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Best HVAC Schools in Nashville, TN (2026)

Edited by Taylor Rupe, B.S., B.A.

Published · Last updated

Nashville has two accredited HVAC programs in the metro, at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology campuses in Nashville and Dickson, and employs the trade at 21 percent above the national rate. The Tennessee page covers Metro's contractor registration and bonds. This page covers what comes before them: how a technician qualifies for the Metro HVAC&R or Master Mechanical exam, and the 2024 code Metro enforces, including its own rule on plastic flue vents.

2 Accredited programs in metro
$60,270 Median wage, Nashville metro
3,500 HVAC jobs in metro
1.21 Jobs vs national rate

Local layer: Metro Nashville certificates, registration and code amendments

On this page

HVAC programs

Accredited HVAC schools and programs in Nashville

The Nashville metro has 2 accredited HVAC programs accredited by HVAC Excellence or PAHRA. Ranks are national: a program shown at 6th sits 6th among all accredited HVAC programs in the country, not 6th in Nashville. Of the 2, all name EPA Section 608 preparation where they describe the program. The metro follows the Bureau of Labor Statistics definition, covering Davidson, Rutherford, Williamson, Sumner, Wilson and eight smaller Middle Tennessee counties, so a program listed here may sit some way outside the city itself. Each card names the campus.

#1

Tennessee College of Applied Technology @ Dickson

Dickson, TN · Post Secondary

81/100 ranking score
Credential Certificate and degree
Accreditation HVAC Excellence , a program of the ESCO Group
EPA 608 prep

Fourteen months of full time study, 1,596 clock hours, gets you the Advanced HVAC Technician diploma at TCAT Dickson. Classes run Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 2:30 PM. Total tuition and fees come to $6,411, with textbooks and supplies estimated at $2,044.69. The program is accredited by HVAC Excellence at both the Dickson and Clarksville campuses.

You do not have to complete all 1,596 hours to leave with a credential. The program has four exit points: a Refrigeration Fundamentals certificate at 432 hours, an HVAC Installer certificate at 864, an HVAC Technician diploma at 1,296, and the Advanced HVAC Technician diploma at 1,596. Coursework moves through four trimesters, from refrigerant fundamentals and electrical components to gas heat, heat pumps, troubleshooting, high efficiency systems, and light commercial HVAC.

Students test for an extensive slate of HVAC Excellence/ESCO certifications. EPA Section 608, Low GWP Refrigerant Safety, Air Conditioning, Electrical, Gas Heat, Heat Pump, and System Diagnostics and Troubleshooting are required to graduate; roughly twenty more, plus NC3 credentials and OSHA 10, are available. Training is offered at the main campus on Highway 46 South in Dickson and at the Clarksville campus on International Blvd.

Sources: Tennessee HVAC school program, EPA Section 608, HVAC Excellence, OSHA.

HVACR program details

In this metro: Dickson

#2

Tennessee College of Applied Technology Nashville

Nashville, TN · Post Secondary

81/100 ranking score
Credential Certificate and degree
Accreditation HVAC Excellence , a program of the ESCO Group
EPA 608 prepEvening or part-time

Day students finish in 16 months and evening students in 18 at TCAT Nashville; the full program runs 1,728 clock hours. Total tuition and fees run $6,212, with textbooks and supplies around $2,059. Training covers troubleshooting, repair, and maintenance of residential and commercial refrigeration, air conditioning, heat pumps, humidifiers, and electric and gas heating, along with the fundamentals of electricity, electric motors, and controls.

Four exit points let students leave with a credential before the full diploma: HVAC Mechanic Assistant at 432 hours, Domestic Unit Repair at 864, and Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Technician at 1,296, each a certificate, then the full HVAC and Refrigeration Technician diploma at 1,728 hours. Classes meet at the main campus at 100 White Bridge Pike in Nashville, and the program admits students in both day and evening sections.

Certification preparation includes Section 608 EPA Certification, R-410A Safety from the AC&R Safety Coalition, Green Awareness, and Employment Ready Certifications in electrical, gas heat, air conditioning, and heat pump work. Separate cost sheets for the day and evening programs, updated for the 2025-2026 year, are posted with the books and supplies lists. The program admits both full time and part time students, with day and night class options.

Sources: Tennessee HVAC school program, EPA Section 608.

HVACR program details

In this metro: Nashville

Willing to travel? Compare these HVAC programs in Nashville against every accredited program in Tennessee, or against the best HVAC schools and programs nationally.

Qualifying for the Metro exam

How do you qualify for the Metro Nashville HVAC&R exam in 2026?

You qualify for the Metro Nashville HVAC&R exam with four years of documented experience, and for the Master Mechanical exam with six. Those are the two classifications on Metro's application for examination as a Metropolitan Master Mechanical or HVAC&R contractor, and the application states that each applicant must furnish evidence of the experience before sitting. The only substitute it names is a degree in mechanical engineering, which may be accepted in lieu of the experience requirement. An HVAC certificate or associate degree is not listed as one.

The evidence is specific. Metro asks for written confirmation from past and present employers describing the work and the number of years or months with each, a letter of recommendation about your skill in the mechanical field, and copies of any license held in another city or state, verified by that jurisdiction. Incomplete applications are not accepted, and the Chief Mechanical Inspector reviews each one before an exam is approved.

Once approved, the exam is scheduled through Prov, the testing company, which sends the reference material and exam content. The passing grade is 70 percent. A candidate who falls short may apply to retake it after a 30-day waiting period, with approval from the Metro office first. The certificate is what Metro registration rests on, so for a technician planning to run work in Nashville, those four or six years are the real start of the clock.

Metro Nashville examination classifications
HVAC&R 4 years Master Mechanical 6 years

The 2024 code and the vent rule

Which mechanical code does Nashville enforce in 2026?

Nashville enforces the 2024 International Mechanical Code, alongside the 2024 International Fuel Gas Code and the 2024 International Residential Code, adopted by Metro ordinance BL2025-898. Metro has also amended the gas venting sections of two of those codes, and the change reaches every furnace or water heater vented with plastic pipe.

The amendment adds one sentence to section G2427.4.1 of the Residential Code and to section 503.4.1 of the Fuel Gas Code: where plastic piping is used to vent an appliance, the material shall be listed and labeled in accordance with UL 1738. Metro's reasoning is that PVC and CPVC pipe, which appliance manufacturers commonly allow, has only been tested and listed to plumbing standards, not venting standards, and that carrying flue gases is a life safety matter. UL 1738 is the standard for venting systems themselves.

Metro set a timetable for it. The amendment took effect on 15 July 2025, larger projects already in design were given a 180-day grace period, and from 1 January 2026 all work must comply. In practice a technician in Nashville now checks the listing on the vent pipe as well as the appliance manual, because plain plumbing PVC that a manufacturer permits is no longer enough for Metro.

Where the work is

Where can you train for HVAC in Nashville in 2026?

You can train for HVAC in Nashville at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology campus in the city, or at the TCAT campus in Dickson, which sits inside the same metro. Both are accredited by HVAC Excellence. Every accredited HVAC program in Tennessee is a TCAT campus, so the choice in this state is which campus rather than which kind of school.

The market is dense. The Nashville metro employs 3,500 HVAC technicians, about 36 percent of Tennessee's 9,740, at 3.187 jobs per thousand jobs of all kinds. Its location quotient of 1.21 means the trade is 21 percent more common here than nationally, the second highest concentration of any city on this site after Phoenix, and ahead of Miami.

Phoenix, Miami and Nashville sit close together on this measure, and Nashville is the only one of the three with a real heating season, so its concentration is not explained by air conditioning alone.

HVAC employment concentration, 1.0 equals the national rate
Phoenix 1.29 Miami 1.23 Nashville 1.21 Las Vegas 1.05

Sources: HVAC Excellence.

Nashville pay

How much do HVAC techs make in Nashville in 2026?

HVAC techs in the Nashville metro make a median of $60,270 a year, which is $4,780 above the Tennessee median of $55,490 and $740 below the national median of $61,010. The hourly median is $28.97. Nashville pays clearly better than the rest of Tennessee and close to the national middle.

The bottom of the range is unusually compressed. The bottom tenth earn $46,620 or less and the 25th percentile is $48,480, only $1,860 higher, where nationally the same gap is more than $8,000. The Nashville floor sits $8,080 above the Tennessee 10th percentile and $6,570 above the national one, so an entry-level technician here starts closer to the middle than in most markets. The 75th percentile is $71,330 and the top tenth earn $91,170 or more.

These figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey of May 2025 for occupation 49-9021, covering the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin metropolitan area, which takes in Davidson, Rutherford, Williamson, Sumner and Wilson counties and eight smaller Middle Tennessee counties. The survey reports what people earn, not why, and it makes no forecast about hiring.

Nashville metro Tennessee Annual wage by percentile, Nashville against Tennessee and the nation
10th $46,620 $38,540 25th $48,480 $46,990 Median $60,270 $55,490 75th $71,330 $65,590 90th $91,170 $81,590

Sources: BLS OEWS.

Pay detail

Nashville HVAC pay against Tennessee and the nation

Nashville HVAC pay runs from the bottom tenth to the top in the table below, beside the same percentiles for Tennessee and for the country. All figures are annual, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release of May 2025 for occupation 49-9021. The metro column covers Davidson, Rutherford, Williamson, Sumner, Wilson and eight smaller Middle Tennessee counties, which is wider than the city.

Percentile Nashville metro TN United States
10th $46,620 $38,540 $40,050
25th $48,480 $46,990 $48,360
Median $60,270 $55,490 $61,010
75th $71,330 $65,590 $77,060
90th $91,170 $81,590 $95,210

3,500 HVAC jobs in the Nashville metro, 1.21 times the national employment rate. OEWS is a wage survey and carries no employment projections

Sources

Where our Nashville HVAC data comes from

Our Nashville HVAC school and licensing data comes from the sources below, each one linked so you can check it: the city or county's own code, ordinance and permit schedule for the local rules, the state board or statute for licensing, the Bureau of Labor Statistics for wages, and each school's own published program page. Local research was verified 2026-10-05.

Metro Nashville, application for examination as a Master Mechanical or HVAC&R contractor
nashville.gov
Metro Nashville Codes, mechanical code amendments on flue venting
nashville.gov
Metro Nashville Codes, adopted codes list
nashville.gov
Metro Nashville Board of Mechanical, Plumbing and Electrical Examiners and Appeals
nashville.gov
Wages
BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 49-9021
Tennessee licensing
Our Tennessee licensing research

Local research verified 2026-10-05. Codes and ordinances change, so confirm with the city or county before relying on them

Tennessee licensing

HVAC schools and licensing in Tennessee

Everything on this page sits on top of Tennessee licensing, which is where the credential itself comes from. The Tennessee page covers the licence tiers, what they require, how much of that requirement schooling can replace, and every accredited HVAC program in the state rather than only those in the Nashville metro.

Tennessee HVAC Schools and Licensing 11 accredited programs statewide

Other cities

HVAC schools and programs in other cities

HVAC schools and programs in other cities are worth comparing, because the local layer changes at the county line even where the state licence does not. Each page below covers what that city adds to its state's rules, its metro pay, and the accredited HVAC programs within reach of it.

Chicago, IL HVAC Programs 4 Denver, CO HVAC Programs 1 Houston, TX HVAC Programs 1 Las Vegas, NV HVAC Programs 3 Miami, FL HVAC Programs 1 Minneapolis, MN HVAC Programs 3
Nashville, TN HVAC Programs (the page you are reading) 2
New Orleans, LA HVAC Programs 2 Phoenix, AZ HVAC Programs 1

A city appears here once its local rules have been read from the city or county's own code, and once there is an accredited program within reach of it. See all HVAC schools and programs by state or the national ranking.

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Schools pay to appear in these listings. They are separate from our rankings, which no school can pay to change.