How To Become A Physical Damage Appraiser: What It Is and Career Path

What is a physical damage appraiser and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a physical damage appraiser. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.72 an hour? That's $53,504 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -6% and produce -19,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePhysical Damage AppraiserUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,504

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.4

Growth rate -6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.52%

Asian 5.54%

Black or African American 8.97%

Hispanic or Latino 14.52%

Unknown 4.80%

White 65.66%

Gender

female 19.85%

male 80.15%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

8.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.5

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a physical damage appraiser

Explore physical damage appraiser education requirements

Most common physical damage appraiser degrees

Bachelor's

50.7 %

Associate

20.0 %

High School Diploma

14.7 %

Start to develop specific physical damage appraiser skills

Skills	Percentages
Loss Claims	15.64%
Repair Process	14.20%
Auto Physical Damage	13.51%
Customer Service	11.70%
Repair Shops	10.54%

Complete relevant physical damage appraiser training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New physical damage appraisers 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 a physical damage appraiser based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real physical damage appraiser resumes.

Research physical damage appraiser duties and responsibilities

Educate on the Audatex and ccc pathways estimating system.
Provide detailed written reviews of residential properties ensuring USPAP guidelines, federal regulatory requirements and lender appraisal guidelines are met.
Assist the SIU department in fire and theft investigation.
Perform appraisals on business personal property as well as residential and commercial properties for taxation purposes.

Prepare your physical damage appraiser resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your physical damage appraiser 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 a physical damage appraiser resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable physical damage appraiser resume templates

Build a professional physical damage appraiser 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 physical damage appraiser resume.