How To Become An Automobile Detailer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an automobile detailer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an automobile detailer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.57 an hour? That's $28,219 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 358,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreAutomobile DetailerUS Average

Salary

2.2

Avg. Salary $28,219

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.92%

Asian 4.31%

Black or African American 13.61%

Hispanic or Latino 13.31%

Unknown 5.06%

White 62.79%

Gender

female 8.19%

male 91.81%

Age - 36

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 36

Stress level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an automobile detailer

Explore automobile detailer education requirements

Most common automobile detailer degrees

High School Diploma

54.1 %

Associate

18.0 %

Bachelor's

15.0 %

Start to develop specific automobile detailer skills

Skills	Percentages
Rental Cars	20.88%
Customer Vehicles	11.71%
Auto Body	11.06%
Customer Service	10.04%
Loose Dirt	6.33%

Complete relevant automobile detailer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New automobile detailers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an automobile detailer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real automobile detailer resumes.

Research automobile detailer duties and responsibilities

Cleaned/Wax automobiles and maintain the cleanliness of the showroom
Detail rvs, shop upkeep, move rvs around lot or to convention centers for sale shows

Prepare your automobile detailer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your automobile detailer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an automobile detailer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable automobile detailer resume templates

Build a professional automobile detailer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your automobile detailer resume.