Market size, according to the records
| License type (DBPR) | Active licenses in Miami-Dade |
|---|---|
| CAC: certified air conditioning contractor | 1,030 |
| CMC: certified mechanical contractor | 488 |
| RA: registered air conditioning contractor | 22 |
| Total | 1,540 (1,271 distinct holders) |
HVAC-named companies on Sunbiz, active today, by filing year:
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (through Oct 7) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 132 | 142 | 194 | 219 | 269 | 323 |
More A/C-named companies register every year. And there are more HVAC-named companies (2,178) than licenses (1,540): a company can work under a license holder who also owns another company, but some companies have no license of their own. Customers can't tell the difference unless you show it.
Sources: DBPR,
CONSTRUCTIONLICENSE_1.csv(county 23, active, classes CAC, CMC and RA), downloaded October 2026. Sunbiz (Florida Department of State), quarterly file of Oct 7, 2026, active companies; trade is estimated from words in the name (aire, A/C, HVAC, cooling…), so the count is approximate. Valaku counts, Oct 20, 2026.
Demand
- Searches in Miami (in English): "ac repair" about 1,900 a month, "ac repair near me" 880, "mini splits ac" 720, "ac unit maintenance" 480, "air duct cleaning" 390 and "ac installation" 170. The estimated cost per click for "ac repair" is USD 43.44. (hvacbench and getvibeads, using DataForSEO and Keyword Planner data, September 2026.)
- Searches in Spanish: barely show up in measurements. Google Trends shows very low values for "reparación de aire" in the Miami area. That suggests many Spanish speakers search for the service in English: your site needs both languages, and your English pages need as much care as your Spanish ones.
- Jobs: the county issued 475 mechanical A/C permits in September 2026, in its own jurisdiction only (Miami, Hialeah and other cities issue theirs separately).
Sources: research/demanda-miami-keywords.csv (hvacbench.com/market/miami-fl, Sep 24, 2026; getvibeads.com, Sep 2026; Google Trends, Miami-Fort Lauderdale DMA). Permits: Miami-Dade County ArcGIS, September 2026 (research/fuentes-de-leads-miami.md).
Competition by city
The city is the license address (where the contractor is based), not where they work: a Hialeah technician may serve Miami Beach. Still, it shows where competition is concentrated and where there's a lot of potential demand with few contractors nearby.
| City | Active HVAC licenses | HVAC companies on Sunbiz | Condo units | Condo units per locally based license |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami (mailing address) | 883 | 1,175 | 157,026 | 178 |
| Hialeah | 216 | 360 | 21,670 | 100 |
| Homestead | 83 | 134 | 4,410 | 53 |
| Doral | 54 | 63 | 6,137 | 114 |
| Miami Gardens | 50 | 106 | 405 | 8 |
| Cutler Bay | 40 | 43 | — | — |
| Miami Lakes | 30 | 22 | 6,089 | 203 |
| Miami Beach | 22 | 30 | 42,496 | 1,932 |
| Coral Gables | 17 | 27 | 5,419 | 319 |
| North Miami Beach | 15 | 24 | 24,501 | 1,633 |
| Aventura | 12 | 20 | 9,835 | 820 |
| Sunny Isles Beach | 13 | 7 | 8,566 | 659 |
| Kendall area* | 226 | 251 | — | — |
| Westchester area* | 162 | 176 | — | — |
*Kendall (ZIP 33173, 33176, 33183, 33186, 33193, 33196) and Westchester (ZIP 33155, 33165, 33174, 33175) aren't municipalities: we count them by ZIP code (Valaku definition) and they're already included in "Miami."
What the table shows:
- Miami, Hialeah and Kendall concentrate the competition. More contractors are based nearby, so standing out (visible license, reviews, speed, Spanish) matters more.
- The coast has lots of condo housing and few locally based contractors. Miami Beach, North Miami Beach, Aventura and Sunny Isles Beach add up to more than 85,000 condo units and 62 licenses with addresses in those cities. Working in buildings has its own rules (association approval, insurance, elevator schedules): if you know them, say so on your website and create a page for that area.
- Miami Gardens has 2.1 HVAC-named Sunbiz companies for every locally based license, the highest ratio among the cities in the table. Showing your license separates you from those without one.
Sources: DBPR (licenses by mailing city), Sunbiz (principal address; city names normalized), DBPR Division of Condominiums (
dbpr_condominios_miamidade.csv, all projects in the file by address city; includes co-ops and other regimes). Valaku counts, Oct 20, 2026. Methodology (in Spanish)
How licensed contractors present themselves today
We manually reviewed 80 HVAC contractors with a DBPR license issued 2024-2026 (relatively new businesses):
| Website status | Contractors |
|---|---|
| No website of their own | 34 |
| Broken site | 8 |
| Weak site | 7 |
| Social media only | 1 |
| Acceptable site | 9 |
| Good site | 20 |
| Couldn't be evaluated | 1 |
- Of the 71 we searched on Google Maps, 37 didn't show up with a profile matching their license.
- Among those with Google reviews, the median is 12 reviews, and 13 of 30 have fewer than 10.
Source: Valaku review of 500 providers with an active license or registration in Miami-Dade (HVAC subset: 80 DBPR licenses from 2024-2026), visual website check and Google Maps lookup, Oct 20, 2026. This is a sample of recent contractors, not the whole universe.
What to do if you run an A/C company
- Put your license number (CAC, CMC or RA) on your website, Google profile and estimates, linked to the DBPR lookup. Informed customers ask for it first, and unlicensed competitors can't show it. (This is what consumers see on our air conditioning hub.)
- Have one page per service: repair, installation or replacement, maintenance, mini split, duct cleaning. They're different searches with different measured demand.
- Have area pages with their own content, starting where you actually work: if you serve coastal buildings, explain how you handle association approvals and insurance.
- Spanish and English, both well written. Measured demand is mostly in English, and a large share of your customers speak Spanish at home.
- Complete and verify your Google profile as a service-area business, with no keywords in the name. (Guide.)
- Get to 20 or 30 real reviews by asking every customer: that already puts you above the sample median. (Reviews guide.)
- Explain when a permit is required to replace equipment and who pulls it. It's a common question and positions you as the one who does things right.
FAQ
How many licensed A/C contractors are there in Miami-Dade? 1,540 active licenses (CAC 1,030, CMC 488, RA 22) held by 1,271 distinct holders, per our count of the DBPR file from October 2026.
Where is competition highest? In Miami (883 licenses with a "Miami" mailing address), Hialeah (216) and the Kendall area (226). That's the contractor's home base, not necessarily where they work.
Do I need a Spanish website if most people search in English? Yes, both. Measured searches are mostly in English, but 2 out of 3 people age 5 and older in Miami-Dade speak Spanish at home (ACS 2018-2022, table C16001), and many prefer to have their estimate explained in Spanish.
How does Valaku help? Your listing shows your DBPR license with a verification date, in Spanish and English, and we send you requests with no commission. It's free.
Hold a CAC, CMC or RA license in Miami-Dade? Your listing may already exist with DBPR data. Claim it for free · I want a website