Reference · State of Florida
What a plumbing, HVAC or electrical tech earns in Florida, what the state adds to payroll, whether labor is taxed, what a license costs, how lien rights work and when the heating and cooling seasons peak — each figure from the agency that sets it, with the date we read it.
Hourly pay across all industries, May 2025. Half of the workers in each trade earn less than the median and half earn more; one in ten earns less than the 10th percentile. Union and non-union, no self-employed.
PlumbingU.S. median $30.67
plumbers: 10th percentile $18.72, 25th $22.70, median $25.44, 75th $30.20, 90th $35.39 an hour; U.S. median $30.67.
HVACU.S. median $29.33
HVAC techs: 10th percentile $18.45, 25th $22.51, median $27.24, 75th $30.59, 90th $37.60 an hour; U.S. median $29.33.
ElectricalU.S. median $30.38
electricians: 10th percentile $18.36, 25th $22.91, median $27.52, 75th $29.76, 90th $37.10 an hour; U.S. median $30.38.
| Percentile | Plumbing | HVAC | Electrical |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th | $18.72 | $18.45 | $18.36 |
| 25th | $22.70 | $22.51 | $22.91 |
| Median | $25.44 | $27.24 | $27.52 |
| 75th | $30.20 | $30.59 | $29.76 |
| 90th | $35.39 | $37.60 | $37.10 |
| Mean | $26.94 | $27.55 | $27.72 |
| U.S. median | $30.67 | $29.33 | $30.38 |
| vs U.S. | −17.1% | −7.1% | −9.4% |
| Rank | 48th | 41st | 48th |
| Jobs | 29,260 | 39,160 | 49,700 |
Dollars an hour. BLS occupations: Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters (SOC 47-2152); Heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers (SOC 49-9021); Electricians (SOC 47-2111). “vs U.S.” compares the medians; rank 1 is the highest median of the 50 states and DC. Released May 15, 2026; the next survey is due each spring.
What Florida charges an employer on top of wages: unemployment tax, and any paid-leave or disability program funded through payroll, and who must carry workers’ comp. Federal Social Security, Medicare and unemployment tax apply in every state and are already in the calculator. Workers’ comp premiums depend on the class code and the insurer, so the card gives the rules, not a rate.
Per tech, a year 2.70% × $7,000 = $189At the new-employer rate, for a plumber paid the state median ($25.44 × 2,080 h = $52,915). The calculator uses the rate alone.
State pages read
Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Workers' Compensation
Statute and agency pages read
We found no state paid family and medical leave or temporary disability insurance program funded through payroll in Florida on October 28, 2026. State paid sick leave rules, where they exist, are not covered here.
New-employer rates usually last one to three years — longer in some states (four years in Indiana, four to five in D.C.); then the state assigns your own rate, and your rate notice wins over any figure here. The calculator below uses the new-employer rate where one is clear. Where a state’s own pages could not be read, the card says so and gives the U.S. Labor Department’s figure.
The calculator’s example shop — three techs, $120,000 of overhead, a truck each, 10% net profit — with Florida’s median wage for each trade and its unemployment tax filled in. Your own numbers will differ; change them in the calculator below.
| Example shop | Break-even | Rate, 10% profit |
|---|---|---|
| Plumbingwage $25.44 | $101.41 | $112.68→ $115 |
| HVACwage $27.24 | $105.27 | $116.97→ $120 |
| Electricalwage $27.52 | $105.87 | $117.64→ $120 |
Per billable hour; → is the rate rounded up, as the calculator rounds it. Everything except the wage and the unemployment tax is the national example (BLS, IRS and DOL figures listed on the labor rate calculator).
The labor rate calculator, opened on Florida: pick your trade, put in your own crew, pay and overhead, and the rate and break-even redraw as you type.
Charge at least Example shop · Florida
Charge at least $112.68 per billable hour; break-even $101.41.
Round up to $115 (+$2.32)
See it drawn to scale$101.41 ÷ (1 − 10%) = $112.68rounded up to $115
Price your tasks at $115 an hourOpens the price book builder with this rate.
What moves your rate
What Florida’s tax agency says about repair and installation labor on buildings and the parts and fixtures that go into them. This is what the agency’s pages say, not tax advice.
Read October 24, 2026 on the agency pages listed under Sources. All 50 states and DC side by side.
The license a shop needs from the state to contract for each trade, the board that issues it and the fees on its own schedule. Cities and counties can add their own licenses, registrations and permit fees; exam vendors and fingerprinting may charge more.
State license
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Both | |
| Initial certification application fee(May 1 of even year – Aug 31 of odd year)one-time (covers license to next biennial renewal) | $245 |
| Initial certification application fee(Sept 1 of odd year – Apr 30 of even year)one-time (covers license to next biennial renewal) | $145 |
| State construction exam registration fee(paid to Professional Testing, Inc.)one-time (per registration) | $135 |
| Active renewal fee (certified contractor)2 years ($255 with qualified business) | $205 |
| Plumbing · Certified Plumbing Contractor (CF), qualifying a business (form DBPR CILB 6-M) | |
| Plumbing exam administration fee (paid to DBPR)one-time (per exam) | $80 |
| HVAC · Certified Class A Air Conditioning Contractor (CA) (form DBPR CILB 6-G); alternatively Certified Mechanical Contractor (CM) | |
| Trade Knowledge computer-based test fee(paid to Pearson VUE)one-time (per exam) | $80 |
Initial certification fee depends on when you apply in the 2-year cycle ($245 or $145). A late renewal (after the Aug 31, 2026 deadline) is $230 ($280 with business); certified licenses renew every two years, next on Aug 31, 2028. Florida also has 'registered' (local-competency-based) contractors who may work only where they hold local certificates; certified licenses are statewide.
Plumbing Plumbing candidates also pay $80 to Pearson VUE for the Business & Finance computer test. Fingerprint, credit-report and insurance costs are extra.
HVAC Computer-based candidates also pay $80 for the Business & Finance test.
Sources read
State license
Certified Electrical Contractor (EC)
A person may not practice electrical contracting unless the person is certified or registered (Fla. Stat. 489.531(1)(a)).
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Certified Electrical Contractor exam application fee(paid to DBPR)one-time (per exam application) | $263.25 |
| Exam vendor scheduling feeone-time (per exam) | $123.75 |
| Initial certification by examination (Active)one-time (covers license to next biennial renewal) | $296 |
| Active renewal fee (certified)2 years | $296 |
A late renewal (after the Aug 31, 2026 deadline) is $321 (certified); licenses renew every two years, next on Aug 31, 2028. Certified and registered electrical contractors renew Aug 31 of every even-numbered year (ECLB FAQ). Business must show net worth of at least $10,000; insurance required.
Contractor registration, bond and insurance the state asks of a trade shop
Board and statute pages read
State and local Who licenses the trades in Florida
Florida licenses these trades both ways: certified contractors pass the state exam and may work statewide, while registered contractors hold a county or city certificate of competency and may work only in that locality (plus adjoining ones that accept it). Cities and counties cannot require a state-certified contractor to get a local competency license for work within the state certificate (F.S. 489.113(4)(a)). myfloridalicense.com
State and city pages read
What Florida law says about lien rights on private jobs — the notices, the deadline to file and the deadline to sue — and whether a statute sets payment deadlines or caps retainage. Read from the statute itself; it is not legal advice.
Fla. Stat. §§ 713.001 to 713.37 (Part I)Chapter 713 LIENS, GENERALLY – Part I, Florida’s Construction Lien Law
Statutes read
Private jobs (public contracts have their own rules)
Statutes read
Degree days, NOAA’s index of the energy it takes to heat or cool a building: each degree a day’s mean temperature falls below 65 °F is one heating degree day, each degree above is one cooling degree day. Thirty-year normals for Jacksonville, month by month.
| Month | Heating | Cooling | Nights ≤ 32 °F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 350 | 15 | 6 |
| Feb | 234 | 24 | 3 |
| Mar | 143 | 64 | 1 |
| Apr | 43 | 136 | – |
| May | 4 | 311 | – |
| Jun | 0 | 459 | – |
| Jul | 0 | 544 | – |
| Aug | 0 | 530 | – |
| Sep | 0 | 416 | – |
| Oct | 25 | 217 | – |
| Nov | 144 | 61 | 1 |
| Dec | 285 | 27 | 4 |
Cooling carries the load at Jacksonville: 2,803 cooling degree days a year against 1,228 heating degree days, peaking in July (544).
The lightest months for heating and cooling together are April and November (180 and 205 degree days).
Nights at or below 32 °F: about 14 a year. Days reaching 90 °F: about 80 a year, the most in July.
Weighted by where Florida’s people live, NOAA’s statewide normals (1981–2010) are 623 heating and 3,348 cooling degree days — 48th for heating and 1st for cooling among the 48 contiguous states (the contiguous U.S.: 4,332 and 1,272).
Station: Jacksonville (USW00013889), NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 — station file; statewide figures: NOAA Climate Prediction Center. Bars share one scale: the longest is 544 degree days. Read .
Each page opened on the date shown. License, registration, lien and workers’ comp sources are linked beside each fact above. Figures change: the agency’s own page wins over this one.