Parts Counterperson Hourly Pay, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 8,572 US job postings by 1,144 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for parts counterpersons: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 8,572 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for parts counterpersons in US job postings is $21.50 an hour (1,762 postings from 221 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $18.83 to $24.50 an hour.
- The skills that most set parts counterperson postings apart are customer service, automotive parts, organizational skills.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 2 years of experience.
Parts Counterperson job postings in the US, October 2026
- $21.50/hr
- Median advertised pay (1,762 postings)
- $18.83–$24.50
- Middle 50% of postings
- 8,572
- US job postings from 1,144 employers
- 2 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a parts counterperson make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $21.50 an hour, from 1,762 US job postings by 221 employers that state pay. That is about $47,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 1,762 US parts counterperson job postings: median $47,000 a year ($21.50 an hour), middle half $41,000 to $55,000.
- Median: $47,000 ($21.50/hr)
- 25th percentile: $41,000
- 75th percentile: $55,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $20K–$30K | 0.9% |
| $30K–$40K | 20.4% |
| $40K–$50K | 40.5% |
| $50K–$60K | 21.0% |
| $60K–$70K | 8.8% |
| $70K–$80K | 2.7% |
| $80K–$90K | 1.8% |
| $90K–$100K | 1.3% |
| $100K–$110K | 1.3% |
| $110K–$120K | 0.5% |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $21.50 | $18.83–$24.50 | 400 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $47,000 | $41K–$55K | 1,762 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Parts Salespersons (41-2022) at $39,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a parts counterperson?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Highest-paying parts counterperson jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parts Counterperson (general) | $22.31/hr | 1,531 | 138 |
Skills employers ask for in parts counterperson job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 45% |
| Customer service | 44% |
| Organizational skills | 27% |
| Attention to detail | 17% |
| Time management | 15% |
| Interpersonal skills | 13% |
| Microsoft Office | 12% |
| Problem-solving | 11% |
| Detail-oriented | 10% |
| Excel | 8% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set parts counterpersons apart
- Customer service4.5× as often as in all postings · 44%
- Product knowledge15× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Detail-oriented3.4× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Strong work ethic4.2× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Basic computer skills3.5× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Detail oriented3.9× as often as in all postings · 6%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a parts counterperson job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a parts counterperson do?
Employers post these jobs as Parts Manager, Counter Sales, Parts Advisor, Parts Counter, Parts Specialist and other titles. The largest specializations are Parts Manager (4%), Counter Sales (12%).
The closest official occupation is Parts Salespersons (41-2022.00). Its most important tasks:
- Receive payment or obtain credit authorization.
- Assist customers, such as responding to customer complaints and updating them about back-ordered parts.
- Fill customer orders from stock, and place orders when requested items are out of stock.
- Receive and fill telephone orders for parts.
- Locate and label parts, and maintain inventory of stock.
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 a parts counterperson?
Among 739 postings that state a minimum, the median is 2 years. 2% say 0 years and 47% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 739 US parts counterperson job postings: median 2 years, and 47% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 3% |
| 1 yr | 44% |
| 2 yrs | 28% |
| 3-4 yrs | 16% |
| 5-7 yrs | 8% |
| 8-9 yrs | 0% |
| 10+ yrs | 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.
Full-time 96%, Part-time 4% of the 339 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a parts counterperson: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Parts Counterperson | 194 (17.0%) |
| Parts Manager | 159 (13.9%) |
| Counter Sales | 90 (7.9%) |
| Parts Advisor | 88 (7.7%) |
| Parts Counter | 71 (6.2%) |
| Parts Specialist | 66 (5.8%) |
| Counter Sales Associate | 60 (5.2%) |
| Parts Counter Sales | 52 (4.5%) |
| Parts Sales | 46 (4.0%) |
| Counter Sales Representative | 40 (3.5%) |
| Parts Counter Person | 39 (3.4%) |
| Automotive Parts Counterperson | 35 (3.1%) |
| Parts Counter Associate | 34 (3.0%) |
| Parts Sales Representative | 34 (3.0%) |
| Assistant Parts Manager | 27 (2.4%) |
| Automotive Parts Specialist | 23 (2.0%) |
| Automotive Parts Manager | 22 (1.9%) |
| Parts Counter Representative | 20 (1.8%) |
| Parts Counter Salesperson | 19 (1.7%) |
| Parts Counter Specialist | 19 (1.7%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Parts Counterperson compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parts Counterperson | $21.50/hr | 2 years | 8,572 | – |
| Retail Sales Associate | $17.24/hr | 1 year | 141,396 | 17 |
| Customer Service Representative | $19.00/hr | 1 year | 33,817 | 19 |
| Automotive Sales Consultant | $90K | 2 years | 6,167 | 12 |
| Service Advisor | $65K | 2 years | 6,430 | 18 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | 17 | $17.24/hr |
| Customer Service Representative | 19 | $19.00/hr |
| Automotive Sales Consultant | 12 | $90K |
| Service Advisor | 18 | $65K |
| Store Manager | 18 | $20.12/hr |
| Stocker | 17 | $17.50/hr |
Applying for parts counterperson jobs?
- Parts counterperson 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 parts counterperson jobs: search open postings
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 82 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 82 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.