- The middle half earn between $23.48 and $30.51 an hour.
- Only 9 states pay appliance technicians more at the median.
- Washington pays more than both neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 800 appliance technicians on payrolls in Washington.
- At the state median wage, an appliance repair business needs to bill about $119.66 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Appliance Technician pay in Washington, 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 | $20.79 | $43,250 | $17.40 |
| 25th percentile | $23.48 | $48,840 | $21.05 |
| Median | $27.94 | $58,110 | $24.51 |
| 75th percentile | $30.51 | $63,470 | $30.47 |
| 90th percentile | $32.81 | $68,230 | $38.78 |
| Average (mean) | $27.36 | $56,920 | $26.94 |
Pay is bunched up in Washington. The top tenth earn $32.81 an hour or more, about 1.6 times the $20.79 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 ($20.79 against $17.40) but the ceiling is lower ($32.81 against $38.78), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average wage ($27.36) is a little under the median, so the low end of the range stretches further than the high end in Washington.
How Washington compares with other states
Over a full year, the Washington median of $58,110 is $7,120 more than the national $50,990.
In the state ranking, Washington sits 10th, between Hawaii ($28.03) and Maryland ($27.82). The range runs from $17.17 in West Virginia to $34.02 in Massachusetts.
Washington pays appliance technicians more than any of its neighboring states, Idaho and Oregon. 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 Washington. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
How many appliance technicians work in Washington
About 800 appliance technicians work on payrolls in Washington, 2.5% of the 32,150 nationwide, the 14th largest count among the states.
That is 0.2 of every 1,000 jobs in Washington, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What an appliance repair business in Washington should charge
Higher wages in Washington go straight into the price. Take an appliance repair business in Washington paying the state median of $27.94 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 | $27.94 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $62,561 |
| Break-even rate | ($62,561 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $101.71 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $101.71 ÷ 0.85 | $119.66 |
That is $119.66 per billable hour, 4.3 times the wage, and $6.02 more than the $113.63 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $30.51 in Washington, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $124.17.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $23.48, the rate only drops to $111.82.
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 Washington
- 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.