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The differences between car wash attendants and automotive detailers 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 $28,357 average annual salary of an automotive detailer.
The top three skills for a car wash attendant include visual inspections, menu options and competent demeanor. The most important skills for an automotive detailer are work ethic, cleanliness, and customer vehicles.
| Car Wash Attendant | Automotive Detailer | |
| Yearly salary | $30,843 | $28,357 |
| Hourly rate | $14.83 | $13.63 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 49,512 | 37,088 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 57% | High School Diploma, 51% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
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.
An automotive detailer typically works at car shops and dealerships, where they primarily focus on the upkeep of a car's interior and exterior. Their responsibilities revolve around understanding the clients' needs and preferences, cleaning the vehicles according to protocols and client requests, scraping off dirt, coordinating with paint technicians and mechanics, operating devices and machinery such as vacuums and buffers, and adhering to timelines and budgets. Moreover, an automotive detailer also monitors the inventory of supplies and handles calls and correspondence.
Car wash attendants and automotive detailers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Car Wash Attendant | Automotive Detailer | |
| Average salary | $30,843 | $28,357 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $39,000 | Between $22,000 And $35,000 |
| Highest paying City | Brentwood, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | Charles River Center | Mars |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Retail |
There are a few differences between a car wash attendant and an automotive detailer in terms of educational background:
| Car Wash Attendant | Automotive Detailer | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 57% | High School Diploma, 51% |
| Most common major | Business | Automotive Technology |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between car wash attendants' and automotive detailers' demographics:
| Car Wash Attendant | Automotive Detailer | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 84.4% Female, 15.6% | Male, 89.4% Female, 10.6% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.4% Asian, 4.6% White, 64.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |