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The differences between car detailers and car cleaners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a car cleaner has an average salary of $29,423, which is higher than the $29,125 average annual salary of a car detailer.
The top three skills for a car detailer include shampoo carpets, clean windows and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a car cleaner are clean windows, vehicle damage, and customer service.
| Car Detailer | Car Cleaner | |
| Yearly salary | $29,125 | $29,423 |
| Hourly rate | $14.00 | $14.15 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 11,302 | 41,909 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 62% | High School Diploma, 59% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A car detailer is responsible for providing auto cleaning services, following clients' specifications within internal guidelines. Car detailers organize the interior and exterior features of the vehicles, performing cleaning and disinfecting operations with utmost safety by adhering to the organization's procedures. They also inspect the engine's condition, recommending possible solutions to the clients to improve the vehicle's optimization and high performance. A car detailer must have excellent organizational and communication skills, especially on adhering to clients' special requests to ensure customer satisfaction.
Car Cleaners are Responsible for cleaning and washing vehicles for their exterior and interior. Their duties include greeting customers, soap application, cleaning dirt and spraying rims and tires, spray windows using cleaning agent, wax application, rinsing away soap, car debris removal, vacuuming to suck debris and dirt, applying upholstery cleaner for stains and dirt removal, rear window cleaning, as well as cleaning console and dash using a soft cloth. Other duties include processing payments, managing the cash register, ensuring vehicle valuables remain undisturbed, delivering receipt, directing the client to the car after service, and handling customer complaints.
Car detailers and car cleaners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Car Detailer | Car Cleaner | |
| Average salary | $29,125 | $29,423 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $36,000 | Between $23,000 And $36,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | SeaTac, WA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | CarMax | DXC Technology |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a car detailer and a car cleaner in terms of educational background:
| Car Detailer | Car Cleaner | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 62% | High School Diploma, 59% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between car detailers' and car cleaners' demographics:
| Car Detailer | Car Cleaner | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.4% Female, 13.6% | Male, 81.6% Female, 18.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.9% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 4.3% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 13.3% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 5.2% White, 59.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |