Cost

Notes

• Where the number comes from. The national price for a ductless mini-split installation is $3,400 per indoor head — ductless mini-split pricing published for 2026, $2,200–$5,200 per indoor head installed. Labor is about 50% of that. Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers near Federal Way, WA average $85,420 a year against a U.S. mean of $64,780 — a factor of 1.319 — so the labor half is scaled by that and the material half is not. Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area, SOC 49-9021.
• Why the city matters, not just the state. Trade pay moves inside a state as much as it does between states. Crews do not commute across a state to bid a job, and materials ship at national prices either way — so a metro wage is the honest input here and a state average quietly rounds four different cities into one number.
• Design temperatures. 86°F summer and 25°F winter at Seattle-Tacoma Airport — the two numbers a Manual J starts from, and the reason equipment sized for one city is wrong in another.
• What is in the price: the outdoor unit, the indoor heads, line sets, wall penetrations, a condensate route, electrical connection, mounting and labor.
• What is not: a new electrical circuit or panel capacity, a condensate pump where gravity will not do, decorative line-set covers, and drywall repair. These are the lines that turn a $11,825 quote into a $14,781 invoice, so ask about each one before signing.
• Use this as a bid check, not a quote. It prices an average job in average condition. Difficult access, the state of what is being replaced, the season, and a crew booked out three months all move the real number, and none of them are in a per-unit average.