainer cost) + setup.
- Empty seat = weeks empty × gross profit per week × the share of work nobody covers. Work the crew picks up isn't lost — but it costs overtime, which is counted separately.
- Ramp-up = weeks to full speed × gross profit per week × (100% − average productivity). A new hire at 60% for 12 weeks is almost 5 weeks of a full tech's gross profit gone.
- Annual turnover cost = techs × turnover rate × cost per departure.
- Retention raise = cost of one departure ÷ number of techs. If keeping people stops even one departure a year, that's the raise every tech could get for the same money. Hourly figures assume 2,080 paid hours a year.
Things this leaves out
- Customers who leave with the tech. Techs who move to a competitor sometimes take loyal customers with them.
- Morale. Overtime and constant new faces wear on the crew you have, which can make the next departure more likely.
- Payroll burden on a raise. A raise also adds payroll taxes and workers' comp, so the raise you can actually fund is a bit smaller than shown.
What published data says
The Center for American Progress reviewed 30 case studies across 11 research papers and found the typical cost of replacing a worker is about 20% of annual salary for jobs paying $75,000 or less. Source: Center for American Progress, "There Are Significant Business Costs to Replacing Employees" (2012) That's an all-industry average — a field tech who runs a truck full of billable work can cost more, which is why this calculator counts the gross profit a tech brings in.
The BLS puts the median pay for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers at $57,300/year (May 2023), with the 25th–75th percentile range running from $46,550 to $71,120. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2023
More sourced numbers on tech pay, the shortage, and hiring are in the guide HVAC Tech Pay & Hiring Benchmarks 2026. We haven't found a solid public source for HVAC-specific turnover rates or ramp-up times, so we don't quote any here. That's what the anonymous Owner Numbers survey collects, so owners can compare against real peers.
Related tools
Want the full yearly cost of each tech you keep, not just the ones you lose? The HVAC labor burden calculator adds payroll taxes, workers' comp, benefits, and time off to the wage.
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Setting a revenue target? The HVAC revenue goal calculator turns it into jobs and calls per day, and revenue per tech.
Deciding whether to hire? The HVAC technician capacity calculator shows how many techs your workload needs, in a normal week and at peak. Then the should I hire another HVAC tech payback calculator shows how many months a new hire takes to pay for itself.
Thinking about selling one day? The HVAC business valuation calculator turns your profit and add-backs into SDE and a value range.