Automotive repair and maintenance employed 1,042.3 thousand people in the United States in December 2025, according to seasonally adjusted payroll data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The industry includes mechanical and electrical repair, body and glass work, car washes, oil-change businesses, and other automotive services. BLS projections put total automotive repair and maintenance employment at 1,080.3 thousand in 2035.
Contents
- U.S. payroll employment
- Service lines and staffing
- Occupations and wages
- Body and glass repair profile
- Employment and output outlook
- What the projections measure
U.S. payroll employment
The BLS seasonally adjusted payroll series shows automotive repair and maintenance (NAICS 8111) at 1,042.6 thousand employees in December 2024. Employment then reached 1,053.6 thousand in August 2025 before easing to 1,050.8 thousand in September, 1,045.0 thousand in October, and 1,042.3 thousand in both November and December 2025. These are payroll employment estimates, not a count of every person who performs vehicle work.
| Measurement period | Automotive repair and maintenance payroll employment |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 1,042.6 thousand |
| August 2025 | 1,053.6 thousand |
| September 2025 | 1,050.8 thousand |
| October 2025 | 1,045.0 thousand |
| November 2025 | 1,042.3 thousand |
| December 2025 | 1,042.3 thousand |
The December 2025 level was below the August 2025 level in this series, while remaining close to the December 2024 reading. Because the figures are seasonally adjusted, the series is designed to make month-to-month movements easier to compare. The source is BLS Table B-1a, Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail.
Service lines and staffing
The automotive repair category covers several different business lines. In August 2025, automotive mechanical and electrical repair and maintenance (NAICS 81111) employed 449.3 thousand people. General automotive repair (NAICS 811111) accounted for 406.6 thousand, while specialized automotive repair (NAICS 811114) accounted for 42.5 thousand.
Body, paint, interior, and glass repair (NAICS 81112) employed 299.9 thousand people in August 2025. Within that group, automotive body, paint, and interior repair and maintenance (NAICS 811121) employed 259.9 thousand, and automotive glass replacement shops (NAICS 811122) employed 39.9 thousand.
Other automotive repair and maintenance (NAICS 81119) employed 304.9 thousand in August 2025. Car washes made up 192.0 thousand of that employment, while automotive oil-change and lubrication shops plus all other automotive repair and maintenance (NAICS 811191,8) employed 113.1 thousand.
The same BLS payroll series reported the following December 2025 levels:
- Automotive mechanical and electrical repair and maintenance: 445.1 thousand employees.
- General automotive repair: 402.1 thousand employees.
- Automotive body, paint, interior, and glass repair: 294.6 thousand employees.
- Other automotive repair and maintenance: 303.8 thousand employees.
- Car washes: 187.8 thousand employees.
- Automotive oil-change and lubrication shops plus all other automotive repair and maintenance: 116.0 thousand employees.
The August and December figures describe different points in the same seasonally adjusted employment series. They should not be treated as annual averages, revenue totals, or measures of repair volume. NAICS categories also differ in scope, so their labels matter when comparing service lines. The detailed industry source is BLS Table B-1a.
Occupations and wages
BLS industry data for 2025 identify several major occupational groups within repair and maintenance. Automotive service technicians and mechanics numbered 254,270. Automotive body and related repairers numbered 109,530. First-line supervisors or managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers numbered 62,870, while transportation-equipment painters numbered 29,280.
Wages differed substantially by role. Automotive service technicians and mechanics had a 2025 median annual wage of $48,390 and a mean annual wage of $53,700 in repair and maintenance. Automotive body and related repairers had a median hourly wage of $26.30 and a mean annual wage of $59,440.
First-line supervisors or managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers had a 2025 median annual wage of $73,780 and a mean annual wage of $75,740. Transportation-equipment painters had a median annual wage of $55,530 and a mean annual wage of $60,670.
| Occupation in repair and maintenance | 2025 employment | Median wage | Mean annual wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automotive service technicians and mechanics | 254,270 | $48,390 annual | $53,700 |
| Automotive body and related repairers | 109,530 | $26.30 hourly | $59,440 |
| First-line supervisors or managers | 62,870 | $73,780 annual | $75,740 |
| Transportation-equipment painters | 29,280 | $55,530 annual | $60,670 |
The median is the midpoint of the reported wage distribution, while the mean is an average. They are different measures and should not be read as interchangeable. The employment and wage figures come from BLS Repair and Maintenance: NAICS 811, whose industry scope is broader than a single repair-shop occupation.
Body and glass repair profile
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook provides a separate view of automotive body and glass repair work. Automotive body and related repairers held about 172,600 jobs in 2024. Automotive body, paint, interior, and glass repair accounted for 57% of those jobs, automobile dealers accounted for 16%, self-employed workers accounted for 10%, and automotive mechanical and electrical repair and maintenance accounted for 6%.
Automotive glass installers and repairers held about 20,400 jobs in 2024. Automotive body, paint, interior, and glass repair accounted for 78% of these jobs. Self-employed workers accounted for 7%, and construction accounted for 3%.
These shares describe the occupational employment profile reported for 2024, not the share of industry payroll employment. They also leave some employment categories outside the listed percentages, so the figures should not be added as though they were a complete breakdown of every job.
Wage data for May 2024 show a median annual wage of $51,680 for automotive body and related repairers and $47,260 for automotive glass installers and repairers. The BLS projected about 16,000 automotive body and glass repairer openings per year on average for 2024–2034. That openings measure is an annual average projection across the period, not a promise of 16,000 newly created jobs in each year.
The occupational definitions, job counts, industry shares, wage date, and openings projection are reported in Automotive Body and Glass Repairers, part of the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Employment and output outlook
BLS industry projections show automotive repair and maintenance employment at 1,038.1 thousand in 2025 and 1,080.3 thousand in 2035. The projected increase is 42.2 thousand jobs, equivalent to projected growth of 4.1% over the decade. The projected compound annual employment growth rate is 0.4% from 2025 to 2035.
The industry’s projected output was $152.1 billion in chained 2017 dollars in 2025 and $178.4 billion in chained 2017 dollars in 2035. BLS gives a projected compound annual output growth rate of 1.6% for 2025–2035. These output figures are expressed in chained 2017 dollars, so they are not nominal current-dollar sales totals.
| Industry measure | 2025 | 2035 projection | Change or rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automotive repair and maintenance employment | 1,038.1 thousand | 1,080.3 thousand | +42.2 thousand; +4.1% |
| Automotive repair and maintenance output | $152.1 billion | $178.4 billion | 1.6% projected compound annual growth |
| Mechanical and electrical repair employment | 442.5 thousand | 463.5 thousand | +21.0 thousand |
| Body, paint, interior, and glass repair employment | 292.2 thousand | 307.9 thousand | — |
| Other automotive repair and maintenance employment | 303.4 thousand | 309.0 thousand | — |
Within the industry, mechanical and electrical repair and maintenance employment was 442.5 thousand in 2025 and is projected at 463.5 thousand in 2035, an addition of 21.0 thousand jobs. Automotive body, paint, interior, and glass repair employment was 292.2 thousand in 2025 and is projected at 307.9 thousand in 2035. Other automotive repair and maintenance employment was 303.4 thousand in 2025 and is projected at 309.0 thousand.
The category-level projections show that mechanical and electrical repair is projected to add more jobs than the body, paint, interior, and glass category or the other-repair category over the stated decade. That is a comparison of projected employment changes, not a forecast of individual shop performance.
What the projections measure
The 2025–2035 figures are BLS projections, not observed employment in 2035. The 2025 starting point in the projection table is 1,038.1 thousand, while the December 2025 seasonally adjusted payroll estimate is 1,042.3 thousand. Those values come from different BLS statistical products and should not be substituted for one another.
The payroll series provides monthly, seasonally adjusted employment observations. The occupational sources provide job counts, wage measures, industry distributions, and projected openings for specific occupations. The industry projections provide employment, output, and growth rates for a future period. Keeping those definitions and measurement periods separate is essential when using automotive repair industry statistics for workforce planning, service-line analysis, or business research.
The complete industry projection series is available in BLS Employment and output by industry. Together with the payroll, occupational, and body-and-glass sources above, it describes an industry with more than one million payroll jobs, distinct mechanical, collision, glass, wash, and lubrication segments, and modest projected employment growth through 2035.