Best HVAC Schools in Mississippi (2026)

HVAC work needs a Mississippi licence based on the value of the project, not the value of your part of it, and that distinction has caught people out since the rule changed in July 2022. An HVAC subcontractor of any tier on a qualifying residential project must be licensed no matter the dollar amount of their own contract.

The project is what has to qualify. Residential construction means work costing more than $50,000, and residential improvement means improvements exceeding $10,000. So a $900 furnace replacement inside a $60,000 remodel requires a state licence, while the identical $900 job standing on its own does not. For work below the improvement threshold the board directs you to your local building official instead.

Commercial work runs on a separate scheme with a $50,000 threshold, requiring a certificate of responsibility. The classifications are named precisely: Residential HVAC covers installation, maintenance and repair of residential HVAC systems and is limited to residential work only, while on the commercial side Heat, Ventilation, A/C covers installation, maintenance, repair, fabrication, alteration and extension of HVAC systems.

A Mississippi HVAC license costs $50 to apply for at residential level, including one trade classification, with $100 for each additional classification. The statute caps the initial licence fee at $50 and provides that it cannot exceed $100. There is no bond and no net worth requirement on the residential side, which makes it one of the cheapest routes into licensed contracting anywhere on this site.

Commercial is a different proposition. The application is $400 including one classification, and it requires a reviewed or audited financial statement prepared by a CPA within the last twelve months, with a compilation expressly not accepted. Net worth must be $50,000 for a major classification or $20,000 for others, and general liability cover runs $300,000 per occurrence and $600,000 aggregate.

Licences renew annually, expiring on the last day of the twelfth month after issue or renewal. Late renewal is allowed within 180 days on payment of the fee plus a ten percent penalty, after which you reapply. Continuing education is two credit hours a year and applies to residential licences only; anyone holding a valid residential licence before 1 July 2015 is exempt from it entirely, and commercial certificates carry no requirement.

HVAC techs in Mississippi make a median of $48,680 a year, roughly $12,300 below the national median of $61,010 and among the three lowest state medians in the country. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 2,700 HVAC technician jobs in the state in its May 2025 wage survey.

The bottom 10 percent earn $34,010 or less and the top 10 percent earn $71,320 or more, with the middle half between $39,540 and $60,180. The whole range sits low, and the ceiling is below the national median plus $11,000. Set against the reciprocity arrangements above, anyone training in Mississippi should know the credential travels more easily than the wages do. These are current earnings and not a projection.