- The middle half earn between $23.16 and $31.91 an hour.
- Illinois ranks 13th of the 50 states with published figures for median pay in this trade.
- Illinois pays more than all 5 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 1,730 appliance technicians on payrolls in Illinois.
- At the state median wage, an appliance repair business needs to bill about $118.60 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Appliance Technician pay in Illinois, bottom to top
BLS files these as home appliance repairers: the techs who repair, adjust and install electric and gas household appliances such as refrigerators, washers, dryers and ovens.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $18.09 | $37,630 | $17.40 |
| 25th percentile | $23.16 | $48,170 | $21.05 |
| Median | $27.34 | $56,860 | $24.51 |
| 75th percentile | $31.91 | $66,380 | $30.47 |
| 90th percentile | $37.68 | $78,370 | $38.78 |
| Average (mean) | $28.23 | $58,710 | $26.94 |
From the bottom tenth ($18.09) to the top tenth ($37.68), the top of the scale pays about 2.1 times the bottom in Illinois, close to the 2.2 times spread for appliance technicians nationwide.
The floor is higher than nationally ($18.09 against $17.40) but the ceiling is lower ($37.68 against $38.78), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average, $28.23, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Illinois compares with other states
Over a full year, the Illinois median of $56,860 is $5,870 more than the national $50,990.
In the state ranking, Illinois sits 13th, between Florida ($27.54) and New Jersey ($26.66). The range runs from $17.17 in West Virginia to $34.02 in Massachusetts.
Illinois pays appliance technicians more than any of its neighboring states, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin. Someone working near the border can earn more by taking work on this side of it.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Illinois. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
How many appliance technicians work in Illinois
BLS estimates 1,730 appliance technicians on payrolls in Illinois, 5.4% of the 32,150 nationwide. Only 4 states have more.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 0.3 of every 1,000 jobs in Illinois, 1.4 times the national share.
What an appliance repair business in Illinois should charge
Higher wages in Illinois go straight into the price. Take an appliance repair business in Illinois paying the state median of $27.34 and run it through the labor rate calculator with its starting numbers (40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit).
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $27.34 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $61,218 |
| Break-even rate | ($61,218 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $100.81 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $100.81 ÷ 0.85 | $118.60 |
That is $118.60 per billable hour, 4.3 times the wage, and $4.97 more than the $113.63 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $31.91 in Illinois, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $126.63.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $23.16, the rate only drops to $111.26.
Overhead, at $60 of every billed hour, and the unbilled hours move this rate more than a raise does. A dollar more in wages adds about $1.76 to the rate.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as an appliance technician in Illinois
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how appliance repair shops run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 49-9031, home appliance repairers, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: appliance technician salary by state.