Auto Repair Industry Statistics 2026
How many technician, collision, service drive and parts openings are live right now, where they are, and what federal and industry data say about the people who keep the country’s vehicles on the road.
Every federal figure below names the BLS occupation it describes, and where BLS has no code for a role, such as service advisors, we show no figure or label the stand-in.
Live Auto Repair Openings
These numbers are AutoTechHires’s own: every active listing on the board, from employer career sites and direct postings.
Every other figure on this page comes from a federal agency, a trade or training body, or the named company.
| Role | Listings with hourly pay | Median posted low | Median posted high |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automotive Technicians | 1,717 | $24.00/hr | $40.00/hr |
| Tire Technicians | 1,078 | $16.00/hr | $18.00/hr |
| Lot Porters | 816 | $16.00/hr | $17.00/hr |
| Lube Technicians | 804 | $16.00/hr | $19.00/hr |
| Car Detailers | 400 | $16.00/hr | $18.00/hr |
| General Service Technicians | 299 | $16.00/hr | $20.00/hr |
| Auto Body Technicians | 215 | $22.00/hr | $30.00/hr |
| Parts Counter People | 213 | $18.00/hr | $22.00/hr |
| Master Technicians | 207 | $30.00/hr | $47.00/hr |
| Service Advisors | 134 | $18.00/hr | $20.00/hr |
| Service Managers | 132 | $18.00/hr | $22.00/hr |
| Paint Prep Technicians | 49 | $18.00/hr | $20.00/hr |
| Vehicle Safety Inspectors | 48 | $17.00/hr | $21.50/hr |
| Auto Glass Technicians | 47 | $26.00/hr | $32.00/hr |
| Transmission Technicians | 45 | $38.00/hr | $50.00/hr |
| Shop Foremen | 35 | $35.00/hr | $45.00/hr |
| Auto Painters | 35 | $20.00/hr | $25.00/hr |
| Collision Estimators | 33 | $25.00/hr | $30.00/hr |
| ADAS Calibration Technicians | 33 | $24.00/hr | $24.00/hr |
| Diagnostic Technicians | 28 | $25.00/hr | $35.50/hr |
| Fleet Technicians | 18 | $25.00/hr | $32.00/hr |
Roles with at least 15 hourly-pay listings are shown; each column is the median of the posted range’s low or high end.
Posted ranges are what employers advertise, which may leave out flat-rate production pay, spiffs and bonuses, not what workers earn, so they do not compare directly with the BLS wages below.
How to read these numbers.
This is a live sample of the openings AutoTechHires tracks, not a count of every auto repair job in the country.
Roles follow our job categories, not BLS occupations, and listings we cannot place in a state count only in the total.
If you cite them, include the date shown and link to this page.
How Big Is the Auto Repair Workforce?
BLS counts automotive technicians, body repairers, parts staff, tire and glass technicians in occupations of their own.
Painters, lube techs, detailers, paint prep techs, estimators and foremen sit in broader or stand-in occupations, each labelled with how well it fits.
Payroll counts leave out self-employed workers, while projection counts include them, and the two come from separate BLS programs.
| BLS occupation | Payroll jobs, May 2025 | Employment 2025 | Projected 2035 | Browse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics SOC 49-3023The BLS occupation for automotive technicians. Master, diagnostic, transmission, EV, fleet and smog techs have no codes of their own and are counted here too. | 704,640 | 825,800 | 866,700 | Automotive technician openings |
| Automotive Body and Related Repairers SOC 49-3021The BLS occupation for auto body and collision technicians. Frame, paintless dent repair and ADAS calibration techs are counted here too. | 149,310 | 163,200 | 169,300 | Auto body technician openings |
| Parts Salespersons SOC 41-2022The BLS occupation for parts counter staff at dealers and auto parts stores. Parts managers have no separate code. | 270,070 | 273,300 | 281,600 | Parts counter openings |
| Tire Repairers and Changers SOC 49-3093The BLS occupation for tire technicians, including truck tire work. | 108,410 | 112,200 | 116,000 | Tire technician openings |
| Automotive Glass Installers and Repairers SOC 49-3022The BLS occupation for auto glass technicians. | 20,310 | 22,600 | 23,900 | Auto glass openings |
| Other proxies and comparison occupations | ||||
| First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers SOC 49-1011The broader occupation that includes shop foremen. It covers supervisors in every repair trade, not only auto shops, and it is not a service manager figure. | 617,500 | 629,000 | 654,500 | Shop foreman openings |
| Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders SOC 51-9124A stand-in for auto painters only. BLS has had no separate auto painter code since 2018, and this occupation is mostly factory spray work, so it is not auto painter pay. | 158,740 | 164,800 | 168,900 | Auto painter openings |
| Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants SOC 53-6031The closest occupation for lube and oil change technicians. It also counts fuel-island and marina attendants. | 102,010 | 102,400 | 106,300 | Lube technician openings |
| Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment SOC 53-7061The broader occupation that includes car detailers. It also counts car wash attendants and equipment washers. | 380,430 | 419,500 | 435,800 | Car detailer openings |
| Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers SOC 49-9098A weak proxy for paint prep technicians and shop helpers: a catch-all for helpers in every repair trade. | 95,580 | 97,100 | 102,200 | Paint prep openings |
| Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage SOC 13-1032A bridge for collision estimators. These are mostly insurer-side appraisers, not body shop estimators, who have no BLS code. | 11,560 | 13,500 | 12,400 | Collision estimator openings |
Payroll jobs are BLS OEWS wage-and-salary estimates for all industries. Employment 2025 and 2035 are BLS Employment Projections figures, which also count the self-employed, so the 2025 projections base sits above the payroll count (14.6% of automotive service technicians and mechanics were self-employed in 2025). Every row describes the whole BLS occupation in all industries, not only auto shops.
BLS OEWS industry estimates, SOC 49-3023, payroll jobs. Largest industries only.
BLS OEWS state estimates, SOC 49-3023. Payroll employees only.
Roles BLS does not count on their own
- Service advisors. BLS has no service advisor or service writer occupation, so it publishes no count, wage or outlook for them, and none is shown here. Source
- Service managers and collision repair managers. BLS has no service manager or body shop manager occupation. The catch-all managers group they fall into covers every industry, so it is too broad to stand in for them, and no figure is shown here. Source
- Lot porters and shop owners. BLS has no lot porter occupation, and a shop owner's income is the shop's profit rather than a wage, so no figure is shown for either.
- Pay by vehicle brand. BLS publishes no technician pay by brand; the narrowest cut for franchised-dealer technicians is the automobile dealers industry row shown below. Source
Where BLS has no occupation for a role, we name the closest group and label it, or show no figure at all.
Sources: BLS OEWS May 2025, BLS OEWS May 2025 state estimates, BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates, BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: automotive service technicians
BLS Pay and Growth Benchmarks
BLS projects employment growth from 2025 to 2035 of 5% for automotive service technicians and mechanics, with about 66,200 openings a year, against 3.7% for automotive body and related repairers, with about 12,600.
BLS rates the technician figure faster than the 3% average for all occupations.
Pay also differs by industry, so the industry rows below are the closer guide for dealers, independent shops and parts retailers.
| BLS occupation | Median wage, May 2025 | 10th to 90th percentile | Growth 2025–35 | Openings a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics SOC 49-3023 | $50,620$24.34/hr | $34,660 to $81,790 | +5.0% | 66,200 |
| Automotive Body and Related Repairers SOC 49-3021 | $54,890$26.39/hr | $36,910 to $87,940 | +3.7% | 12,600 |
| Parts Salespersons SOC 41-2022 | $38,630$18.57/hr | $28,240 to $62,890 | +3.0% | 30,000 |
| Tire Repairers and Changers SOC 49-3093 | $37,710$18.13/hr | $30,010 to $50,230 | +3.4% | 12,900 |
| Automotive Glass Installers and Repairers SOC 49-3022 | $47,630$22.90/hr | $35,390 to $70,650 | +5.7% | 1,300 |
| Other proxies and comparison occupations | ||||
| First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers SOC 49-1011 | $79,860$38.39/hr | $49,600 to $126,790 | +4.1% | 48,900 |
| Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders SOC 51-9124 | $48,250$23.20/hr | $36,260 to $74,730 | +2.5% | 15,300 |
| Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants SOC 53-6031 | $35,670$17.15/hr | $28,630 to $46,060 | +3.8% | 12,900 |
| Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment SOC 53-7061 | $35,830$17.23/hr | $27,380 to $47,610 | +3.9% | 51,500 |
| Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers SOC 49-9098 | $39,630$19.05/hr | $29,310 to $55,890 | +5.3% | 13,600 |
| Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage SOC 13-1032 | $78,240$37.61/hr | $58,360 to $101,590 | -8.7% | 700 |
Wages are BLS OEWS national estimates for wage-and-salary workers in all industries, so they leave out the self-employed. Growth and openings are BLS Employment Projections, which include the self-employed; openings include replacements for workers who leave the occupation. The 51-9124 row is a stand-in, not auto painter pay.
| Industry | Payroll jobs | Median wage |
|---|---|---|
| Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics (SOC 49-3023) | ||
| Automobile dealers | 264,130 | $59,920/yr |
| Automotive repair and maintenance | 251,720 | $48,370/yr |
| Automotive parts, accessories and tire retailers | 48,500 | $45,700/yr |
| Local government (excluding schools and hospitals) | 16,010 | $62,070/yr |
| Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers | 12,510 | $57,250/yr |
| Automotive Body and Related Repairers (SOC 49-3021) | ||
| Automotive repair and maintenance | 109,400 | $54,710/yr |
| Automobile dealers | 25,830 | $52,040/yr |
| Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers | 2,620 | $58,800/yr |
| Automotive parts, accessories and tire retailers | 1,340 | $45,000/yr |
| Parts Salespersons (SOC 41-2022) | ||
| Automotive parts, accessories and tire retailers | 123,990 | $35,440/yr |
| Automobile dealers | 60,370 | $45,930/yr |
| Motor vehicle and parts wholesalers | 19,710 | $48,870/yr |
| Automotive repair and maintenance | 8,000 | $48,570/yr |
| First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers (SOC 49-1011, broader occupation) | ||
| Automotive repair and maintenance | 46,390 | $70,930/yr |
| Automobile dealers | 33,660 | $84,420/yr |
| Automotive parts, accessories and tire retailers | 17,720 | $50,860/yr |
BLS OEWS national industry estimates, payroll employees only. Automotive repair and maintenance (NAICS 8111) covers general repair, body and paint, glass, lube and other shops together, and automobile dealers (NAICS 4411) cover franchised and used-car dealers. Only the largest or most relevant industries are shown.
BLS OEWS state estimates, SOC 49-3023, annual median, not adjusted for cost of living. The lowest state medians were West Virginia ($37,660) and Mississippi ($37,820).
BLS OEWS state estimates, SOC 49-3021, annual median, not adjusted for cost of living. The lowest state median was Kentucky ($46,080).
Sources: BLS OEWS May 2025, BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates, BLS OEWS May 2025 state estimates, BLS Employment Projections 2025–35
Shops, Training and Employer Scale
Census counts the repair shops that employ technicians, NADA counts franchised dealerships, and I-CAR and the ASE Education Foundation report their own training reach.
The largest collision and quick-lube networks publish their own size figures, quoted here as each company states them.
These figures come from each named source, not from AutoTechHires listings.
| Indicator | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Automotive repair and maintenance establishments with paid employees, 2023Employing 992,292 people (NAICS 8111) | 169,572 | Census County Business Patterns 2023 |
| Of those, establishments with fewer than 5 employeesAbout 60% of all employer repair and maintenance establishments | 102,158 | Census County Business Patterns 2023 |
| General automotive repair establishments, 2023403,389 employees (NAICS 811111) | 84,859 | Census County Business Patterns 2023 |
| Body, paint and interior repair establishments, 2023246,720 employees (NAICS 811121); the same file counts 9,085 oil change and lubrication shops | 35,029 | Census County Business Patterns 2023 |
| Franchised new light-vehicle dealerships, 2025As counted by NADA | 16,990 | NADA Data 2025 |
| Technicians at franchised dealerships, 2025Including body shop technicians, an average of 16 per dealership; a NADA count, not comparable with BLS | 278,424 | NADA Data 2025 |
| Businesses that have earned I-CAR Gold ClassAs stated by I-CAR; Gold Class is a shop-level training recognition for collision repairers | 10,000+ | I-CAR, Gold Class |
| Students I-CAR trains a yearAs stated by I-CAR, across more than 20,000 businesses | 91,000+ | I-CAR, FAQ |
| Schools with ASE training programsAs stated by the ASE Education Foundation, with 118,000 students in ASE accredited programs | 1,800 | ASE Education Foundation |
| Average age of U.S. light vehicles, 2025A record, with 289 million vehicles in operation | 12.8 years | S&P Global Mobility, May 2025 |
| Caliber centersAs stated by Caliber, across 44 states with 31,000+ teammates | 1,800+ | Caliber, About Us |
| Take 5 Oil Change locationsAs of December 27, 2025: 812 company-operated and 530 franchised | 1,342 | Driven Brands 10-K, fiscal 2025 |
| Valvoline employees, U.S. and CanadaAbout 10,100 of them in company-operated stores, as of September 30, 2025 | 11,400 | Valvoline 10-K, fiscal 2025 |
Census and NADA count establishments and employees on their own definitions, so they are not comparable with any BLS occupation above. I-CAR, ASE Education Foundation and company figures are self-reported on the page shown, as read in October 2026, and are not audited.
Sources: Census County Business Patterns 2023, NADA Data 2025, I-CAR, ASE Education Foundation, S&P Global Mobility, Caliber, Driven Brands, Valvoline
Statistics by Role
Each role page combines live listing figures with the BLS data for that role.
A role page is published once the board tracks at least 300 of its listings from 25 employers.
- Automotive Technician statistics11,561 live listings from 2,759 employers
- Auto Body Technician statistics1,581 live listings from 342 employers
- Service Advisor statistics2,259 live listings from 1,304 employers
- Auto Painter statistics326 live listings from 58 employers
- Parts Counter Person statistics1,011 live listings from 631 employers
- Tire Technician statistics4,290 live listings from 73 employers
- Lube Technician statistics4,236 live listings from 1,079 employers
Frequently Asked Questions
How many auto repair openings are live right now?
AutoTechHires listed 33,926 live auto repair, collision, service drive and parts openings from 3,391 employers on November 14, 2026. The count covers every active listing on the board and is refreshed every six hours.
How many auto mechanics are there in the U.S.?
Employers reported 704,640 automotive service technicians and mechanics on payroll in May 2025 (BLS OEWS). Counting the self-employed, BLS puts the occupation at 825,800 jobs in 2025, 14.6% of them self-employed (BLS Employment Projections). Both counts include master, diagnostic, EV and other specialist techs, who have no separate code.
What does BLS say auto technicians and body technicians earn?
The May 2025 median wage was $50,620 a year ($24.34 an hour) for automotive service technicians and mechanics and $54,890 a year ($26.39 an hour) for automotive body and related repairers, against $50,980 for all occupations combined (BLS OEWS). These are payroll figures for all industries and leave out self-employed and contract techs.
Is the auto repair workforce growing?
BLS projects employment of automotive service technicians and mechanics to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, from 825,800 to 866,700 jobs, with about 66,200 openings a year, faster than the 3% average for all occupations. It projects 3.7% growth for automotive body and related repairers (about 12,600 openings a year), 3.0% for parts salespersons and 3.4% for tire repairers and changers (BLS Employment Projections 2025-35).
Do dealership technicians earn more than independent shop technicians?
For automotive service technicians, yes: the May 2025 median was $59,920 a year at automobile dealers against $48,370 at automotive repair and maintenance shops. For body repairers the gap runs the other way, $52,040 at dealers against $54,710 at repair shops (BLS OEWS industry estimates).
Which states pay auto technicians the most?
The District of Columbia had the highest May 2025 median for automotive service technicians, $68,660 a year, followed by California at $64,980; West Virginia ($37,660) and Mississippi ($37,820) were lowest. For body repairers Rhode Island led at $72,490, then California at $66,860 (BLS OEWS state estimates, not adjusted for cost of living).
Does BLS publish figures for service advisors or auto painters?
Not for service advisors: BLS has no service advisor or service writer occupation, so it publishes no count, wage or outlook for them. Auto refinish painters have had no separate code since 2018; BLS counts them under coating, painting and spraying machine setters, operators and tenders, a mostly factory occupation with a May 2025 median of $48,250, which is a stand-in, not auto painter pay.
How many auto repair shops are there?
Census County Business Patterns counted 169,572 automotive repair and maintenance establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 992,292 people. About 60% of them (102,158) had fewer than 5 employees. Shops with no employees are not in this count.
Methodology and Sources
Live figures count every active, paid listing on AutoTechHires when the page was generated, and the page refreshes every six hours.
Federal figures are quoted as BLS published them: OEWS May 2025 for payroll employment and wages, and Employment Projections 2025–35 for growth and openings.
Automotive technicians, body technicians, parts counter staff, tire and glass technicians have exact BLS occupations, which also count specialist techs who have no code of their own.
Auto painters, lube techs, detailers, paint prep techs, collision estimators and shop foremen are shown only through broader or stand-in occupations, and we say so wherever the figure appears.
Service advisors, service managers, body shop managers, lot porters and shop owners have no BLS occupation, so no BLS figure is shown for them.
Census, NADA, training-body and company figures are quoted from the named source with the date we read them, and they are never mixed with BLS occupation counts.
State rankings are our sorting of the published BLS state rows.
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national fileWage-and-salary employment and annual and hourly wage percentiles for each occupation, all industries.
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, industry fileEmployment and median wages for technicians, body repairers, parts staff and supervisors by industry.
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, state fileEmployment and median wages by state.
- BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, Table 1.22025 and 2035 employment (including the self-employed), percent change and average annual openings.
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Automotive Service Technicians and MechanicsOutlook and openings for automotive technicians.
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Automotive Body and Glass RepairersOutlook for body and glass repairers.
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023Counts of automotive repair, body and lube establishments with paid employees, and their employees.
- NADA Data 2025Franchised dealership and dealership technician counts.
- I-CAR: Gold ClassNumber of businesses that have earned Gold Class.
- I-CAR: FAQI-CAR's stated annual training reach.
- ASE Education FoundationSchools with ASE training programs and students in accredited programs.
- S&P Global Mobility: average U.S. vehicle age, May 2025Average light-vehicle age and vehicles in operation.
- Caliber, About UsCaliber's stated center and teammate counts.
- Driven Brands 10-K, fiscal 2025Take 5 Oil Change location count.
- Valvoline 10-K, fiscal 2025Valvoline's U.S. and Canada headcount.
- AutoTechHires job listingsActive, paid listings on the board, queried live.