Auto body
repairers can make cars involved in accidents look like new.
Auto body people repair cars involved in collisions by straightening bent metals, replacing broken panels or repainting large blemishes. Most employers prefer those with formal training in collision repair from technical schools and community colleges. In large city shops, voluntary certification from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence is also often needed.
Salaries
Auto body repairers work a 40-hour week inside shops that are well-ventilated and well-lit, but with noise from hammering metals and power tools. Possible hazards include cuts from metal edges, burns from heated metal and power tool injuries. Workers must also endure long periods of standing, kneeling or lying in awkward positions. Their median salary is $37,980 annually, with a range of $23,140 to $63,980. This breaks down to $18.26 hourly, with a range of $11.12 to $30.76. This is according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as of May 2009.
Employers
The largest employers of auto body repairers are automotive repair and maintenance shops, which comprise over 68 percent of the available 133,290 positions. They pay $19.40 or $40,350, which is close to the median. The best-paying employer is spectator sports at $27.40 or $56,980. However, with only 620 jobs, this industry is not easy to break into.
Cities
The city with the best job opportunities for auto body people is Flint, Michigan, with a job concentration of 2.9 repairers per thousand workers. The large supply of jobs lowers salaries to $16.09 or $33,470, which is below the median. The highest salaries are found in Lawrence, Massachusetts, with compensation at $28.93 or $60,180. However, the job concentration of 0.6 per thousand is less than a fifth that of Flint.
Outlook
The BLS says that jobs for auto body repairers will grow by one percent from 2008 to 2018, which is much slower than average for all occupations. The industry has consolidated operations, decreasing the number of repair shops and job opportunities. New productivity and insurance techniques often demand that cars that once were eligible for repairs be declared a total loss, especially if the cost of repair is higher than the insurance deductible associated with it.
