---
title: "Automotive Engineering Technician"
description: "Assist engineers in determining the practicality of proposed product design changes and plan and carry out tests on experimental test devices or…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/automotive-engineering-technician"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Automotive Engineering Technician

**Category:** Architecture and Engineering · **SOC code:** 17-3027 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 17-3027.01

Assist engineers in determining the practicality of proposed product design changes and plan and carry out tests on experimental test devices or equipment for performance, durability, or efficiency.

Also advertised as: Laboratory Technician (Lab Technician); Research Technician.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $74,510 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $35.82/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $48,400 to $106,050, with the middle half between $59,510 and $88,110
- **Total US employment:** 36,190
- **Typical entry education:** Associate's
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +1.3% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 3,100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 45/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 36,190 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $48,400 |
| 25th | $59,510 |
| 50th (median) | $74,510 |
| 75th | $88,110 |
| 90th | $106,050 |
| Mean (average) | $76,380 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LA | $102,800 | $116,544 | 270 |
| NM | $97,560 | $105,800 | 320 |
| MO | $92,150 | $101,468 | 800 |
| CA | $87,390 | $78,929 | 3,660 |
| CT | $82,660 | $79,780 | 350 |
| RI | $81,600 | $79,781 | 30 |
| OR | $80,840 | $78,211 | 260 |
| NE | $80,050 | $88,843 | 250 |
| WA | $79,410 | $74,206 | 890 |
| MD | $79,180 | $75,439 | 640 |
| OH | $78,500 | $84,614 | 1,800 |
| NY | $78,210 | $72,470 | 1,140 |
| KY | $77,990 | $86,503 | 520 |
| DE | $77,820 | $77,970 | 50 |
| IN | $77,220 | $82,740 | 1,500 |

30 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 45 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/automotive-engineering-technician/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/automotive-engineering-technician.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 36,900 in the 2025–2035 base year to 37,400 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 500 jobs, or +1.3%. Slower than average: 1.3% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 3,100 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Associate's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 37.0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 29.6% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 14.8% |
| Master's Degree | 11.1% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 3.7% |
| Some College Courses | 3.7% |

## What the work involves

- Document test results, using cameras, spreadsheets, documents, or other tools.
- Set up mechanical, hydraulic, or electric test equipment in accordance with engineering specifications, standards, or test procedures.
- Read and interpret blueprints, schematics, work specifications, drawings, or charts.
- Monitor computer-controlled test equipment, according to written or verbal instructions.
- Analyze test data for automotive systems, subsystems, or component parts.
- Install equipment, such as instrumentation, test equipment, engines, or aftermarket products, to ensure proper interfaces.
- Order new test equipment, supplies, or replacement parts.
- Recommend tests or testing conditions in accordance with designs, customer requirements, or industry standards to ensure test validity.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Repairing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Equipment Maintenance — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Engineering and Technology — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Physics — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Written Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| I — Investigative | 5.37 |
| C — Conventional | 4.45 |
| A — Artistic | 1.41 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.25 |
| S — Social | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 91.2 |
| ISTP | 85.0 |
| INTJ | 79.9 |
| ISFJ | 67.3 |
| ESTJ | 66.5 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Calibration Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/calibration-technologist-and-technician) — median $67,820
- [Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aerospace-engineering-and-operations-technologist-and-technician) — median $82,890
- [Mechanical Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mechanical-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $74,510
- [Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronic-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $78,190
- [Robotics Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/robotics-technician) — median $73,900
- [Automotive Service Technician and Mechanic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/automotive-service-technician-and-mechanic) — median $50,620
- [Electrical and Electronics Installer and Repairer, Transportation Equipment](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-installer-and-repairer-transportation-equipment) — median $84,890
- [Industrial Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $66,120
- [Avionics Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/avionics-technician) — median $82,280
- [Electro-Mechanical and Mechatronics Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electro-mechanical-and-mechatronics-technologist-and-technician) — median $73,900

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/automotive-engineering-technician