- The middle half earn between $24.12 and $30.74 an hour.
- Rhode Island ranks 23rd of the 50 states with published figures for median pay in this trade.
- Rhode Island pays less than both neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 60 appliance technicians on payrolls in Rhode Island.
- At the state median wage, an appliance repair business needs to bill about $112.95 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Appliance Technician pay in Rhode Island, 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 | $21.33 | $44,370 | $17.40 |
| 25th percentile | $24.12 | $50,170 | $21.05 |
| Median | $24.12 | $50,170 | $24.51 |
| 75th percentile | $30.74 | $63,950 | $30.47 |
| 90th percentile | $34.73 | $72,240 | $38.78 |
| Average (mean) | $26.59 | $55,300 | $26.94 |
Pay is bunched up in Rhode Island. The top tenth earn $34.73 an hour or more, about 1.6 times the $21.33 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.2 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
The floor is higher than nationally ($21.33 against $17.40) but the ceiling is lower ($34.73 against $38.78), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average wage, $26.59, sits 10% above the median. A smaller group of higher earners pulls the average up, so the median is the better guide to what a typical appliance technician makes.
How Rhode Island compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $50,170 in Rhode Island against $50,990 nationally, $820 less.
In the state ranking, Rhode Island sits 23rd, between Alabama ($24.13) and Kentucky ($23.90). The range runs from $17.17 in West Virginia to $34.02 in Massachusetts.
Every one of the neighboring states pays appliance technicians more than Rhode Island. The closest is Connecticut at $29.99, and the biggest gap is with Massachusetts.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Rhode Island |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island | $24.12 | $50,170 | |
| Connecticut | $29.99 | $62,380 | +$5.87 an hour |
| Massachusetts | $34.02 | $70,750 | +$9.90 an hour |
How many appliance technicians work in Rhode Island
Rhode Island has one of the smaller workforces in the trade: 60 appliance technicians on payrolls, 0.2% of the 32,150 nationwide.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 0.1 per 1,000 jobs, 0.54 times the national share.
What an appliance repair business in Rhode Island should charge
Say you run an appliance repair business in Rhode Island and pay the state median of $24.12 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on 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 | $24.12 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $54,008 |
| Break-even rate | ($54,008 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $96.01 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $96.01 ÷ 0.85 | $112.95 |
That is $112.95 per billable hour, 4.7 times the wage, and almost the same as the $113.63 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $30.74 in Rhode Island, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $124.57.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $24.12, the rate only drops to $112.95.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as an appliance technician in Rhode Island
- 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.