What good looks like in 2026 for HVAC, plumbing and electrical service businesses — revenue per tech, first-time fix rate, callback rate — and how each is actually calculated. Most shops compare themselves to numbers they measured differently.
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Revenue per technician for HVAC service businesses benchmarks at $180,000–$250,000 per year in 2026. Top-quartile residential shops exceed $250,000; the top decile approaches $280,000. The bottom quartile sits at $80,000–$120,000 — a gap of more than 2x between the same job title in different companies.
| Trade | Bottom 25% | Median | Top 25% |
|---|---|---|---|
| HVAC | $80K–$120K | $180K–$250K | $250K+ |
| Plumbing | $70K–$110K | $160K–$220K | $220K+ |
| Electrical | $70K–$110K | $160K–$210K | $210K+ |
Divide total service revenue for the period by the number of billable field technicians — not total headcount. Counting dispatchers, apprentices and office staff drags the figure down and makes it incomparable to any published benchmark. This is the most common reason a shop believes it is underperforming when it is not, or the reverse.
The industry average first-time fix rate is 70–80%. Above 80% is strong, top-quartile residential contractors run 85% or higher, and below 70% is usually an intake problem rather than a skill problem.
It is the metric most tightly coupled to revenue per technician, because every return visit consumes a slot that could have held a new job. Full breakdown of first-time fix rate and how to improve it →
A healthy callback rate is 2–2.5% in residential HVAC and plumbing. Above 5% points to diagnosis or parts problems rather than workmanship.
Measure it honestly: count every return visit, including the ones logged as separate new jobs. Shops that start counting properly commonly find they are at 10–20%, not the 3% they assumed. At roughly $650 per callback, that difference is six figures a year for a mid-sized shop. How to reduce callbacks →
A single truck roll costs $150–$500 in direct cost, and close to $1,000 fully loaded. The Technology & Services Industry Association publishes the higher figure, which includes overhead and lost schedule capacity.
The number most shops omit is opportunity cost — the revenue of the job that could have filled the slot. Work out your own figure with the calculator →
Ranges are drawn from published industry benchmarking by ACCA and the Technology & Services Industry Association, and from commonly cited contractor benchmarking surveys. They are ranges for a reason: a shop's mix of maintenance, repair and replacement work moves revenue per technician more than any other single factor, so treat these as orientation rather than a target.
These are industry figures, not SpotFix customer results.
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