Trades recruiting in Jacksonville, FL

More than in Tampa or Orlando, in every trade. The BLS May 2025 wage survey puts Jacksonville medians at $28.17 an hour for HVAC techs, $28.33 for plumbers, and $28.02 for electricians, all above the Florida medians of $27.24, $25.44, and $27.52. The plumber median of $58,920 a year is the highest among Florida’s five largest metros.

The workforce is mid-sized: about 3,340 HVAC techs, 2,380 plumbers, and 4,990 electricians across the five-county metro. High pay with a moderate bench means Jacksonville shops are not competing on price alone; they are competing on schedule, territory, and the quality of the work.

Very big, especially in electrical. BLS withholds some Jacksonville metro figures, but Duval County’s are published: in mid-2025, commercial electrical contractors in Duval employed 6,164 people, against 1,344 at residential electrical contractors, more than four to one. Commercial plumbing and HVAC contractors employed 3,218, against 4,175 at residential ones.

Pay follows size. Average weekly pay for all workers at Duval’s commercial electrical contractors was $1,418, against $1,187 at residential ones, and $1,488 at commercial plumbing and HVAC firms against $1,270 at residential ones, per BLS QCEW. Residential service shops in Jacksonville are recruiting next to a commercial sector that is larger and better paid on average, which our Florida contractor market data puts in statewide context.

Fastest at the southern edge. St. Johns County grew 3.9% from July 2024 to July 2025, the fastest rate of any Florida county, and is up 26.7% since 2020, per the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimates. Nassau County grew 18.3% since 2020, Clay 9.8%, and Duval 6.8%. The five-county metro reached 1,785,500 residents, up 11.2%.

Housing age follows the same line. Duval County’s median home was built in 1986, and 55.6% of its homes predate 1990 (ACS 2020-2024), while St. Johns County’s median is 2004. Older Duval neighborhoods generate replacement, repipe, and panel work; St. Johns subdivisions such as Nocatee and Fruit Cove generate new-construction and first-repair work.

Some do. The consolidated City of Jacksonville’s Construction Trades Qualifying Board still examines journeyman craftsmen, with a $65 journeyman exam fee and a journeyman seat on the board. St. Johns County lists journeyman and HVAC journeyman licenses tested through the county. Florida has no state journeyman license, and state law requires every county and city to honor a journeyman card issued by any other Florida county or city in the same trade ([s. 489.1455](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0489/Sections/0489.1455.html), [s. 489.5335](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0489/Sections/0489.5335.html)).

Whether a card is required for a particular residential seat is a local question worth confirming with the jurisdiction. We record card status on every candidate.

The St. Johns River and the I-295 beltway shape every commute, so we source from your side of the river first and map each candidate against your service area: an Orange Park tech and a Jacksonville Beach tech are very different hires for a Southside shop. Before a First Coast candidate reaches you, they have passed our scored phone interview, had their EPA 608, license, or card status confirmed for the trade, and cleared the background and motor-vehicle checks you require.

Hurricanes reach this far north as well. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, the St. Johns River set record flood stages at many locations in Duval County, causing major flooding across the Jacksonville area, and events like that bring months of HVAC, electrical, and plumbing work.