--- title: "Tire Repairer and Changer" description: "Repair and replace tires." canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/tire-repairer-and-changer" last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z" --- # Tire Repairer and Changer **Category:** Installation, Maintenance, and Repair · **SOC code:** 49-3093 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 49-3093.00 Repair and replace tires. Also advertised as: Alignment Technician (Alignment Tech); Lube Technician (Lube Tech); Service Technician (Service Tech); Tire Alignment Technician (Tire Alignment Tech); Tire Changer; Tire Installer; Tire Repairer; Tire Shop Mechanic. ## At a glance - **Median annual wage:** $37,710 (BLS OEWS, May 2025) - **Median hourly wage:** $18.13/hr - **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $30,010 to $50,230, with the middle half between $34,690 and $45,300 - **Total US employment:** 108,410 - **Typical entry education:** High school - **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed" - **Projected growth:** +3.4% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035) - **Annual job openings:** 12,900 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 108,410 US jobs. | Percentile | Annual wage | | --- | --- | | 10th | $30,010 | | 25th | $34,690 | | 50th (median) | $37,710 | | 75th | $45,300 | | 90th | $50,230 | | Mean (average) | $40,170 | ### 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | OR | $47,650 | $46,101 | 2,260 | | DE | $46,630 | $46,720 | 230 | | MT | $46,360 | $48,983 | 740 | | RI | $46,240 | $45,209 | 190 | | HI | $45,760 | $41,619 | 220 | | CO | $45,380 | $44,036 | 2,750 | | WA | $44,670 | $41,743 | 2,960 | | VT | $44,480 | $45,407 | 120 | | NJ | $44,440 | $40,844 | 2,290 | | MD | $44,430 | $42,331 | 880 | | MN | $43,750 | $44,362 | 1,310 | | NY | $43,660 | $40,456 | 1,750 | | AK | $43,330 | $42,331 | 450 | | VA | $42,370 | $41,907 | 2,430 | | OH | $41,760 | $45,013 | 3,530 | 37 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 52 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/tire-repairer-and-changer/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/tire-repairer-and-changer. ## Outlook BLS projects employment to move from 112,200 in the 2025–2035 base year to 116,000 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 3,800 jobs, or +3.4%. About as fast as average: 3.4% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 12,900 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:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections). - **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed". - **Related work experience typically required:** None. - **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training. ## What the work involves - Unbolt and remove wheels from vehicles, using lug wrenches or other hand or power tools. - Identify tire size and ply and inflate tires accordingly. - Raise vehicles, using hydraulic jacks. - Reassemble tires onto wheels. - Remount wheels onto vehicles. - Seal punctures in tubeless tires by inserting adhesive material and expanding rubber plugs into punctures, using hand tools. - Locate punctures in tubeless tires by visual inspection or by immersing inflated tires in water baths and observing air bubbles. - Replace valve stems and remove puncturing objects. ## Skills and knowledge ### Essential skills - Active Listening — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Speaking — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Critical Thinking — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Reading Comprehension — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Monitoring — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Active Learning — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Writing — importance 2.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Mathematics — importance 2.0 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. - Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Service Orientation — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Operations Monitoring — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Operation and Control — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Troubleshooting — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Repairing — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Quality Control Analysis — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale ### Knowledge areas - Mechanical — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Administration and Management — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Production and Processing — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Education and Training — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Public Safety and Security — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale ### Abilities - Static Strength — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Manual Dexterity — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Multilimb Coordination — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Trunk Strength — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Extent Flexibility — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Near Vision — importance 3.3 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). | Interest area | Score (1–7) | | --- | --- | | R — Realistic | 7.00 | | C — Conventional | 3.41 | | I — Investigative | 1.80 | | S — Social | 1.79 | | E — Enterprising | 1.58 | | 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 | 84.5 | | ISTP | 73.2 | | ISFJ | 73.1 | | ESTJ | 72.2 | | ESTP | 60.7 | Best-fitting types: ISTJ. ## Related occupations O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order. - [Tire Builder](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tire-builder) — median $57,390 - [Automotive Service Technician and Mechanic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/automotive-service-technician-and-mechanic) — median $50,620 - [Motorcycle Mechanic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/motorcycle-mechanic) — median $48,580 - [Rail Car Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/rail-car-repairer) — median $67,530 - [Bicycle Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/bicycle-repairer) — median $42,780 - [Automotive Body and Related Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/automotive-body-and-related-repairer) — median $54,890 - [Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/outdoor-power-equipment-and-other-small-engine-mechanic) — median $47,880 - [Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electric-motor-power-tool-and-related-repairer) — median $56,210 - [Bus and Truck Mechanic and Diesel Engine Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/bus-and-truck-mechanic-and-diesel-engine-specialist) — median $61,770 - [Automotive Glass Installer and Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/automotive-glass-installer-and-repairer) — median $47,630 ## 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/ - **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/tire-repairer-and-changer