Best programs to become an automotive body and related repairer
You do not need a college degree to become an automotive body and related repairer. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Autobody/Collision and Repair Technology/Technician (IPEDS completions).
1 college program at 264 schools trains automotive body and related repairers, graduating 5,352 people a year (IPEDS completions). The job pays a median of $54,890 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About automotive body and related repairers
Repair and refinish automotive vehicle bodies and straighten vehicle frames.
Best programs to study to become an automotive body and related repairer
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 47.0603 | 5,352 | 100.0% | 264 | $37,089 | $11,790 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
What automotive body and related repairers earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | $51,700 | 14,070 | 1.04× | 18 | 569 |
| North Carolina | $50,520 | 5,180 | 1.09× | 17 | 450 |
| Oklahoma | $48,810 | 2,330 | 1.42× | 18 | 409 |
| California | $66,860 | 14,050 | 0.80× | 22 | 406 |
| Illinois | $52,020 | 5,750 | 0.98× | 7 | 290 |
| Tennessee | $47,460 | 3,970 | 1.26× | 14 | 264 |
| Colorado | $59,880 | 3,120 | 1.13× | 7 | 180 |
| Georgia | $51,190 | 4,680 | 1.00× | 12 | 173 |
| Florida | $48,600 | 9,220 | 0.97× | 18 | 170 |
| Washington | $58,340 | 2,330 | 0.68× | 7 | 169 |
| Nebraska | $54,130 | 1,120 | 1.14× | 6 | 156 |
| Minnesota | $60,970 | 2,910 | 1.03× | 10 | 153 |
| Pennsylvania | $53,660 | 6,650 | 1.14× | 8 | 118 |
| Wyominglimited | $49,200 | 200 | 0.75× | 2 | 113 |
| Alabamamoderate | $52,040 | 1,810 | 0.89× | 3 | 108 |
| Arkansas | $49,310 | 1,140 | 0.91× | 6 | 103 |
| Iowa | $49,400 | 1,830 | 1.22× | 7 | 93 |
| Mississippi | $49,500 | 1,380 | 1.24× | 7 | 90 |
| Arizonamoderate | $54,510 | 2,750 | 0.88× | 4 | 87 |
| Kansas | $48,920 | 1,530 | 1.11× | 9 | 86 |
| Indianamoderate | $51,160 | 3,780 | 1.23× | 3 | 75 |
| Wisconsin | $56,660 | 2,690 | 0.95× | 7 | 75 |
| Kentuckymoderate | $46,080 | 1,680 | 0.87× | 3 | 69 |
| Missouri | $60,540 | 4,350 | 1.54× | 5 | 68 |
| Idaho | $49,200 | 850 | 1.04× | 5 | 61 |
| New York | $47,670 | 8,530 | 0.92× | 5 | 55 |
| New Jerseylimited | $62,400 | 3,720 | 0.90× | 2 | 54 |
| Oregonmoderate | $60,000 | 1,660 | 0.88× | 3 | 50 |
| Nevadalimited | $60,520 | 1,020 | 0.68× | 2 | 45 |
| South Carolinamoderate | $53,290 | 2,140 | 0.97× | 3 | 41 |
| Utahmoderate | $50,200 | 1,590 | 0.95× | 3 | 41 |
| Connecticutlimited | $58,220 | 1,850 | 1.14× | 1 | 39 |
| South Dakotalimited | $49,460 | 800 | 1.82× | 2 | 36 |
| Ohiolimited | $49,080 | 5,950 | 1.12× | 1 | 35 |
| New Mexicolimited | $48,260 | 810 | 0.97× | 2 | 23 |
| North Dakotalimited | $55,160 | 680 | 1.65× | 2 | 22 |
| Michiganmoderate | $56,880 | 5,010 | 1.18× | 3 | 21 |
| Virginialimited | $57,760 | 3,720 | 0.94× | 1 | 19 |
| Hawaiilimited | $60,540 | 450 | 0.74× | 1 | 12 |
| Louisianalimited | $47,150 | 1,660 | 0.89× | 1 | 11 |
| Mainelimited | $50,350 | 680 | 1.11× | 1 | 8 |
| New Hampshirelimited | $52,790 | 750 | 1.14× | 1 | 7 |
| Rhode Islandlimited | $72,490 | 800 | 1.67× | 1 | 7 |
Skills and knowledge
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- File, grind, sand, and smooth filled or repaired surfaces, using power tools and hand tools.
- Inspect repaired vehicles for proper functioning, completion of work, dimensional accuracy, and overall appearance of paint job, and test-drive vehicles to ensure proper alignment and handling.
- Fit and weld replacement parts into place, using wrenches and welding equipment, and grind down welds to smooth them, using power grinders and other tools.
- Prime and paint repaired surfaces, using paint sprayguns and motorized sanders.
- Follow supervisors' instructions as to which parts to restore or replace and how much time the job should take.
- Sand body areas to be painted and cover bumpers, windows, and trim with masking tape or paper to protect them from the paint.
- Chain or clamp frames and sections to alignment machines that use hydraulic pressure to align damaged components.
- Position dolly blocks against surfaces of dented areas and beat opposite surfaces to remove dents, using hammers.
Skills
- Monitoring3.0
- Active Listening3.0
- Critical Thinking3.0
- Speaking3.0
- Active Learning2.9
- Reading Comprehension2.9
- Writing2.4
- Learning Strategies2.3
Knowledge areas
- Mechanical3.6
- Customer and Personal Service3.3
- Production and Processing3.1
- Mathematics3.0
- English Language3.0
- Transportation3.0
Abilities
- Arm-Hand Steadiness3.5
- Manual Dexterity3.4
- Visualization3.4
- Near Vision3.3
- Information Ordering3.3
- Finger Dexterity3.3
Core activities
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge4.1
- Getting Information4.1
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.0
- Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment3.9
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events3.9
- Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work3.9
How to get in
How to become an automotive body and related repairer
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Automotive Body and Related Repairers1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 47.0603Autobody/Collision and Repair Technology/Technician
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become an automotive body and related repairer?+
You do not need a college degree to become an automotive body and related repairer. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Autobody/Collision and Repair Technology/Technician (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming an automotive body and related repairer?+
The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Autobody/Collision and Repair Technology/Technician (IPEDS completions). In all, the NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 program to this job, which graduates about 5,352 people a year.
How much do automotive body and related repairers earn?+
The median is $54,890 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $36,910 at the 10th percentile to $87,940 at the 90th. 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 body and related repairers growing?+
BLS projects a +1.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 14,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
264 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 program 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 body and related repairers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Body Man, Auto Body Man, Body Technician (Body Tech), Automotive Body Technician (Auto Body Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 49-3021.
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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