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HVAC replacement cost: central air and heating
Air conditioning and heating priced separately for your state, the way homeowners reported them to the Census Bureau.
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Central air conditioning in the United States, hired out
$7,700
Most jobs between $4,620 and $10,990 (middle half of reported prices)
| Central air conditioning | $4,620 to $10,990 · median $7,700 |
| Furnace or other built-in heating | $3,430 to $8,590 · median $5,720 |
| National median (homeowners’ reports) | $7,696 |
| Regional level (Census division) | +0.0% |
| State labor adjustment | +0.0% |
| Typical price in the United States | $7,700 |
Heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers: national mean $31.14 an hour. Range from homeowners who hired a professional (2021 to 2023, American Housing Survey 2023), in August 2026 dollars; permits, tear-off of unusual materials, structural repairs and local surcharges vary job to job. How this is calculated.
Replacing or adding central air conditioning cost $7,700 at the national median, with half of professional jobs between $4,620 and $10,990, and a furnace or other built-in heating system cost $5,720, with the middle half between $3,430 and $8,590. Both figures come from the 2023 American Housing Survey (2,011 air conditioning jobs and 1,591 heating jobs done by professionals from 2021 to 2023), moved to August 2026 dollars. A full system change, condenser plus furnace or air handler, is reported by many owners as two jobs, so the two medians give an order of magnitude for both, not a precise package price. In your state the calculator moves the labor part with the wage of HVAC mechanics, $31.14 an hour on average nationally in May 2025.
Air conditioning and heating are two prices
The American Housing Survey asks about central air conditioning and built-in heating equipment separately, and that is how the calculator shows them. Built-in heating covers furnaces, boilers and heat pumps used as the main heat; the survey does not say which, so the heating range mixes them in the proportions owners actually installed. Air conditioning includes jobs that added central air to a house without it, which tend to cost more than a straight swap because ducts may be needed.
| State | Central AC, typical | Heating, typical | HVAC mechanic wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | $7,600 | $5,650 | $27.55 |
| Arizona | $8,590 | $6,510 | $29.28 |
| Ohio | $6,120 | $4,990 | $31.73 |
| New York | $8,760 | $5,230 | $35.94 |
| California | $9,900 | $7,330 | $36.24 |
| Minnesota | $6,030 | $6,030 | $35.57 |
Across all states, the typical central air job ranges from $5,620 in Nebraska to $10,130 in Alaska. The division level does most of that work: owners in the Pacific and New England states reported far higher medians than those in the Midwest.
What the federal efficiency rules require in 2026
Since January 1, 2023, a new split-system central air conditioner must reach 13.4 SEER2 in the northern states and 14.3 SEER2 for smaller units in the Southeast and Southwest, and a split heat pump must reach 14.3 SEER2 and 7.5 HSPF2 everywhere, under 10 CFR 430.32. A non-weatherized gas furnace must reach 80% AFUE until December 18, 2028, when the minimum rises to 95%. Contractors can only install equipment that met the standard on its manufacturing date, which is why an old 10 SEER condenser cannot be replaced by an identical new one.
The labor inside the price
For plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors, payroll was 27.9% and benefits 8.2% of the value of their work in the 2022 Economic Census, materials and equipment 32.5%. An HVAC changeout involves refrigerant recovery, brazing the line set or replacing it, electrical work, a new pad and commissioning, so crew hours matter as much as the box on the pad. Two quotes for the same equipment can differ by a crew-day of work, so ask what each installer plans to replace besides the units themselves: line set, pad, disconnect, thermostat, duct transitions.
Repair, replace or switch to a heat pump
When a system fails in July, the decision is usually made in a hurry. Get the age of both halves of the system and the cost of the repair before deciding; replacing only the outdoor unit of an old split system can leave a mismatched pair that never reaches its rating. If the furnace is also near the end of its life, a heat pump that heats and cools can replace both, and its running cost depends on electricity and gas prices in your state: the heat pump versus furnace calculator compares them, and the heat pump cost page explains what the survey says about installing one. The federal tax credit for efficient HVAC (25C) covered improvements made through December 31, 2025, according to the IRS.