Average Mechanic Salary in 2018 – Hourly Wages & Income

I don’t think that it’s all too uncommon for people to enjoy tinkering with their cars. Plenty of people grew up with their parents, helping to work on an old automobile in the garage. Plenty of other people grew up assembling model cars in their bedrooms. However, not everyone takes this kind of thing on as an actual job. Being an auto mechanic isn’t easy work, and it requires equal parts technical knowledge and physical ability. A mechanic is responsible for diagnosing, repairing, and finalizing repairs that need to be done on a given car. In order to become an auto mechanic, some people end up going to school. Some people don’t go to school at all, opting to acquire the necessary experience by learning on their own. It’s an accessible trade, and it’s certainly one that is in demand.

How well do mechanics actually get paid? It’s not a job that you don’t necessarily have to go to school for, which may suggest that it isn’t very high paid. However, it’s also a job that a lot of people can’t just do on their own. Even if you’re really interested in auto repair, it may be discouraging for someone to consider entering the field if they don’t think that it pays well. In this article, I plan on writing all about that. I’ll be discussing the nature of auto work, how well mechanics are paid, and how a mechanic’s salary can be affected by factors like experience and education. Finally, I’ll talk a little bit about what someone needs to do in order to become an auto mechanic. Without further ado, let’s learn a little bit more about this profession.

Average Salary for Mechanics 2018 – $37,850

The median salary for mechanics currently sits at approximately $37,850. That’s a moderately acceptable figure, but how is it affected by other factors? What do you have to do to get that number to go even higher? Firstly, consider how geographic location can affect your pay. I know what you’re thinking. People need cars everywhere, and so mechanics should be in demand everywhere, right? That’s only partially true. The thing is, people don’t actually need cars everywhere, and some towns have less of a demand to begin with. If you live in a small town, then there aren’t as many people with cars who need service. However, if you live in a large city with a large public transportation system, then it’s possible that a lot of people don’t own a car to begin with. You’ll find that “happy medium” cities, like Dallas, Seattle, Portland, and San Antonio hold auto mechanics in high demand. If you’re an aspiring mechanic, then that’s the kind of place where you need to relocate.

Next, how does experience affect a mechanic’s salary? I think that it’s obvious that someone with experience is more highly paid than someone with less experience. In auto repair, a mechanic with 20 or more years of experience can be paid up to $20,000 more than someone with entry-level experience. That obviously contributes to a very wide pay scale. When an employer pays a mechanic for their experience, they’re paying for a lot of things. First, they’re obviously paying for intangible characteristics. A highly experienced mechanic is used to working with others, is used to the expectations of your average client, and has acquired the critical thinking abilities required to work in the best possible way. Outside of that, a highly experienced mechanic is more familiar with the tools and systems that a mechanic might use.

Finally, let’s talk about the salary of a mechanic and how it is affected by education. I think that a lot of people think that mechanics don’t require formal education, which is a slight misconception. You don’t have to go to college in order to become a mechanic, but more and more aspiring mechanics are acquiring formal training at technical colleges and schools. As technology advances, that kind of technology is put into place to make auto repair easier and easier. People go to technical schools so that they can learn how to use this software and these systems — it’s the kind of knowledge that you can’t really get out of your own garage. So although you shouldn’t be discouraged from pursuing this trade if you can’t go to college, I still think that if you have the ability to go to a technical college, you should seriously look into it.

How to become a mechanic – Do you need to go to school

If you’ve read everything above and you still like the idea of being a mechanic, then you may be wondering what goes into becoming a mechanic. You may be happy to know that the nature of a mechanic’s work means that formal education is by no means a requirement. The first step of becoming a mechanic is ensuring that you have a strong familiarity with auto parts and automobiles. This is the part where it’s kind of up to you to determine what you want to do. You can try to obtain an apprenticeship at a local shop, or you could even try to figure things out the old fashioned way with some books and a car in your garage. Either way, during this early stage in your career’s development you need to ensure that you have all of the technical knowledge that you need to succeed in your chosen field.

From there, you have the option to complete a formal training program. Like I mentioned before, formal training isn’t required to get a job with most mechanics, but it helps to have. It gives you the kind of technical knowledge that you need to operate the more technically complex aspects of your job, and it can make you a more competitive applicant for any jobs that you may apply to. Not only that, but that kind of objective accomplishment can make it to where, once you’re hired, you have a greater chance of receiving some kind of promotion. Regardless as to whether or not you decide to complete some kind of formal training, from here, you should also consider acquiring some form of certification. Most certification goes through the National Institute for Automative Service Excellence, and some (though not all) places will require you to have this certification before they bring you aboard.

Once you’ve done all of the learning that you need to do, there isn’t much more that you can do. You can only be equipped with the skills that you can be equipped with, and from there it’s up to you to get a job somewhere. If you trained at all with any local shops, then you can try to contact them and see if they have any opening. If not, then you can at least utilize any contacts that you made during your training to find someone who does have an opening. Don’t forget what I mentioned before, too. Certain cities have a large demand for mechanics, and if you ever get desperate for work, you can always roll the dice and relocate. Regardless, as long as you have the knowledge and the mindset required to become a successful mechanic, I think that you’ll have a lot of luck in the business. Before long, you’ll be fixing cars and making the money that that job comes with.