Top Metros for Home Appliance Repairers in 2026: New York Leads, Smaller Markets Pay Far More

Across the United States, home appliance repairers have a national median annual salary of $50,990 and national employment of 32,150 jobs. National employment for this occupation is projected to grow by 2.6%, which provides a broad occupational context rather than a metro-by-metro forecast. Within that national picture, the ten top-ranked metros highlight distinct tradeoffs between higher pay, larger local job counts, and overall LaborCove Geography Scores. Some metros combine relatively high salaries with comparatively larger employment counts, while others reach the top of the rankings with small employment totals but very high pay. LaborCove’s Geography Scores and rankings synthesize these metrics into a single view of how each metro ranks for this occupation. Because the score is composite, the highest-paying metros do not always hold the top Geography Score or the highest rank in the list, and larger employment markets do not automatically appear at the very top either.

The national median annual salary for home appliance repairers is $50,990, while every one of the top ten metros has a median salary above that benchmark. Among these, Trenton-Princeton, NJ reports a median salary of $86,940 and Barnstable Town, MA reports $85,260, both well above the national median. On the employment side, national employment is 32,150, so each metro in the top ten represents a relatively small share of the national total. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ has an employment count of 2,560, which is the largest market among the ten listed metros, while Trenton-Princeton, NJ and Barnstable Town, MA each have 40 jobs in the data. Because LaborCove’s national projected growth rate of 2.6% is an occupation-wide figure, it should be viewed as context for the role across the country rather than as a projection for any single metro in the ranking.

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ ranks #1 with a Geography Score of 74.86, a median salary of $65,190, and employment of 2,560. That employment total is the largest among the top ten metros and is also substantially larger than the 960 jobs reported in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, the next-largest market in the list. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN ranks #2 with a Geography Score of 52.81, a median salary of $59,750, and employment of 1,430. Chicago’s employment count is smaller than New York’s 2,560 but larger than Los Angeles’s 960, placing it between those two metros on this specific measure. Both New York and Chicago sit above the national median salary of $50,990, but they do not have the highest pay levels in the top ten. Several smaller markets, including Trenton-Princeton, NJ at $86,940 and Barnstable Town, MA at $85,260, report higher median salaries despite much smaller employment counts.

Trenton-Princeton, NJ ranks #3 with a Geography Score of 52.35, a median salary of $86,940, and employment of 40. Barnstable Town, MA ranks #4 with a Geography Score of 51.79, a median salary of $85,260, and employment of 40. Both metros combine very high median pay relative to the national median of $50,990 with the smallest employment counts reported in the top ten. Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI also fits this pattern. It ranks #8 with a Geography Score of 46.17, a median salary of $81,740, and employment of 60. Anchorage, AK ranks #9 with a Geography Score of 45.38, a median salary of $75,650, and employment of 60. In both cases, median salaries are well above the national benchmark, while employment counts remain well below those of New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles. These metros illustrate that very high salaries for home appliance repairers can appear in markets with relatively small employment totals, and they also show that strong pay alone does not guarantee the very top Geography Score or ranking in LaborCove’s results.

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC ranks #5 with a Geography Score of 50.20, a median salary of $81,000, and employment of 320. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH ranks #7 with a Geography Score of 48.22, a median salary of $69,610, and employment of 380. Both metros sit in the middle of the top ten on employment, with more jobs than Trenton-Princeton, NJ or Barnstable Town, MA but fewer than New York or Chicago. In salary terms, Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk’s $81,000 median is higher than Boston-Cambridge-Newton’s $69,610, and both are above the national median of $50,990. Yet Boston’s Geography Score of 48.22 is only modestly below Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk’s 50.20, underscoring that the ranking reflects more than salary levels alone. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA ranks #10 with a Geography Score of 45.31, a median salary of $64,220, and employment of 250. Its employment count is smaller than Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk’s 320 and Boston’s 380, even though its median salary of $64,220 is higher than the $59,750 observed in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN.

The top of the ranking demonstrates how LaborCove’s Geography Score can elevate metros that do not lead on every metric. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ holds the #1 rank with a Geography Score of 74.86, even though its median salary of $65,190 is lower than Trenton-Princeton, NJ at $86,940, Barnstable Town, MA at $85,260, and Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI at $81,740. New York’s employment count of 2,560, however, is larger than that of any other metro in the top ten. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN ranks #2 with a Geography Score of 52.81 and a median salary of $59,750. Trenton-Princeton, NJ ranks #3 with a slightly lower Geography Score of 52.35 but a higher median salary of $86,940. Barnstable Town, MA ranks #4 with a Geography Score of 51.79 and median salary of $85,260, and Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC ranks #5 with a Geography Score of 50.20 and median salary of $81,000. For home appliance repairers using this data, the contrast between rankings, salaries, and employment counts highlights the value of looking at all three metrics together. A metro can rank higher overall while having lower pay than another metro with a smaller employment count, and salary levels above the national median do not automatically translate into a higher Geography Score or a higher position in LaborCove’s top ten list.

LaborCove builds its metro rankings for home appliance repairers using authoritative labor-market data combined with its proprietary LaborCove Geography Score. For each metro, the dataset includes median annual salary, employment count, and a Geography Score that supports the overall ranking. The Geography Score is a composite indicator produced by LaborCove. While salary and employment are among the inputs, the exact weight of each factor is not disclosed in this evidence. As a result, differences in score and rank should be interpreted as numerical outcomes of the scoring model, not as direct proofs that one specific metric alone caused a metro to place higher or lower. These rankings are best used as structured input to career decisions. Individual priorities such as preferred region, non-wage benefits, or personal circumstances may matter more than small differences in salary, employment counts, or Geography Scores. The national projected employment growth rate of 2.6% applies to the occupation overall and is not a forecast for any specific state or metro area.