Dealing with appliance repairs or replacements is a matter of “when,” not “if.” Even with proper maintenance, it’s common for issues to crop up with appliances. Some problems are fairly easy to resolve with new parts, while others may require you to replace the appliance in its entirety.
To get a comprehensive picture of how much Americans are spending on appliance repairs, the Forbes Home team conducted a new survey in partnership with Talker Research. With 2,000 respondents, the findings paint an interesting picture of how much Americans are pouring into repairs for refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and other appliances—with 94% of homeowners reporting at least one issue from the past five years.
In many of these cases, a home warranty plan can cover repair costs, but only 4% of homeowners have a home warranty. Based on how much the typical American homeowner spends on appliance repairs, there is a strong case for looking into the best home warranty companies.
The Most and Least Reliable Appliances in 2025
94% of homeowners had to repair or replace a major appliance in the last five years.
During the last five years, only 6% of respondents said they didn’t have to repair or replace a major appliance—making them the very lucky minority. Conversely, 94% of homeowners faced some kind of emergency issue with appliances ranging from laundry machines to built-in microwaves to air conditioning units to sump pumps.
The top two most reliable major appliances are ovens and heaters.
When it comes to the reliability of appliances, not all are created equally. According to our national survey, homeowners have encountered fewer issues with their ovens and heaters than any other major appliances. However, even with comparatively reliable ovens and heaters, 30% of people have needed repair or replacement services within the past five years.
The top two least reliable major appliances are laundry machines and air conditioners.
In a five-year period, nearly half of the homeowners we surveyed said they needed to repair or replace a laundry machine and/or their air conditioner. Specifically, 47% of people experienced laundry machine issues while 46% said the same for their air conditioners. Those findings caused laundry machines and air conditioners to land at the bottom of our appliance reliability list.
The Cost of Repairing and Replacing Appliances
Over the last five years, homeowners spent over $2,800 on average, to repair and replace appliances.
In addition to other home maintenance and repair costs, our survey found the average homeowner spent more than $2,874.40 on appliance repairs or replacements within the past five years. On the higher end, 4% of respondents spent more than $10,000 while 48% spent less than $2,000.
Millennial homeowners are spending the most on individual appliance repairs and replacements.
Based on our survey findings, Millennial homeowners drew the short stick when it came to appliance repair or replacement costs. On average, Millennials spent $725 on repair costs for their least reliable appliances and $778.90 on replacement costs for their last reliable appliances. Also, Millennials spent an average of $71.80 more than Gen-Z, the generation that spent the second most on repairs.
Meanwhile, Baby Boomers experienced the lowest repair costs for their least reliable appliances at an average of $516.30. With an average of $558.40, the Silent Generation spent the least to replace low-reliability appliances—only slightly less than Baby Boomers.
Smart home appliances are more expensive to repair and replace than traditional appliances.
For all of their benefits, the statistics show that smart home appliances hurt wallets more when they need to be repaired or replaced. According to our survey, 22% of respondents found it to be much more expensive and 44% found it to be somewhat more expensive to repair or replace smart home appliances, compared to non-smart appliances.
Smart appliances have to be replaced less often, according to respondents.
Despite the majority of people reporting that smart appliances cost more to repair or replace, only 17% of homeowners with smart appliances said they had to repair them “more often” than non-smart appliances.
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Is a Home Warranty Worth It?
82% of home warranty policyholders recommend them to new homeowners, but only 4% of homeowners have them.
Home warranty plans can provide repair or replacement cost coverage for home appliances and systems. For example, with a home warranty plan that covers appliances, a customer would pay a monthly rate. If their dishwasher broke one day, they could pay a small service fee while the remainder of the repair or replacement costs could be covered.
Among home warranty policyholders surveyed by Forbes Home, 84% were satisfied with their plans and 82% would recommend a policy to others. Yet, our research has also shown that only 4% of homeowners nationwide have home warranty plans.
Home warranty policies helped homeowners save $881.60 per appliance replacement.
When questioning is a home warranty worth it, consider this: When faced with having to replace an unreliable appliance, home warranty policyholders reported average savings of $881.60. According to our survey, 27% of policyholders saved more than $1,000 for an individual appliance replacement cost.
Homeowners also saved $338.70 per appliance repair on average with the help of their home warranty policies.
Home warranty policyholders who needed to repair an appliance reported average savings of $338.70—and 32% of respondents reported saving more than $400 per repair.
Home warranties are saving Millennials and Gen-Z over $1,000 on appliance replacements.
Among Americans with home warranties, those in the Millennial and Gen-Z generations saved the most on appliance replacements. On average, Millennials saved $1,046.70 with their home warranty plan per unreliable appliance replacement while Gen-Zers saved $1,050.50.
Considering 41% of Gen-Z and 30% of Millennials said the main reason they got a home warranty plan was “to save money,” the amount they saved in appliance replacements suggests their intentions paid off.
Millennials and Gen-Z respondents were less likely to understand the benefits of a home warranty.
There are still some misconceptions and self-described knowledge gaps among many people when it comes to home warranties. However, interestingly, the younger respondents were, the less likely they reported understanding the benefits of a home warranty: When asked why they have not purchased a home warranty, 38% of Gen-Z respondents and 23% of Millennial respondents said they do not understand the benefits (this response had the highest response rate of all generations). Conversely, only 9% of the Silent Generation and 12% of Baby Boomers said they don’t understand the benefits.
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How Homeowners Choose Reliable Appliances
Americans trust brand names more than their family recommendations when purchasing appliances.
When appliance shopping, 41% of people surveyed said they place greatest stock in the brand name to assess reliability. This figure was led by baby boomers (50%), The Silent Generation (48%) and Gen X (39%)—while Gen-Z (21%) was the most open-minded about exploring brands.
Gen-Z trusts social media reviews the most when choosing an appliance.
Regarding which sources they trust the most when determining appliance reliability, Gen-Z ranked social media reviews above all else with 32% of respondents from the generation saying this was the most important source to them.
It seems Baby Boomers are the most skeptical of social media reviews, with only 6% responding that this is their most valued source of information.
Millennials trust product page reviews the most when choosing an appliance.
Millennials, Baby Boomers and Gen-X seem to agree on one thing—with 38% of people from each generation saying they trust product page reviews the most when determining whether an appliance is reliable or not. This again tops these generations’ faith in family recommendations, traditional advertisements and even recommendations from professionals.
The Silent Generation trusts repair professionals the most when choosing an appliance.
Among the Silent Generation, 53% trusts repair professionals/companies the most when determining whether an appliance is reliable or not—making these recommendations the Silent Generation’s most trusted source. Confidence in professionals’ opinions increases with age, as Gen-Z trusts professionals the least, followed by Millennials, then Gen-X.
The Stress of Appliance Repair and Replacement
More than half of homeowners found appliance repair or replacements to be stressful.
There is really never a good time for appliances to break down. As a result, 68% of total homeowners said appliance repair or replacements caused them stress—with 19% saying it was “very stressful” while 36% said “somewhat stressful.” Only 10% said repairing or replacing an appliance was “very unstressful.”
75% of Gen-Z are stressed by appliance repairs and replacements, the highest of all generations.
Perhaps you can chalk it up to experience, but our research found that Americans are less stressed by appliance repairs or replacements as they age. 75% of Gen-Z found appliance repair and replacement to be very stressful or somewhat stressful. Those rates descended with each rising generation down to the low with only 33% the Silent Generation categorizing appliance repairs or replacements as stressful.
Conclusion
Homeownership and appliance maintenance go hand-in-hand with virtually every homeowner reporting some kind of appliance issue within the past five years. However, how those homeowners handle these issues can vary by generation. Among all people, home warranty plans seem to be underutilized, with only 4% of Americans having a plan, but 82% of home warranty policyholders recommending the service.
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Methodology
This online survey of 2,000 American homeowners, 1,000 of who have a home warranty and 1,000 of whom do not, was commissioned by Forbes Home and conducted by market research company Talker Research in accordance with the Market Research Society’s code of conduct. The margin of error is ± 2.2 point with 95% confidence. This survey was overseen by Talker Research, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).
