- The middle half earn between $14.18 and $20.28 an hour.
- West Virginia is 50th of the 50 states with published figures, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- West Virginia pays less than all 5 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 80 appliance technicians on payrolls in West Virginia.
- At the state median wage, an appliance repair business needs to bill about $100.74 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Appliance Technician pay in West Virginia, 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 | $14.18 | $29,490 | $17.40 |
| 25th percentile | $14.18 | $29,490 | $21.05 |
| Median | $17.17 | $35,720 | $24.51 |
| 75th percentile | $20.28 | $42,180 | $30.47 |
| 90th percentile | $21.84 | $45,430 | $38.78 |
| Average (mean) | $17.72 | $36,860 | $26.94 |
Pay is bunched up in West Virginia. The top tenth earn $21.84 an hour or more, about 1.5 times the $14.18 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.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $3.22 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $16.94 less than the national top tenth.
The average, $17.72, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How West Virginia compares with other states
Over a full year, the West Virginia median of $35,720 is $15,270 less than the national $50,990.
Every other state with published figures pays at least as much. The next lowest is Mississippi at $17.25; the highest is Massachusetts at $34.02.
Every one of the neighboring states pays appliance technicians more than West Virginia. The closest is Ohio at $22.74, and the biggest gap is with Virginia.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against West Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | $17.17 | $35,720 | |
| Kentucky | $23.90 | $49,710 | +$6.73 an hour |
| Maryland | $27.82 | $57,860 | +$10.65 an hour |
| Ohio | $22.74 | $47,300 | +$5.57 an hour |
| Pennsylvania | $25.00 | $51,990 | +$7.83 an hour |
| Virginia | $28.76 | $59,820 | +$11.59 an hour |
How many appliance technicians work in West Virginia
West Virginia has one of the smaller workforces in the trade: 80 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, 0.58 times the national share.
What an appliance repair business in West Virginia should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is an appliance repair business in West Virginia paying the state median of $17.17, on the labor rate calculator's 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 | $17.17 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $38,446 |
| Break-even rate | ($38,446 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $85.63 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $85.63 ÷ 0.85 | $100.74 |
That is $100.74 per billable hour, 5.9 times the wage, and $12.89 less than the $113.63 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $20.28 in West Virginia, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $106.20.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $14.18, the rate only drops to $95.49.
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 West Virginia
- 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.