Auto body technicians are everyone's heroes when it comes to cars. From vehicle bodies and frames, to windshields and window glass, they've got you covered. They can restore, refinish and even replace it all.
These technicians often work in body shops, which can get loud. So you might want to bring some earplugs to work, unless you want to go home feeling like you were just at a concert. The main requirement for becoming an auto body technician is completing a training program in automotive body or glass repair. Once you've completed that, the rest will come naturally.
Auto Body Technician Overview
Working as an Auto Body Technician
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an auto body technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.67 an hour? That's $40,919 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 7,300 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does an Auto Body Technician Do
There are certain skills that many auto body technicians have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed time-management skills, customer-service skills and detail oriented.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be an auto body technician, we found that a lot of resumes listed 27.6% of auto body technicians included customer service, while 9.0% of resumes included collision repair, and 8.9% of resumes included vehicle parts. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the auto body technician job title. But what industry to start with? Most auto body technicians actually find jobs in the retail and automotive industries.
How To Become an Auto Body Technician
If you're interested in becoming an auto body technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 6.7% of auto body technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 0.6% of auto body technicians have master's degrees. Even though some auto body technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an auto body technician. When we researched the most common majors for an auto body technician, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on auto body technician resumes include diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an auto body technician. In fact, many auto body technician jobs require experience in a role such as technician. Meanwhile, many auto body technicians also have previous career experience in roles such as cashier or painter.
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Auto Body Technician Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, an auto body technician can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as technician, progress to a title such as foreman and then eventually end up with the title general contractor.
Auto Body Technician
General Contractor
5 Years
Car Wash Manager
6 Years
Body Shop Manager
7 Years
Lead Mechanic
6 Years
Maintenance Lead Technician
7 Years
Maintenance Lead Person
6 Years
Show More
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for an Auto Body Technician
Auto Body Technicians in America make an average salary of $40,919 per year or $20 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $62,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $26,000 per year.
Average Salary
$40,919
Best Paying Cities
City
Average Salary
$26k
$58k
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Carvana Auto Body Technician Auto Body Technician | Carvana Carvana | 01/31/2021 01/31/2021 | $27,13101/31/2021 $27,131 |
Randstad Auto Body Technician Auto Body Technician | Randstad Randstad | 01/27/2021 01/27/2021 | $25,04401/27/2021 $25,044 |
B Street Collsion Center Auto Body-Reassembly Technician Auto Body-Reassembly Technician | B Street Collsion Center B Street Collsion Center | 01/06/2021 01/06/2021 | $50,00001/06/2021 $50,000 |
Carvana Auto Body Technician Auto Body Technician | Carvana Carvana | 12/31/2020 12/31/2020 | $27,13112/31/2020 $27,131 |
Carvana Auto Body Technician Auto Body Technician | Carvana Carvana | 12/28/2020 12/28/2020 | $27,13112/28/2020 $27,131 |
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Auto Body Technician Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming an Auto Body Technician. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write an Auto Body Technician Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Auto Body Technician resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationJob type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary
Top Skills For an Auto Body Technician
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 27.6% of auto body technicians listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as time-management skills and customer-service skills are important as well.
- Customer Service, 27.6%
- Collision Repair, 9.0%
- Vehicle Parts, 8.9%
- Mechanical Parts, 8.6%
- ASE, 7.4%
- Other Skills, 38.5% See All Auto Body Technician Skills
Best States For an Auto Body Technician
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an auto body technician. The best states for people in this position are Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Auto body technicians make the most in Delaware with an average salary of $54,025. Whereas in Connecticut and Rhode Island, they would average $53,519 and $53,050, respectively. While auto body technicians would only make an average of $52,366 in Massachusetts, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. North Dakota
Total Auto Body Technician Jobs:
170
Highest 10% Earn:
$72,000
Location Quotient:
2.04
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$47,025
Avg. Salary
2. New Hampshire
Total Auto Body Technician Jobs:
228
Highest 10% Earn:
$68,000
Location Quotient:
1.28
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$51,486
Avg. Salary
3. Connecticut
Total Auto Body Technician Jobs:
402
Highest 10% Earn:
$78,000
Location Quotient:
1.11
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$53,520
Avg. Salary
How Do Auto Body Technician Rate Their Jobs?
2.0
2.0
What do you like the most about working as Auto Body Technician?
Working with hands, vehicle repair cost savings, tangible benefits, satisfaction. Show MoreTop Auto Body Technician Employers
Auto Body Technician Videos
Auto Body Technician, Career Video from drkit.org
A Day in the Life" of a Panel or Paint Technician"