AC recharge cost: the labor, the refrigerant and the rules a shop follows
Choose the vehicle type and the state to see the labor for an evacuate and recharge. Refrigerant is not priced here: type the figure from your quote in More options.
A/C recharge, sedan, national: typical labor, part not included
$67
Range $57 to $79 · refrigerant charge · before sales tax
| Labor time, sedan | 0.5 h |
| Shop rate, national | $114 to $159 per hour |
| Labor, typical | $67 |
| Part (your figure) | type it in More options |
No sedan in the bulletins read for this repair: hours of all vehicle types. No public price for this part: labor only until you type the part price in More options.
Compiled by Radif Partners · How costs are estimated · automaker labor times, BLS technician wages, parts read October 20, 2026 · not a quote
An A/C recharge, where the shop recovers the old refrigerant, pulls the system into a vacuum and refills it, costs about $67 in labor at the national median shop rate of $134 an hour, within a range of $57 to $79 before sales tax. The labor is the same for every type of vehicle, because both automaker times read pay 0.5 h for the job; the sedan, pickup and luxury types, with no bulletin of their own, borrow those times. The refrigerant is not included: no public price was read for it, and what a charge costs depends on whether your car uses R-134a or the newer R-1234yf and on how much the system holds. Type the price on your quote in More options to add it. Federal rules require the technician to be certified and to use approved equipment. A recharge refills the system; it does not repair a leak. By state, the labor runs from about $52 in West Virginia to $81 in the District of Columbia.
What evacuate and recharge means
A car air conditioner is a sealed loop. A compressor, usually driven by the engine, pumps refrigerant through a condenser at the front of the car and an evaporator behind the dashboard, where it absorbs heat from the cabin air. When the system works, it neither uses up nor needs topping up with refrigerant. A recharge done by a shop follows three steps on a service machine: it recovers whatever refrigerant is left, holds the system under vacuum to draw out air and moisture, and then refills it with the exact amount the automaker specifies. That amount and the refrigerant type are printed on a label under the hood.
The vacuum step is useful in itself. A system that will not hold a vacuum has a leak, and the technician can see it before any new refrigerant goes in. That is one reason a shop recharge differs from adding a can at home: the machine measures what comes out and what goes back.
The automaker times, and the ones left out
Automakers pay their dealers for a recover and recharge when a campaign touches the A/C system. The 2 usable times found in documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration both pay 0.5 h. One, for large General Motors SUVs, also covers a new refrigerant label. The other is a Kia hybrid.
| Type | Vehicle and engine | Bulletin filed with NHTSA | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| SUV | 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe / Suburban, GMC Yukon, Cadillac Escalade, all (R-134a) | GM Service Update 14450A, November 2014 | 0.5 h |
| SUV | 2019 Kia Niro Hybrid / Plug-in Hybrid (DE), 1.6L hybrid | Kia TSB CLI 044 / Service Action SA372, March 2019 | 0.5 h |
Two other entries were set aside. A Honda line pays a recharge only as an add-on to replacing the condenser, so it cannot stand alone. A Cadillac table lists two times whose layout makes it unclear which applies to which refrigerant. The method page gives the reasons in full. With so few times, the estimate is a fair picture of a plain recharge, not of a repair that opens the system.
R-134a or R-1234yf
Two refrigerants share the road. Older vehicles use R-134a. Many newer ones use R-1234yf, and the Environmental Protection Agency describes both on its page about motor vehicle air conditioning. The two are not interchangeable. Each has its own service fittings and its own recovery and charging machine, so a shop must have the equipment for the refrigerant in your car. The label under the hood says which one it is.
No public price for either refrigerant was read for this site, and a charge is sold by weight, so the estimate leaves it out. If your quote lists the refrigerant on its own line, type that amount in More options and the estimator adds it to the labor for your state.
A/C recharge labor, plus your refrigerant
A/C recharge, sedan, national: typical labor, part not included
$67
| Labor time, sedan | 0.5 h |
| Shop rate, national | $114 to $159 per hour |
| Labor, typical | $67 |
| Part (your figure) | type it in More options |
Federal rules for the shop
Servicing a motor vehicle air conditioner for pay is regulated. Under 40 CFR Part 82, Subpart B, anyone who repairs or services these systems for payment must be trained and certified, and must use refrigerant handling equipment approved for that purpose. The rule exists so that refrigerant is captured and reused rather than released. A shop should be able to say that its technician is certified and that its machine is approved for your refrigerant.
A recharge does not fix a leak
If the system is low, the refrigerant went somewhere. Refilling it restores the charge, but a leak stays a leak, and the cooling may fade again. Finding the leak is diagnosis: a shop may use dye, an electronic detector or the vacuum test. That work, and any part it points to, is not in this estimate. Only a mechanic who has checked your car can say what it needs, and a quote should separate the leak test, the repair and the recharge.
The labor in your state
The shop rate of each state is the national survey of posted rates scaled by the mean technician wage the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports there, from $21.19 an hour in West Virginia to $32.65 in the District of Columbia. On a short job, that is a gap of about $28 in labor. Some shops sell a recharge at a flat price that bundles the refrigerant; ask how much refrigerant it includes. The quote checker sets hours and rate against the reference, the shop rate guide explains the rate, and the state ranking compares states.