Statewide pay Government data
Auto body repairers in New York earn a statewide median of $47,670 a year, 8% below the typical U.S. metro, ranking #47 of 50 states and DC. About 8,530 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near New York
See all states on the auto body repairers nationwide.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes auto body repairer pay for 12 New York metros. The highest-paying is New York at $57,920, followed by Kingston and Kiryas Joel.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| New YorkNEW YORK · NY | $57,920 | $51,456 | 8,150 |
| KingstonNEW YORK · NY | $57,320 | $56,916 | 80 |
| Kiryas JoelNEW YORK · NY | $50,280 | $45,951 | 410 |
| AlbanyNEW YORK · NY | $49,270 | $49,485 | 500 |
| Glens FallsNEW YORK · NY | $48,670 | $51,304 | 70 |
| SyracuseNEW YORK · NY | $48,270 | $50,417 | 240 |
| RochesterNEW YORK · NY | $47,810 | $49,271 | 430 |
| BuffaloNEW YORK · NY | $47,180 | $49,226 | 510 |
| UticaNEW YORK · NY | $47,030 | $50,746 | 120 |
| BinghamtonNEW YORK · NY | $46,780 | $50,375 | 90 |
| WatertownNEW YORK · NY | $46,770 | $53,336 | 50 |
| ElmiraNEW YORK · NY | $46,380 | $49,132 | 40 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
Pay outside the cities Government data
BLS also reports pay for New York's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Repair and refinish automotive vehicle bodies and straighten vehicle frames.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3.7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,600 openings a year. Typical training: long-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, auto body repairers have 60 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 31% below the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is being struck by or caught in objects and equipment.
What the work is like Government data
How often auto body repairers deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes some preparation (high school plus months of training).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Where to train in New York Government data
26 schools in New York offer vehicle maintenance and repair programs below the bachelor's level, 22 of them at public colleges. Many people in this trade learn through an apprenticeship instead; a program can shorten it or get you hired as a helper.
Where published, graduates earned a median of $48,592 in their first year out.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Technical Institute-Whitestone Whitestone, NY · Private for-profit | Certificate | $52,309 | 238 | $41,342 |
| New York Automotive and Diesel Institute Jamaica, NY · Private for-profit | Certificate | $35,165 | 170 | $39,870 |
| Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology Flushing, NY · Private nonprofit | Associate degree | $45,922 | 166 | $60,938 |
| Apex Technical School Long Island City, NY · Private nonprofit | Certificate | $25,807 | 95 | $36,433 |
| SUNY College of Technology at Alfred Alfred, NY · Public | Associate degree | $25,215 | 75 | $48,824 |
| New York Automotive and Diesel Institute Jamaica, NY · Private for-profit | Associate degree | $35,165 | 73 | $44,202 |
| Erie Community College Buffalo, NY · Public | Associate degree | $18,252 | 70 | $48,361 |
| Suffolk County Community College Selden, NY · Public | Associate degree | $13,046 | 52 | $54,340 |
U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (data updated October 2026). Cost is the school's average yearly cost of attendance before financial aid; earnings are the median for graduates one year after finishing, shown only where the school has enough graduates to publish. “—” means not published.
Licensing in New York Official source
New York licenses most trades at the city or county level (e.g. New York City). Check with the building or licensing office where you plan to work.
Requirements for auto body repairers vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 21.3% of wage and salary workers in New York were union members, above the U.S. rate of about 10% (#2 of 51 states and D.C.), and 22.5% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only auto body repairers.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in New York
All trades in New York.