Appliance Repair Cost by Part: 46 Components, 29,315 Repairs
Almost every appliance repair costs between $310 and $480, whatever the part turns out to be. That is the single most useful thing in this page and it contradicts how repair costs are usually published. Parts-price lists tell you a drain pump costs $60 and a control board costs $200, which implies the board job should cost three times the pump job. It does not — across 29,315 completed repairs the two land within $80 of each other, because a repair bill is mostly the technician’s time and the visit. Below is what each component actually costs to replace, by appliance, with the number of jobs behind every figure.
Refrigerator
The largest category we service and the only one where two components break out of the normal band.
| Component replaced | Median | Middle half | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hose or supply line | $368 | $285–467 | 83 |
| Thermostat or temperature sensor | $375 | $327–470 | 108 |
| Defrost heater or timer | $380 | $315–470 | 283 |
| Dispenser assembly | $399 | $337–500 | 188 |
| Water filter housing | $400 | $333–508 | 73 |
| Water inlet valve | $402 | $333–518 | 73 |
| Evaporator or condenser fan | $408 | $347–508 | 181 |
| Door gasket or seal | $412 | $349–580 | 68 |
| Ice maker module | $475 | $430–597 | 23 |
| Compressor | $550 | $353–1,200 | 167 |
| Control board | $563 | $425–696 | 116 |
| All refrigerator repairs | $391 | $317–500 | 5,180 |
Note the compressor row, and specifically its middle half: $353 to $1,200. That is by far the widest distribution of any component on this page — the next widest is barely a third as broad. A compressor job can be a straightforward replacement on an accessible unit or a sealed-system rebuild on a built-in, and the quote depends entirely on which one you have. It is also the diagnosis that ends the most appliances: half the households told they need one decline the repair, as set out in our decline rate report.
Washing machine
| Component replaced | Median | Middle half | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drive belt | $325 | $283–388 | 34 |
| Water inlet valve | $360 | $330–437 | 84 |
| Drain pump | $365 | $328–424 | 105 |
| Detergent dispenser | $367 | $280–487 | 15 |
| Hose or supply line | $367 | $273–462 | 36 |
| Shock absorbers or suspension | $368 | $334–401 | 170 |
| Door latch or lid switch | $375 | $306–437 | 61 |
| Drive motor | $382 | $345–438 | 45 |
| Door boot seal | $415 | $340–508 | 63 |
| Control board | $443 | $370–547 | 94 |
| All washing machine repairs | $365 | $307–432 | 2,710 |
Eight of the ten components sit between $360 and $382 — a $22 band across parts as different as a rubber hose and a drive motor. If a washing machine quote lands far outside $307 to $432, the reason is worth asking about, and it is usually either a control board or a second fault found during the visit.
Dishwasher
| Component replaced | Median | Middle half | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Door latch or switch | $317 | $289–344 | 17 |
| Hose or supply line | $322 | $276–351 | 29 |
| Door gasket or seal | $325 | $275–395 | 33 |
| Drain pump | $336 | $296–380 | 89 |
| Water inlet valve | $340 | $304–400 | 23 |
| Heating element | $350 | $291–477 | 25 |
| Drive motor | $362 | $316–428 | 41 |
| Control board | $365 | $305–439 | 57 |
| Circulation or wash motor | $375 | $331–448 | 40 |
| All dishwasher repairs | $329 | $272–399 | 1,914 |
The flattest table on the page. Nine components, $58 between the cheapest and the dearest. On a dishwasher the diagnosis barely moves the price at all — which is worth knowing before agreeing to an exploratory repair, because there is no cheap outcome to hope for and no expensive one to fear.
Dryer
| Component replaced | Median | Middle half | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Door latch or switch | $324 | $230–350 | 15 |
| Drive belt | $324 | $286–380 | 75 |
| Drum rollers or idler | $334 | $280–429 | 56 |
| Switch, knob or touchpad | $335 | $295–372 | 37 |
| Heating element | $346 | $305–404 | 102 |
| Thermostat or high-limit | $363 | $319–414 | 39 |
| Control board | $479 | $369–592 | 24 |
| All dryer repairs | $348 | $295–408 | 1,305 |
Oven and range
| Component replaced | Median | Middle half | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switch, knob or touchpad | $311 | $277–437 | 28 |
| Bake or broil element | $315 | $284–416 | 47 |
| Igniter (gas) | $350 | $305–434 | 153 |
| Thermostat or temperature sensor | $420 | $300–570 | 33 |
| Control board | $461 | $391–546 | 73 |
| All oven and range repairs | $365 | $296–466 | 1,280 |
The gas igniter is the most-replaced single component in our entire records, at 153 replacements on this table alone. It is also the classic case of a part that costs little and a job that does not: reaching it means pulling the oven floor and sometimes the burner assembly.
Freezer
| Component replaced | Median | Middle half | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defrost heater or timer | $331 | $285–462 | 24 |
| All freezer repairs | $375 | $295–492 | 264 |
Only one freezer component clears our minimum of fifteen jobs, so this is the shortest table here. We report it rather than padding it out with figures resting on six or eight repairs.
Three patterns worth taking away
The control board is the most expensive routine repair on every appliance, and never the most common. Refrigerator $563, dryer $479, oven $461, washer $443, dishwasher $365 — top of its table every time. Yet on refrigerators a defrost heater is replaced more than twice as often as a board, and on dryers a heating element more than four times as often. If a quote names a board, the cheaper suspects should have been ruled out first, and it is reasonable to ask which ones were.
Part price does not predict job price. The clearest demonstration on this page is the dishwasher: a door latch and a circulation motor are parts of wildly different cost, and the two jobs land $58 apart. Any repair estimate built by looking up a part online will be wrong by a factor of two or three, in the direction of too low.
One component behaves completely differently from the rest. The refrigerator compressor spans $353 to $1,200 across its middle half while everything else on the page fits in bands of a few hundred dollars. It is the only diagnosis where the answer to “what will this cost” is genuinely “it depends”, and the only one where waiting for the number before deciding is the right move.
Key figures, stated for citation
- 44 of 46 priced components fall between $310 and $480 at the median, across 29,315 completed repairs — the exceptions are the refrigerator compressor and control board.
- $317 to $563 is the full range from the cheapest component median (dishwasher door latch) to the dearest (refrigerator control board) — a spread of only 1.8×.
- The control board is the most expensive routine repair on every appliance: refrigerator $563, dryer $479, oven and range $461, washer $443, dishwasher $365.
- Nine dishwasher components span just $58, from a $317 door latch to a $375 circulation motor.
- The refrigerator compressor is the only component with a wide distribution, spanning $353 to $1,200 across its middle half, against a $550 median.
- The gas oven igniter is the most-replaced single component in our records, at a $350 median.
- Median repair by appliance: refrigerator $391, oven and range $365, washing machine $365, freezer $375, dryer $348, dishwasher $329.
- A visit where nothing needs replacing is $99, and that $99 is applied to the repair when the customer approves it.
Source: Bozmanfix, "Appliance Repair Cost by Part: 46 Components Across 29,315 Repairs" — https://bozmanfix.com/appliance-repair-parts-cost/Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to replace an appliance control board?
Between $365 and $563 at the median depending on the appliance: refrigerator $563, dryer $479, oven and range $461, washing machine $443, dishwasher $365. Those figures include the part, the labour and the service call together. The board is the most expensive routine repair on every appliance we service, and on none of them is it the most common — cheaper components should be ruled out first.
Why is my repair quote so much higher than the price of the part?
Because the part is usually the smaller half of the bill. A repair is mostly the technician’s time — diagnosing, accessing the component, replacing it, testing — plus the visit itself. That is why a dishwasher door latch and a dishwasher circulation motor, parts that differ enormously in price, produce jobs $58 apart at $317 and $375. Any estimate built from an online parts price will be low by a factor of two or three.
What is the most expensive appliance repair?
The refrigerator compressor, and it is the only component that behaves unlike the rest. Its median is $550 but the middle half of jobs spans $353 to $1,200, depending on whether it is an accessible replacement or a sealed-system job on a built-in. Every other component on this page fits inside a band of a few hundred dollars. The refrigerator control board is next at $563 median but with a much narrower $425 to $696 spread.
What is the cheapest appliance repair?
A dishwasher door latch at a $317 median, followed by a dishwasher hose or supply line at $322 and a dishwasher door gasket at $325. Dishwashers are the cheapest appliance to repair overall at a $329 median. The floor is not much below $300 because the service call and a minimum block of labour are in every job.
How much does a washing machine repair cost?
A median of $365, with the middle half of jobs between $307 and $432. By component, eight of ten sit between $360 and $382 — drain pump $365, suspension $368, door latch $375, drive motor $382. The two outside that band are a drive belt at $325 and a control board at $443.
How much does a refrigerator repair cost?
A median of $391, middle half $317 to $500. Most components cluster between $368 and $412 — defrost heater $380, evaporator fan $408, water inlet valve $402, door gasket $412. Two break away: the compressor at $550 and the control board at $563.
Do you charge if nothing needs replacing?
The $99 diagnostic and nothing more. You keep the diagnosis — which component is failing or why the appliance behaves as it does — and if you approve a repair, that $99 comes off the price. Roughly a third of the households we visit end up buying the diagnosis rather than the repair, which is a reasonable thing to buy at a fixed price.
Why do these numbers differ from other repair cost pages?
Because of what is counted. This page includes only visits where a part was actually replaced, so the medians are true repair costs. Pages reporting an all-visit median include jobs where nothing was replaced and therefore come out lower. Published third-party ranges usually quote part prices without labour or a service call. We state the denominator on every page for exactly this reason, and figures should be quoted with the one they belong to.
Can I use these numbers in my own article or report?
Yes. Quote any figure with a link back so readers can check the methodology and the sample size behind it. If you need a component or an appliance we have not published because it fell below our fifteen-job threshold, write to us and we will tell you whether the data supports an answer rather than estimating one.
Got a quote and want to know if it is normal?
Every figure above came from a real completed job. If you want a second diagnosis on your own machine, ours is $99 and it comes off the repair when you approve it — including the honest answer that the first quote was fair.