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HVAC Technician shortage in Texas: the licensed-supply numbers
What the Texas register actually shows, by tier and per capita, updated nightly.
As of 2026-08-09, Texas carries 59,775 licensed HVAC technicians
on its state register, or 196.0 per 100,000 residents.
59,775
licensed HVAC technicians
196.0
per 100k residents
#10
density rank of 32
Texas does not issue a separate apprentice license for this trade, so no pipeline ratio is published here. The tier counts below are what the register itself records.
By credential tier
Every HVAC technician license on the Texas register, normalized to one ladder.
Tier
Licensed
Share
Journeyman
40,709
68%
Contractor / business
19,066
32%
Against comparable states
States nearest Texas on licensed HVAC technicians per capita.
State
Licensed HVAC technicians
Per 100k
Texas
59,775
196.0
Arkansas
7,776
253.5
Kentucky
10,993
242.9
Rhode Island
2,212
201.8
Delaware
1,230
119.2
Maryland
7,200
116.5
Alabama
5,161
101.0
Counts, not a capacity opinion. We publish the licensed supply and the pipeline
ratio; whether a market can absorb a given project is a judgement for the reader, not a claim we make.
Frequently asked
Is there a HVAC shortage in Texas?
Reporting on the shortage rarely states how many are actually licensed. Texas carries 59,775 licensed HVAC technicians on its register as of 2026-08-09, or 196.0 per 100,000 residents. Readers can weigh that supply against demand directly.
How many licensed HVAC technicians does Texas have?
59,775 on the state register as of 2026-08-09.
Where does the shortage narrative come from?
Industry analyses project national shortfalls of hundreds of thousands of skilled-trades workers against data-center and electrification demand. Those are demand-side estimates; the figure here is the licensed supply on the register today.
New licenses, ladder upgrades, classification changes and lapses, by market and credential tier. Read the quarterly free, or license the underlying data.