Throughline

Skilled trades

HVAC and Refrigeration Technician in the United States

54 postings read · sampled 2026-10-01 · source ats · 12 employers · largest 24% of it

What employers actually ask for

Credentials named in the 54 postings we read, ranked by how many mentioned each one.

What it costs

Exam and application fees plus typical self-study hours. Almost nobody needs every credential on this list — start with the top line.

Most-asked-for, on its own
$150EPA Section 608 Technician Certification · ~20 hrs
asked for in 9 of 54 postings — 17%
If you earned all 1 of them
$150
fees checked 2026-08
20 hrs
20 hours — about 2 weeks at 10 hrs/wk

Not in the total: Bachelor's Degree — cost varies by institution.

Lower signal for this role

Credentials that barely appeared in this sample. That is not a claim they are worthless — plenty are valuable for a different job, a different city, or a promotion later. It is a claim that employers here mostly did not ask.

What the official taxonomy says

O*NET surveys people already doing this job. That describes who got hired over a long window, not what employers are asking for now — where it disagrees with the counts above, the counts are the more current answer.

Education levels O*NET lists for this job
  • High school diploma or equivalent
  • Post-secondary certificate

Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

O*NET 49-9021.00 · pulled 2026-10-01 · O*NET publishes the levels but no shares for this occupation, so they are shown in its order without percentages

What it pays

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. A different survey from the postings above, so the two do not share a sample.

$40,050
10th percentile
$61,010
median
$95,210
90th percentile

Every credential above costs $150 — less than a day's pay at the median.

Who was hiring

Employers with at least one matching posting in this sample.

Walmart · Budderfly · SpaceX · Pearce Services · Sila Services · Cogent Talent Solutions · Anduril Industries · Atlas Energy Solutions · Curaleaf · Green Thumb Industries · HelloFresh · Manitoulin Group of Companies

Next

  • Roast and Resolve — Now aim your résumé at this target. Free roast, paid rewrite.
  • Synap — Two-minute daily lessons to drill the skills underneath the credential.