Best Automotive Service Technician programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul automotive.
84 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 7,042 people a year. The job pays a median of $64,980 in California across about 65,420 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
4 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 47.0604In California → | 6,847 | 97.2% | 82 | $37,089 | $11,790 |
| 2 | CIP 15.0803In California → | 103 | 1.5% | 3 | $61,021 | $24,436 |
| 3 | CIP 47.0614In California → | 75 | 1.1% | 12 | $37,089 | $11,790 |
| 4 | CIP 47.0613In California → | 17 | 0.2% | 1 | $37,089 | $11,790 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 16 of the 84 schools in this state.
All 84 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Technical Institute of California Inc | Rancho Cucamonga | Private for-profit | 588 | 1 |
| Universal Technical Institute - Southern California | Long Beach | Private for-profit | 476 | 1 |
| Universal Technical Institute of Northern California Inc | Sacramento | Private for-profit | 437 | 1 |
| Cypress College | Cypress | Public | 258 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Trade Technical College | Los Angeles | Public | 251 | 2 |
| College of the Sequoias | Visalia | Public | 202 | 1 |
| De Anza College | Cupertino | Public | 201 | 1 |
| Cerritos College | Norwalk | Public | 196 | 1 |
| Cosumnes River College | Sacramento | Public | 188 | 1 |
| UEI College - Bakersfield | Bakersfield | Private for-profit | 184 | 1 |
| Santa Ana College | Santa Ana | Public | 172 | 1 |
| Pasadena City College | Pasadena | Public | 171 | 1 |
| Oxnard College | Oxnard | Public | 167 | 1 |
| UEI College - Chula Vista | Chula Vista | Private for-profit | 160 | 1 |
| Long Beach City College | Long Beach | Public | 141 | 2 |
What automotive service technicians and mechanics earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $50,620. California pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics page.
How to become a Automotive Service Technician
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 8 majors mapped to Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics8 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 15.0803Automotive Engineering Technology/Technician
- 15.0807Motorsports Engineering Technology/Technician
- 47.0600Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technology/Technician, General
- 47.0604Automobile/Automotive Mechanics Technology/Technician
- 47.0612Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance Technology/Technician
- 47.0613Medium/Heavy Vehicle and Truck Technology/Technician
- 47.0614Alternative Fuel Vehicle Technology/Technician
- 47.0617High Performance and Custom Engine Technician/Mechanic
Common questions
Answers for people weighing automotive service technicians and mechanics programs in California.
What degree do you need to become an Automotive Service Technician?+
Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Automobile/Automotive Mechanics Technology/Technician, which awarded 6,847 degrees in California in 2024-25, 97.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Automotive Service Technician?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians, Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 7,042 people a year in California.
How much do automotive service technicians and mechanics earn in California?+
The median is $64,980 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 28.4% above the U.S. median of $50,620. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for automotive service technicians and mechanics growing?+
BLS projects a +4.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 70,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
84 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do automotive service technicians and mechanics work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Mechanic, Automotive Technician (Auto Tech), Service Technician (Service Tech), Automotive Mechanic (Auto Mechanic) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 49-3023.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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