America’s Most Reliable Appliance Brand Keeps Its Title

Advertising Disclosure: When you buy something by clicking links on our site, we may earn a small commission, but it never affects the products or services we recommend.

Woman in front of clothes dryer
aslysun / Shutterstock.com

You might not have heard of it, but America’s most reliable appliance maker is no surprise, according to new rankings from Consumer Reports.

Speed Queen took top honors in the publication’s latest Appliance Brand Reliability Rankings. Speed Queen also has taken the top spot for reliability multiple times in the past.

On the other hand, you might want to steer clear of Viking. It finished dead last out of 29 brands in this year’s rankings.

The only drawback to purchasing a Speed Queen unit is the fact that the company makes washing machines and dryers only. So, if you are looking for another type of appliance, you will have to look to another brand.

In compiling its list, Consumer Reports looked at data collected from its members on more than 669,500 kitchen and laundry appliances purchased new between 2011 and 2021.

The publication continues:

“To calculate predicted reliability, we ask members how many times their appliances broke or stopped working as well as they should. We use that data to estimate how a given brand’s new models will hold up over the first five years of use.”

CR ranked each brand based on an average of how consumers rated all the appliances made by that company.

The publication also gave each appliance brand an “average predicted reliability score” on a scale from 1 to 100. The scores are adjusted to account for differences among different types of appliances.

The most reliable brands are as follows:

  • Speed Queen — average predicted reliability score of 88 out of 100
  • LG — 76
  • Roper — 74

The least reliable brand, Viking, earns just a 32 for reliability.

Consumer Reports emphasizes that reliability is different from performance. As CR writes, you will want to “check our full appliance ratings to find a specific model that performs well in our rigorous lab tests.”

Looking for more tips on how to shop for the right appliances? Check out “7 Small Appliances You Don’t Need — and What to Use Instead.”

Get smarter with your money!

Want the best money-news and tips to help you make more and spend less? Then sign up for the free Money Talks Newsletter to receive daily updates of personal finance news and advice, delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for our free newsletter today.