How Much Does It Cost to Repair or Replace Your Water Heater?

By Matt Schmitz

May 26, 2021

The average lifespan of a water heater is somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 years, which seems like an eternity until that day comes when you suddenly find yourself mid-shower without hot water. Where does the time go? The deceptive nature of having too much time to plan for the worst has left you with soap in your eyes and chill down your spine, a malfunctioning or possibly kaput water heater — and no earthly idea of whether you need to repair it or replace it nor what it’s gonna cost to do either.

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Getting a precise answer to that question hinges on a number of variables that you literally can’t even with right now, and you’re not exactly in the position to make a bunch of phone calls to compare contractor quotes. Calm down and towel off. We’ve got you.

To help you get at least a ballpark idea of what you should expect to pay before you start calling around for estimates, HomeServe has calculated the average costs for water heater repair and replacement nationally and state by state for comparison. Remember, whomever you hire to come and address your issue will almost certainly charge you a fee just to come out and diagnose the problem, so we’ve calculated that average as well.

For a closer look at what factors into the price to replace your water heater, check out our state-by-state replacement cost guide. Likewise, for more specifics on repair prices, go to our state-by-state repair cost guide.

But for our purposes here — to get you an immediate idea of the cold, hard cash you’ll have to drop in order to resume your warm, soothing shower — consult our quick reference guide below. There you’ll find what the average cost for water heater repair and replacement is in your state and how it compares to the national average.

All figures are based on aggregated HomeServe data reported by our network of thousands of contractors across the nation. Where insufficient data was available to determine a verifiable average, we’ve noted so. Also note that HomeServe water heater data should generally be assumed to refer to conventional “tanked” models — the most common type — as opposed to tankless or “on-demand” models, which can cost roughly twice as much.

Nationwide

Diagnosis: $99
Repair: $493
Replace: $1,741

State by State

1. Alabama

Diagnosis: $87
Repair: $405
Replace: $1,402

2. Alaska

Diagnosis: Insufficient data
Repair: Insufficient data
Replace: Insufficient data

3. Arizona

Diagnosis: Insufficient data
Repair: Insufficient data
Replace: Insufficient data

4. Arkansas

Diagnosis: $78
Repair: $318
Replace: $1,509

5. California

Diagnosis: $71
Repair: $340
Replace: $1,589

6. Colorado

Diagnosis: $92
Repair: $283
Replace: $1,535

7. Connecticut

Diagnosis: $59
Repair: $509
Replace: $1,590

8. Delaware

Diagnosis: $74
Repair: $319
Replace: $1,552

9. District of Columbia

Diagnosis: $87
Repair: $398
Replace: $1,468

10. Florida

Diagnosis: $102
Repair: $494
Replace: $1,469

11. Georgia

Diagnosis: $91
Repair: $351
Replace: $1,372

12. Hawaii

Diagnosis: Insufficient data
Repair: Insufficient data
Replace: Insufficient data

13. Idaho

Diagnosis: $87
Repair: $454
Replace: $1,942

14. Illinois

Diagnosis: $87
Repair: $357
Replace: $1,452

15. Indiana

Diagnosis: $82
Repair: $290
Replace: $1,424

16. Iowa

Diagnosis: $85
Repair: $261
Replace: $1,520

17. Kansas

Diagnosis: $84
Repair: $263
Replace: $1,488

18. Kentucky

Diagnosis: $88
Repair: $310
Replace: $1,345

19. Louisiana

Diagnosis: $87
Repair: $278
Replace: $1,496

20. Maine

Diagnosis: Insufficient data
Repair: Insufficient data
Replace: Insufficient data

21. Maryland

Diagnosis: $84
Repair: $466
Replace: $1,424

22. Massachusetts

Diagnosis: $69
Repair: $439
Replace: $1,669

23. Michigan

Diagnosis: $82
Repair: $236
Replace: $1,464

24. Minnesota

Diagnosis: $84
Repair: $339
Replace: $1,524

25. Mississippi

Diagnosis: $80
Repair: $246
Replace: $1,443

26. Missouri

Diagnosis: $83
Repair: $332
Replace: $1,428

27. Montana

Diagnosis: $94
Repair: $310
Replace: $1,579

28. Nebraska

Diagnosis: $92
Repair: $274
Replace: $1,439

29. Nevada

Diagnosis: $59
Repair: $197
Replace: $1,421

30. New Hampshire

Diagnosis: Insufficient data
Repair: $468
Replace: $1,968

31. New Jersey

Diagnosis: $64
Repair: $333
Replace: $1,479

32. New Mexico

Diagnosis: $74
Repair: $484
Replace: $1,438

33. New York

Diagnosis: $84
Repair: $310
Replace: $1,521

34. North Carolina

Diagnosis: $89
Repair: $364
Replace: $1,686

35. North Dakota

Diagnosis: $102
Repair: $288
Replace: $1,611

36. Ohio

Diagnosis: $88
Repair: $567
Replace: $1,558

37. Oklahoma

Diagnosis: $89
Repair: $343
Replace: $1,453

38. Oregon

Diagnosis: $104
Repair: $386
Replace: $1,439

39. Pennsylvania

Diagnosis: $76
Repair: $515
Replace: $1,459

40. Rhode Island

Diagnosis: $81
Repair: Insufficient data
Replace: Insufficient data

41. South Carolina

Diagnosis: $84
Repair: $295
Replace: $1,556

42. South Dakota

Diagnosis: $94
Repair: $283
Replace: $1,577

43. Tennessee

Diagnosis: $82
Repair: $398
Replace: $1,603

44. Texas

Diagnosis: $88
Repair: $325
Replace: $1,564

45. Utah

Diagnosis: $76
Repair: $360
Replace: $1,590

46. Vermont

Diagnosis: Insufficient data
Repair: Insufficient data
Replace: Insufficient data

47. Virginia

Diagnosis: $84
Repair: $295
Replace: $1,592

48. Washington

Diagnosis: $89
Repair: $261
Replace: $1,626

49. West Virginia

Diagnosis: $81
Repair: $393
Replace: $1,423

50. Wisconsin

Diagnosis: $81
Repair: $326
Replace: $1,438

51. Wyoming

Diagnosis: Insufficient data
Repair: $317
Replace: $1,588

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