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The differences between car detailers and car wash attendants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a car wash attendant has an average salary of $30,843, 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 wash attendant are visual inspections, menu options, and competent demeanor.
| Car Detailer | Car Wash Attendant | |
| Yearly salary | $29,125 | $30,843 |
| Hourly rate | $14.00 | $14.83 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 11,302 | 49,512 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 62% | High School Diploma, 57% |
| 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.
As a car wash attendant, they wash and polish car exteriors and interiors. They often clean tires, dust, drying, applying soap solutions, vacuuming car interiors, scraping loose specks of dirt, cleaning seats, and removing the trash on a car. This type of job requires reliability, communication, physical fitness, and customer service skills. Formal education is not fully required though most of them hold a high school diploma. However, their attention to detail and good customer service may increase their employment opportunities.
Car detailers and car wash attendants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Car Detailer | Car Wash Attendant | |
| Average salary | $29,125 | $30,843 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $36,000 | Between $24,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Brentwood, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | CarMax | Charles River Center |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Technology |
There are a few differences between a car detailer and a car wash attendant in terms of educational background:
| Car Detailer | Car Wash Attendant | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 62% | High School Diploma, 57% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between car detailers' and car wash attendants' demographics:
| Car Detailer | Car Wash Attendant | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.4% Female, 13.6% | Male, 84.4% Female, 15.6% |
| 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, 12.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 4.1% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |