Auto Body Technician Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 5,208 US job postings by 650 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for auto body technicians: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 5,208 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for auto body technicians in US job postings is $64,000 a year (2,159 postings from 144 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $50,000 to $80,000.
- Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $58,000 a year (271 postings).
- The skills that most set auto body technician postings apart are welding, collision repair, attention to detail.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 2 years of experience.
Auto Body Technician job postings in the US, October 2026
- $64,000
- Median advertised pay (2,159 postings)
- $50,000–$80,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- $58,000
- Starting pay (postings asking up to 1 year)
- 5,208
- US job postings from 650 employers
How much does an auto body technician make?
The median advertised pay is $64,000 a year, from 2,159 US job postings by 144 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $100,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 2,159 US auto body technician job postings: median $64,000 a year, middle half $50,000 to $80,000.
- Median: $64,000
- 25th percentile: $50,000
- 75th percentile: $80,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $20K–$30K | 1.9% |
| $30K–$40K | 5.5% |
| $40K–$50K | 18.7% |
| $50K–$60K | 15.6% |
| $60K–$70K | 23.9% |
| $70K–$80K | 8.4% |
| $80K–$90K | 8.4% |
| $90K–$100K | 6.7% |
| $100K–$110K | 6.2% |
| $110K–$120K | 1.7% |
| $120K–$130K | 1.9% |
| $130K–$140K | 0.2% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All pay postings, annualised | $64,000 | $50K–$80K | 2,159 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Automotive Body and Related Repairers (49-3021) at $55,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for an auto body technician?
Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $58,000 a year (271 postings).
| Experience asked | Median advertised pay | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 years | $58,000 | 271 |
| 2-4 years | $62,000 | 764 |
| 5+ years | withheld | 65 |
Highest-paying auto body technician jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body Shop Technician | $65,000 | 1,755 | 115 |
Auto body technician pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $70,000 | $62,000–$74,000 | 117 | 5.5% |
| Florida | $65,000 | $56,000–$65,000 | 113 | 7.6% |
| Illinois | $65,000 | $65,000–$99,000 | 184 | 7.6% |
| Ohio | $65,000 | $65,000–$73,000 | 108 | 5.8% |
| Michigan | $65,000 | $55,000–$75,000 | 116 | 4.9% |
Skills employers ask for in auto body technician job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Attention to detail | 26% |
| Communication | 26% |
| Customer service | 19% |
| Work independently | 12% |
| Organizational skills | 11% |
| Problem-solving | 9% |
| Welding | 9% |
| Detail-oriented | 7% |
| Positive attitude | 5% |
| Dependable | 5% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set auto body technicians apart
- Welding33.1× as often as in all postings · 9%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a auto body technician job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does an auto body technician do?
Employers post these jobs as Body Shop Technician, Body Technician, Body Shop Estimator, Collision Technician, Collision Estimator and other titles. The largest specializations are Body Shop Technician (79%), Auto Glass Technician (6%).
The closest official occupation is Automotive Body and Related Repairers (49-3021.00). Its most important tasks:
- File, grind, sand, and smooth filled or repaired surfaces, using power tools and hand tools.
- Inspect repaired vehicles for proper functioning, completion of work, dimensional accuracy, and overall appearance of paint job, and test-drive vehicles to ensure proper alignment and handling.
- Fit and weld replacement parts into place, using wrenches and welding equipment, and grind down welds to smooth them, using power grinders and other tools.
- Prime and paint repaired surfaces, using paint sprayguns and motorized sanders.
- Follow supervisors' instructions as to which parts to restore or replace and how much time the job should take.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be an auto body technician?
Among 485 postings that state a minimum, the median is 2 years. Under 1% say 0 years and 26% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 485 US auto body technician job postings: median 2 years, and 26% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | under 1% |
| 1 yr | 25% |
| 2 yrs | 34% |
| 3-4 yrs | 19% |
| 5-7 yrs | 20% |
| 8-9 yrs | under 1% |
| 10+ yrs | under 1% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Other names for an auto body technician: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Body Shop Technician | 179 (27.5%) |
| Auto Body Technician | 84 (12.9%) |
| Body Technician | 41 (6.3%) |
| Body Shop Estimator | 38 (5.9%) |
| Collision Technician | 36 (5.5%) |
| Collision Estimator | 30 (4.6%) |
| Body Shop Manager | 25 (3.9%) |
| Automotive Body Shop Technician | 22 (3.4%) |
| Collision Repair Technician | 20 (3.1%) |
| Collision Center Technician | 19 (2.9%) |
| Auto Glass Technician | 19 (2.9%) |
| Automotive Body Repairer | 18 (2.8%) |
| Collision Center Estimator | 17 (2.6%) |
| Automotive Body Technician | 16 (2.5%) |
| Autobody Technician | 13 (2.0%) |
| Glass Technician | 12 (1.8%) |
| Auto Body Tech | 12 (1.8%) |
| Body Repair Technician | 12 (1.8%) |
| General Manager | 11 (1.7%) |
| Auto Body Repair Technician | 11 (1.7%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Auto Body Technician compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto Body Technician | $64K | 2 years | 5,208 | – |
| Painter | $23.50/hr | 2 years | 3,060 | 19 |
| Millwright | – | 3 years | 855 | 12 |
| Automotive Technician | $57K | 2 years | 31,522 | 13 |
| Assembler | $21.45/hr | 1 year | 6,799 | 16 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Painter | 19 | $23.50/hr |
| Millwright | 12 | – |
| Automotive Technician | 13 | $57K |
| Assembler | 16 | $21.45/hr |
| Welder | 14 | $26.00/hr |
| Groundskeeper | 17 | $19.73/hr |
Applying for auto body technician jobs?
- Auto body technician resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find auto body technician jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does an auto body technician make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 18 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.