New study ranks best states for technicians

Auto technicians getting ready to graduate from training programs, or established technicians looking for new opportunities can now compare data to see which U.S. states might be the best fit for them.

The website FindTheBestCarPrice.com compiled data from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. examining such factors as the number of people working as technicians, auto technician jobs per 1,000 jobs, annual median salary and the cost of living. Each state is ranked on how well it fares overall.

Oklahoma is the top state for technicians looking for work. Median annual salary for auto techs there is $46,180 — almost $10,000 more than the median pay across all jobs in the state. Additionally, Oklahoma has the second-lowest cost of living of all 50 states, and job opportunities for technicians are better than average, with 4.9 mechanic jobs per 1,000 jobs.

In contrast, Washington, D.C. ranks last in the survey. While it has the highest median annual pay for technicians at $60,590, that is well below the overall median annual wage in the district of $79,960. The nation's capital also has the second-highest cost of living in the country behind Hawaii and has only 0.6 mechanic jobs per 1,000.

The Census data estimates there are around 629,000 people working as automotive techs across the country and the median annual salary is $46,650.

But before automotive technicians pack up their wrenches and head off for the Sooner State, Geoff Cudd, who runs FindTheBestCarPrice.com, said there are more factors to consider when choosing a state or region for a job search beyond the U.S. Census Bureau data used in the study.

"Technicians should not only consider demand for auto repair but also employee satisfaction reviews, salary, local cost of living and what type of area they want to live in," he said. "Fortunately, it's easy to research remotely."

Cudd said Maine, Michigan and Wyoming have the highest demand for auto technicians per capita compared with other states. He said this research is independent of U.S. Census Bureau data and can be discovered by looking at the number of Google searches for auto-related problems per total number of people living in a state compared with other states.

"This means these three states are likely some of the better places to find work as a mechanic or to start your career as one," he said. "With car prices and interest rates skyrocketing, we see this trend of consumers maintaining their vehicles rather than buying [new] vehicles will only continue for at least the next year."

Jay Goninen, co-founder and president of WrenchWay, agrees that more factors should figure into a technician's decision on where to work. WrenchWay.com partners with technicians, shops, national dealership chains and schools to highlight top shops to work at, educates service departments on how to become better employers and helps schools attract the next generation of automotive technicians.

"WrenchWay gives techs the ability to do due diligence on a prospective employer," Goninen said. "We are like a dating app for techs and shops to reach out and get to know each other.

"Our goal," he added, "is to get more techs to the industry and to keep them in the industry."