The average appliance repair technician in the United States earns $56,040 a year, and the median, which is the figure that describes a typical worker rather than one dragged around by the top end, is $50,990. That works out at about $26.94 an hour. Where you work moves that a long way: Massachusetts averages $74,410 and Mississippi $36,750. Everything below is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 release, not from job ads or self-reported surveys.
What a appliance repair technician actually does for that money
Home appliance repairers is a small and shrinking counted occupation, partly because so many are now self-employed or working as authorised contractors rather than as employees. Most are paid per completed call, so first-visit fix rate matters more to earnings than the hourly figure suggests.
What appliance repair technicians earn, from bottom to top
An average hides the spread, and the spread is what matters when you are deciding whether to enter the trade or what to pay someone. Here is the full range BLS publishes.
| Percentile | Annual | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% | $36,190 | Starting out, or an apprentice rate |
| 25th | $43,780 | Still building speed and a customer base |
| Median | $50,990 | The middle of the trade |
| 75th | $63,390 | Experienced, licensed, in demand |
| Top 10% | $80,660 | Specialists, supervisors and owners |
Appliance Repair salary by state
Massachusetts pays the most at $74,410 a year, and Mississippi the least at $36,750. Cost of living explains part of that gap and licensing rules explain a good deal of the rest.
| # | State | Average annual | Median annual | Hourly | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | $74,410 | $70,750 | $35.78 | 550 |
| 2 | Connecticut | $72,460 | $62,380 | $34.84 | 380 |
| 3 | Virginia | $67,390 | $59,820 | $32.40 | 870 |
| 4 | New Jersey | $66,230 | $55,450 | $31.84 | 1,200 |
| 5 | Minnesota | $64,020 | $61,360 | $30.78 | 540 |
| 6 | New York | $62,360 | $65,190 | $29.98 | 2,110 |
| 7 | Vermont | $61,500 | $58,750 | $29.57 | 60 |
| 8 | Maryland | $60,830 | $57,860 | $29.25 | 570 |
| 9 | California | $59,160 | $58,480 | $28.44 | 2,760 |
| 10 | Alaska | $58,720 | $63,950 | $28.23 | 100 |
| 11 | Illinois | $58,710 | $56,860 | $28.23 | 1,730 |
| 12 | Wisconsin | $58,450 | $52,440 | $28.10 | 520 |
| 13 | Florida | $57,230 | $57,280 | $27.52 | 3,000 |
| 14 | Colorado | $57,100 | $52,220 | $27.45 | 550 |
| 15 | Washington | $56,920 | $58,110 | $27.36 | 800 |
| 16 | New Hampshire | $56,640 | $53,640 | $27.23 | 200 |
| 17 | Utah | $56,340 | $49,350 | $27.09 | 360 |
| 18 | Missouri | $56,210 | $48,530 | $27.02 | 890 |
| 19 | Oregon | $55,400 | $51,160 | $26.64 | 680 |
| 20 | Rhode Island | $55,300 | $50,170 | $26.59 | 60 |
| 21 | Pennsylvania | $55,100 | $51,990 | $26.49 | 1,010 |
| 22 | Kentucky | $54,500 | $49,710 | $26.20 | 200 |
| 23 | Hawaii | $54,470 | $58,300 | $26.19 | 240 |
| 24 | Michigan | $53,220 | $52,160 | $25.59 | 1,050 |
| 25 | Georgia | $53,060 | $49,500 | $25.51 | 670 |
| 26 | Delaware | $53,030 | $53,390 | $25.49 | 60 |
| 27 | Ohio | $52,770 | $47,300 | $25.37 | 730 |
| 28 | Nevada | $52,760 | $48,070 | $25.36 | n/a |
| 29 | Tennessee | $52,410 | $49,580 | $25.20 | 690 |
| 30 | South Carolina | $52,070 | $47,460 | $25.04 | 380 |
| 31 | Texas | $51,680 | $48,630 | $24.85 | 2,200 |
| 32 | Arizona | $50,980 | $47,800 | $24.51 | 990 |
| 33 | Louisiana | $50,800 | $49,240 | $24.42 | 310 |
| 34 | North Dakota | $50,490 | $48,720 | $24.27 | 50 |
| 35 | Idaho | $49,670 | $45,650 | $23.88 | 260 |
| 36 | Nebraska | $49,460 | $45,620 | $23.78 | 260 |
| 37 | Alabama | $48,890 | $50,190 | $23.50 | 280 |
| 38 | Iowa | $48,880 | $44,090 | $23.50 | 210 |
| 39 | Maine | $48,400 | $46,500 | $23.27 | 160 |
| 40 | North Carolina | $48,390 | $47,270 | $23.27 | 960 |
| 41 | South Dakota | $48,170 | $47,340 | $23.16 | 100 |
| 42 | Indiana | $47,630 | $47,080 | $22.90 | 1,030 |
| 43 | Oklahoma | $47,510 | $40,210 | $22.84 | 280 |
| 44 | Montana | $46,220 | $47,130 | $22.22 | 130 |
| 45 | Wyoming | $45,230 | $43,630 | $21.74 | 170 |
| 46 | New Mexico | $42,610 | $37,440 | $20.49 | 150 |
| 47 | Kansas | $41,090 | $38,840 | $19.75 | 310 |
| 48 | Arkansas | $40,170 | $38,680 | $19.31 | 230 |
| 49 | West Virginia | $36,860 | $35,720 | $17.72 | 80 |
| 50 | Mississippi | $36,750 | $35,890 | $17.67 | 220 |
Where the money is: highest paying metros
State averages flatten out the difference between a city and the rural county next to it. These are the metro areas paying appliance repair technicians the most.
| # | Metro area | Average annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barnstable Town, MA | $84,580 | $40.66 |
| 2 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | $77,880 | $37.44 |
| 3 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $73,450 | $35.31 |
| 4 | Trenton-Princeton, NJ | $73,190 | $35.19 |
| 5 | Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI | $73,060 | $35.13 |
| 6 | Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC | $73,010 | $35.10 |
| 7 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $72,560 | $34.88 |
| 8 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $71,520 | $34.38 |
| 9 | Waterbury-Shelton, CT | $70,790 | $34.03 |
| 10 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $67,750 | $32.57 |
What moves the number
- EPA Section 608 certification is required for sealed refrigeration systems, and manufacturer authorisation is what unlocks warranty work and parts pricing.
- Volume-driven and steady, with spikes around holidays and heatwaves. Most techs are paid per call rather than hourly, which rewards first-visit fixes.
- Factory-authorised service on high-end and built-in appliances pays well above general repair, and commercial kitchen work pays above both.
- The bottom ten percent of appliance repair technicians earn under $36,190 and the top ten percent clear $80,660. That gap is the trade telling you where the money is.
- Working for somebody else and working for yourself are different questions. These figures cover employed appliance repair technicians on a payroll, so they exclude the self-employed, and in this trade a large share of the best operators are exactly that.
What you can earn running the business instead
The number above is a wage. Running the business is a different calculation: you take the full ticket rather than an hourly rate, and what you keep depends on how many jobs you fit in a week, how quickly you get paid and how much of your day goes on scheduling, estimates and chasing invoices instead of on the work. That is the part software actually changes. Owners who put scheduling, estimating, invoicing and automated follow-up in one place tend to run more jobs with the same crew, which is where the gap between a appliance repair technician wage and an owner income opens up.
Appliance Repair salary FAQs
- How much do appliance repair technicians make a year?
- The median appliance repair technician in the United States earns $50,990 a year and the average is $56,040, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 release. Half the trade earns more than the median and half less.
- How much do appliance repair technicians make an hour?
- The mean hourly wage is $26.94. Annual earnings are usually higher than that rate multiplied by a standard year, because overtime, call-outs and premium work are not in the base rate.
- Which state pays appliance repair technicians the most?
- Massachusetts pays the most at an average of $74,410 a year, followed by Connecticut at $72,460 and Virginia at $67,390. Cost of living accounts for some of that and licensing rules for much of the rest.
- Which cities pay appliance repair technicians the most?
- Barnstable Town, MA tops the list at an average of $84,580 a year, with Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT at $77,880. Metro figures move a lot more than state averages, so the city matters more than the state.
- Can appliance repair technicians earn six figures?
- As an employee it is uncommon: the top ten percent earn $80,660. Owners are a different question, because they are paid on the job rather than on the hour, and owner income is not in these figures.
- Do these figures include self-employed appliance repair technicians?
- No. The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program covers wage and salary workers, so sole proprietors and business owners are excluded. In a trade with as many owner-operators as this one, that matters when you read the number.
- Where does this appliance repair salary data come from?
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, for "Home Appliance Repairers" (SOC 49-9031). It is a survey of employers rather than of workers, which is why it is more reliable than self-reported salary sites.
All wage figures on this page are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. BLS suppresses figures in areas with too few employers to publish safely; those appear as n/a rather than an estimate.
