---
title: "Automotive Service Technician and Mechanic"
description: "Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul automotive vehicles."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/automotive-service-technician-and-mechanic"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Automotive Service Technician and Mechanic

**Category:** Installation, Maintenance, and Repair · **SOC code:** 49-3023 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 49-3023.00

Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul automotive vehicles.

Also advertised as: Automotive Drivability Technician (Auto Drivability Tech); Automotive Mechanic (Auto Mechanic); Automotive Service Technician (Auto Service Tech); Automotive Technician (Auto Tech); Diagnostic Technician (Diagnostic Tech); Heavy Line Technician (Heavy Line Tech); Lube Tech (Lubrication Technician); Mechanic.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $50,620 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $24.34/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $34,660 to $81,790, with the middle half between $38,900 and $70,430
- **Total US employment:** 704,640
- **Typical entry education:** Certificate
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +4.2% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 70,000 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 64/100 — 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 704,640 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $34,660 |
| 25th | $38,900 |
| 50th (median) | $50,620 |
| 75th | $70,430 |
| 90th | $81,790 |
| Mean (average) | $56,420 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $68,660 | $62,474 | 310 |
| CA | $64,980 | $58,689 | 65,420 |
| CO | $61,280 | $59,465 | 12,300 |
| AK | $60,840 | $59,438 | 1,420 |
| MA | $60,760 | $57,452 | 12,710 |
| CT | $60,220 | $58,122 | 6,960 |
| VA | $59,330 | $58,682 | 17,880 |
| NH | $59,020 | $56,660 | 4,840 |
| MT | $58,740 | $62,064 | 2,900 |
| OR | $58,520 | $56,617 | 6,990 |
| DE | $58,410 | $58,522 | 1,910 |
| MN | $58,390 | $59,206 | 11,980 |
| MD | $57,520 | $54,802 | 14,230 |
| ND | $57,360 | $64,479 | 2,140 |
| WA | $57,270 | $53,517 | 12,930 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/automotive-service-technician-and-mechanic/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/automotive-service-technician-and-mechanic.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 805,600 in the 2024–2034 base year to 839,200 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 33,600 jobs, or +4.2%. Faster than average: 4.2% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 70,000 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Postsecondary nondegree award (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:** Short-term on-the-job training.

### 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 |
| --- | --- |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 50.3% |
| High School Diploma | 42.6% |
| Some College Courses | 5.8% |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 1.4% |

## What the work involves

- Inspect vehicles for damage and record findings so that necessary repairs can be made.
- Maintain cleanliness of work area.
- Repair and service air conditioning, heating, engine cooling, and electrical systems.
- Test and adjust repaired systems to meet manufacturers' performance specifications.
- Perform routine and scheduled maintenance services, such as oil changes, lubrications, and tune-ups.
- Repair, reline, replace, and adjust brakes.
- Test drive vehicles and test components and systems, using equipment such as infrared engine analyzers, compression gauges, and computerized diagnostic devices.
- Align wheels, axles, frames, torsion bars, and steering mechanisms of automobiles, using special alignment equipment and wheel-balancing machines.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- 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
- Monitoring — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.6 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.

- Repairing — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Equipment Maintenance — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Mechanical — importance 4.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Transportation — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — 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
- Finger Dexterity — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.8 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), Conventional (C), Investigative (I).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 4.31 |
| I — Investigative | 3.58 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.60 |
| S — Social | 1.45 |
| A — Artistic | 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 | 91.5 |
| ISTP | 80.3 |
| ISFJ | 72.7 |
| ESTJ | 72.7 |
| INTJ | 70.8 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

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

- [Rail Car Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/rail-car-repairer) — median $67,530
- [Bus and Truck Mechanic and Diesel Engine Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/bus-and-truck-mechanic-and-diesel-engine-specialist) — median $61,770
- [Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electric-motor-power-tool-and-related-repairer) — median $56,210
- [Motorcycle Mechanic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/motorcycle-mechanic) — median $48,580
- [Engine and Other Machine Assembler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/engine-and-other-machine-assembler) — median $53,710
- [Motorboat Mechanic and Service Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/motorboat-mechanic-and-service-technician) — median $57,550
- [Control and Valve Installer and Repairer, Except Mechanical Door](https://nuecareer.com/careers/control-and-valve-installer-and-repairer) — median $74,340
- [Automotive Engineering Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/automotive-engineering-technician) — median $74,510
- [Automotive Body and Related Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/automotive-body-and-related-repairer) — median $54,890
- [Electronic Equipment Installer and Repairer, Motor Vehicles](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electronic-equipment-installer-and-repairer-motor-vehicles) — median $48,420

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 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, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 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 30.3 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-service-technician-and-mechanic