Plumbing and HVAC
contractor statistics.
There were 109,601 plumbing and HVAC contractors with employees in the United States in 2022, according to the Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns, employing 1,176,759 people. Of those businesses, 63,898 (58%) had fewer than five employees and 77% had fewer than ten. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 123,866 private establishments in the same industry in 2025. In a shop that small, the person who answers the phone is often the same person doing the job. California, Florida and Texas have the most plumbing and HVAC contractors. Every figure below links to its Census or BLS table.
Updated 25 September 2026Key numbers
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses with employees (2022) | 109,601 | Census CBP 2022, NAICS 238220 |
| People employed (2022) | 1,176,759 | Census CBP 2022 |
| Businesses with fewer than 5 employees | 63,898 (58.3%) | Census CBP 2022 |
| Average annual payroll per employee | $69,883 | Census CBP 2022, payroll divided by employees |
| Private businesses (2025 annual average) | 123,866 | BLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 23822 |
| Median yearly pay for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers | $61,010 | BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook |
| Number of HVAC mechanics and installers jobs in the U.S. | 440,900 | BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook |
| Median yearly pay for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters | $63,800 | BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook |
| Number of plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters jobs in the U.S. | 510,600 | BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook |
| Hispanic or Latino share, HVAC mechanics and installers | 26.7% | BLS CPS 2025, table 11 |
| Hispanic or Latino share, plumbers and pipefitters | 30.3% | BLS CPS 2025, table 11 |
CBP counts establishments (locations) with paid employees in 2022; QCEW counts private establishments in 2025. They are different surveys and years, so the counts differ.
Most shops are small
Nearly all of these businesses are small. The Census breaks them down by number of employees:
| Employees | Businesses | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 5 employees | 63,898 | 58.3% |
| 5 to 9 employees | 20,550 | 18.7% |
| 10 to 19 employees | 12,938 | 11.8% |
| 20 to 49 employees | 8,184 | 7.5% |
| 50 to 99 employees | 2,495 | 2.3% |
| 100 to 249 employees | 1,199 | 1.1% |
| 250 to 499 employees | 253 | 0.2% |
| 500 to 999 employees | 57 | 0.1% |
| 1,000 employees or more | 27 | <0.1% |
Owner-operators with no employees are not in these counts at all. The Census tracks them separately as nonemployer businesses; across all specialty trade contractors (NAICS 238) there were 1,916,528 in 2022.
Where they are
| State | Businesses | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| California | 11,334 | 127,197 |
| Florida | 9,071 | 89,151 |
| Texas | 8,704 | 101,164 |
| New York | 7,089 | 65,591 |
| Illinois | 4,156 | 40,050 |
| Pennsylvania | 4,136 | 42,340 |
| North Carolina | 3,862 | 44,064 |
| New Jersey | 3,500 | 29,679 |
| Massachusetts | 3,093 | 29,699 |
| Georgia | 3,048 | 31,789 |
What this means for the phone
Our reading, not a statistic: with 77% of shops under ten employees, most have no one whose job is the phone. Calls come in while the crew is working, and a caller with a leak or a dead system tends to call the next number on the list. That is the gap an answering service or an AI receptionist fills.
Voxgard’s page for this trade shows how the calls are handled: AI receptionist for HVAC.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022, NAICS 238220
- Census API query, establishments by employee size
- Census API query, establishments by state
- Census Nonemployer Statistics 2022, NAICS 238
- BLS QCEW 2025 annual averages, NAICS 23822
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
- BLS CPS 2025, table 11
Written by Voxgard, which makes an AI receptionist. The figures describe the market, not Voxgard’s results. Found an error? info@voxgard.com
Questions.
109,601 with employees in 2022 (Census CBP), or 123,866 private establishments in 2025 (BLS QCEW).
63,898, or 58.3% of those with employees (Census CBP 2022).
California, with 11,334, followed by Florida (9,071) and Texas (8,704).
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