Automotive Body and Related Repairers

Moderate Risk
Low High

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Why it fits

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
4.7/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

49% (Moderate Risk)

Moderate Risk (41-60%): This occupation may be meaningfully affected by automation. Some parts of the role may be suitable for AI, software, or robotics, while others still rely on human skill, judgement, trust, or real-world context. People in this range may benefit from building skills that complement automation and reduce replacement risk.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Decision-making and problem solving

Very important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Thinking creatively

Quite important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
Jobs that also use this strength

Coaching and developing others

Quite important
Why this matters
Helps people learn and improve through coaching, mentoring, and feedback. This relies on trust, motivation, and adapting guidance to each person—work that’s hard to replace end-to-end with automation.
Jobs that also use this strength

Developing objectives and strategies

Quite important
Why this matters
Sets long-term goals and chooses strategies and actions to reach them, weighing tradeoffs and adapting plans as conditions change.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 101 votes

39% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 49% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Automotive Body and Related Repairers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Automotive Body and Related Repairers was $51,680 ($25 per hour).

The median annual wage for Automotive Body and Related Repairers was 4.4% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Automotive Body and Related Repairers' job openings is expected to rise 1.6% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 155,220 people employed as 'Automotive Body and Related Repairers' within the United States.

This represents around 0.10% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 993 people are employed as 'Automotive Body and Related Repairers'.

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What people are saying (5)

Leave a comment
John (Low)
08 Jul 2024 07:21
The complexity of detail in metal repair, trying to make a body repair that bends around the edge of a panel.. Determining whether to replace that part, manipulate the metal and when to start using body filler..

Getting body lines to line up, I could go on but it's so detailed that a robot would need reprogramming for every single minute detail even surprises that would arise even during the repair like finding out that the panel was improperly repaired prior and that it's more skilled work to deal with that variable..
Jeff mach1 (Low)
22 Oct 2023 03:46
How does a robot do a job that is very complex in different processes
Roy
02 Nov 2022 13:24
Would require AGI. There are no two jobs that are truly alike and it requires critical problem solving. The cost of automation would be astronomical. Maybe a single facility could take the place of hundreds of thousands of body shops.
Dean (No chance)
27 May 2021 03:24
A vehicle in a accident has many variables that need repair and visual damage can not be fix by a machine, preparing a body for paint simply can not be done via robot, but painting can be done by a robot yes
Joe (Low)
09 Jan 2021 10:56
There are many variables and different techniques involved in auto-repair. Not likely to get a universal robotic-solution.

Leave a reply about this occupation
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Job description

Repair and refinish automotive vehicle bodies and straighten vehicle frames.

O*NET-SOC code: 49-3021.00