Contents
- Automotive technician employment statistics: national employment and worker profile
- Automotive technician employment statistics by employer and industry
- Automotive technician employment statistics: wages by percentile and industry
- Automotive technician employment statistics: projected jobs and annual openings
- Automotive technician employment statistics by age and workforce demographics
- Sources
Automotive technician employment statistics: national employment and worker profile
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimated 825,800 jobs for automotive service technicians and mechanics in the United States in 2025. The 2025 National Employment Matrix reports the same employment level as 825.8 thousand and assigns the occupation 0.5% of total employment. These are two presentations of the occupation’s national estimate, not different counts. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook · BLS Occupational Projections and Characteristics, Table 1.2
The matrix also reports that 14.6% of workers in the occupation were self-employed in 2025. That worker-characteristics measure helps explain why employment settings include both businesses and independent work. It is distinct from an industry share: self-employment describes worker status, not a particular kind of business. BLS Occupational Projections and Characteristics, Table 1.2
The national counts here refer to SOC 49-3023, automotive service technicians and mechanics. Estimates differ across BLS programs: the Current Population Survey (CPS) household survey estimated 901 thousand employed people in this occupation in its 2025 annual average. That CPS figure is not directly interchangeable with the employment matrix estimate or the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) estimate. The sources use different programs and measures. BLS Occupational Projections and Characteristics, Table 1.2 · BLS CPS: Employed people by detailed occupation and age
Automotive technician employment statistics by employer and industry
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) lists rounded 2025 employer shares. Automobile dealers accounted for 32% of technician jobs, while automotive mechanical and electrical repair and maintenance accounted for 25%. The OOH also lists self-employed workers at 15%, automotive parts, accessories, and tire retailers at 6%, and other automotive repair and maintenance at 4%. Because the published shares are rounded, they should be read as the displayed proportions, not as precise counts. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
OEWS provides a separate industry view, measuring occupation employment within industries in May 2024. Automobile dealers employed 259,640 automotive service technicians and mechanics, and automotive repair and maintenance employed 240,230. The next entries in BLS’s highest-employment industry table were automotive parts, accessories, and tire retailers (46,870); local government, excluding schools and hospitals (15,990); and motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and supplies merchant wholesalers (13,250). BLS OEWS, highest-employment industries for automotive service technicians and mechanics, May 2024
| U.S. industry | Technicians employed, May 2024 |
|---|---|
| Automobile dealers | 259,640 |
| Automotive repair and maintenance | 240,230 |
| Automotive parts, accessories, and tire retailers | 46,870 |
| Local government, excluding schools and hospitals | 15,990 |
| Motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and supplies merchant wholesalers | 13,250 |
| State government, excluding schools and hospitals | 7,490 |
| Gasoline stations | 6,540 |
| Automotive equipment rental and leasing | 5,150 |
| Other motor vehicle dealers | 5,130 |
| Postal Service (federal government) | 3,580 |
These are occupation counts within each listed industry, not each industry’s total workforce. The OEWS chart also ranks automotive service technicians and mechanics as the first-listed occupation in automobile dealers. That ranking gives context to the large dealer count; it does not constitute a separate employment estimate. BLS OEWS, highest-employment industries for automotive service technicians and mechanics, May 2024 · BLS OEWS, industry occupation data, May 2024
The 2024 industry counts and 2025 OOH employer shares are complementary snapshots, but their periods and presentations differ. The shares are rounded and group employers as displayed in the OOH; the OEWS table gives counts for named industries. Neither should be read as a direct conversion of the other. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook · BLS OEWS, highest-employment industries, May 2024
Automotive technician employment statistics: wages by percentile and industry
The occupation-wide median annual wage was $50,620 in May 2025. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $34,660 annually, while the highest-paid 10% earned more than $81,790. These percentile thresholds describe the distribution: they do not give a minimum, maximum, or pay figure for every technician in those groups. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
For context, the median annual wage for all U.S. occupations was $50,980 in May 2025. Industry medians for automotive service technicians and mechanics varied across the listed settings. Automobile dealers had a median of $59,920; automotive mechanical and electrical repair and maintenance, $49,630; automotive parts, accessories, and tire retailers, $45,700; and other automotive repair and maintenance, $35,730. Each is a median for the occupation within that industry, rather than a wage for every worker or a measure of total compensation. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
| Wage measure | Median or threshold, annual |
|---|---|
| Automotive service technicians and mechanics, occupation-wide median, May 2025 | $50,620 |
| All U.S. occupations, median, May 2025 | $50,980 |
| Lowest-paid 10% of technicians, earned less than | $34,660 |
| Highest-paid 10% of technicians, earned more than | $81,790 |
| Automobile dealers, occupation median, May 2025 | $59,920 |
| Automotive mechanical and electrical repair and maintenance, occupation median, May 2025 | $49,630 |
| Automotive parts, accessories, and tire retailers, occupation median, May 2025 | $45,700 |
| Other automotive repair and maintenance, occupation median, May 2025 | $35,730 |
The table combines an occupation-wide distribution, a national comparison, and industry medians, all reported as annual wages. The industry medians show variation by setting, while the percentile thresholds show the spread among workers across the occupation. The cited figures alone do not establish why wages differ among industries. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
Automotive technician employment statistics: projected jobs and annual openings
BLS projects employment in this occupation to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035. The projection matrix expresses the same change as 5.0% and 40.9 thousand additional jobs. The matrix’s native unit is thousands of jobs, so 40.9 thousand is the reported projection value. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook · BLS Occupational Projections and Characteristics, Table 1.2
BLS projects an annual average of 66.2 thousand occupational openings over 2025–2035, also described in the OOH as about 66,200 openings each year. Openings and employment growth measure different things: the opening estimate includes positions becoming available as workers transfer to other occupations or leave the labor force. It should not be interpreted as net new jobs each year. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook · BLS Occupational Projections and Characteristics, Table 1.2
| Projection measure | BLS estimate | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Employment growth | 5% (matrix: 5.0%) | 2025–2035 |
| Numeric employment change | 40.9 thousand jobs | 2025–2035 |
| Annual average occupational openings | 66.2 thousand (about 66,200) | 2025–2035 |
The OOH rounds the displayed growth rate to a whole number; the matrix prints one decimal place. The annual openings values are two presentations of the same projection, as are the growth figures. They are not additional forecasts. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook · BLS Occupational Projections and Characteristics, Table 1.2
Automotive technician employment statistics by age and workforce demographics
The CPS estimated 901 thousand employed automotive service technicians and mechanics in its 2025 annual average, with a median age of 40.3 years. Its age distribution, in thousands of employed people, was: 33 aged 16 to 19; 110 aged 20 to 24; 201 aged 25 to 34; 209 aged 35 to 44; 186 aged 45 to 54; 119 aged 55 to 64; and 43 aged 65 and over. BLS CPS: Employed people by detailed occupation and age
The largest listed age group was 35 to 44, at 209 thousand, followed by ages 25 to 34, at 201 thousand. The table’s values are estimates in thousands, while the median age is in years. They describe the employed population aged 16 and over in the CPS annual average. BLS CPS: Employed people by detailed occupation and age
| Age group or measure | CPS estimate, 2025 annual average |
|---|---|
| Total employed, age 16 and over | 901 thousand |
| 16 to 19 years | 33 thousand |
| 20 to 24 years | 110 thousand |
| 25 to 34 years | 201 thousand |
| 35 to 44 years | 209 thousand |
| 45 to 54 years | 186 thousand |
| 55 to 64 years | 119 thousand |
| 65 years and over | 43 thousand |
| Median age | 40.3 years |
CPS demographic estimates show that women were 1.8% of employed technicians in 2025. By race, White workers represented 81.3%, Black or African American workers 11.2%, and Asian workers 3.4%. Separately, 27.6% were Hispanic or Latino. The Hispanic or Latino measure is an ethnicity measure reported separately from the race categories, so it should not be treated as another mutually exclusive race share. BLS CPS: Employed people by detailed occupation, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
The CPS reported an unemployment rate of 2.8% for automotive service technicians and mechanics in 2025. This annual-average occupational rate is based on experienced unemployed and employed workers in the occupation. BLS notes that CPS annual estimates for 2025 exclude October, when data were not collected during the federal government shutdown, and cautions that the 2025 estimates are not strictly comparable with other years. BLS CPS: Unemployment levels and rates by detailed occupation · BLS CPS: Employed people by detailed occupation, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
Sources
- Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics, Occupational Outlook Handbook
- Table 1.2 Occupational projections, 2025–35, and worker characteristics, 2025
- Industries with the highest employment level for Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics, May 2024
- Data tables for OEWS industry charts, May 2024
- Employed people by detailed occupation and age
- Employed people by detailed occupation, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
- Unemployment levels and rates by detailed occupation