Statewide pay Government data
Auto mechanics in Iowa earn a statewide median of $50,510 a year, 3% above the typical U.S. metro, ranking #27 of 50 states and DC. About 7,610 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Iowa
See all states on the auto mechanic overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes auto mechanic pay for 8 Iowa metros. The highest-paying is Dubuque at $61,030, followed by Des Moines and Ames.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| DubuqueIOWA · IA | $61,030 | $69,886 | 290 |
| Des MoinesIOWA · IA | $60,470 | $65,943 | 1,870 |
| AmesIOWA · IA | $58,820 | $66,216 | 260 |
| Sioux CityIOWA · IA | $54,230 | $62,727 | 330 |
| Iowa CityIOWA · IA | $49,960 | $54,596 | 360 |
| Cedar RapidsIOWA · IA | $49,890 | $56,079 | 650 |
| WaterlooIOWA · IA | $48,720 | $55,963 | 430 |
| DavenportIOWA · IA | $47,880 | $53,750 | 980 |
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 Iowa's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul automotive vehicles.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5.0% from 2025 to 2035, with about 66,200 openings a year. Typical training: short-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, auto mechanics have 204 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 2.4× 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 mechanics deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes medium preparation (vocational training or an apprenticeship, often 1–2+ years).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
Iowa runs its own workplace-safety program (an OSHA State Plan), so its injury reports aren't in the federal dataset. Nationally, in states federal OSHA covers, auto repair shops filed 277 severe injury reports from 2015 to 2024; the most common cause was contact with objects and equipment (55%).
OSHA Severe Injury Reports, January 2015–December 2024 (states under federal OSHA only).
Fatality investigations: OSHA Fatality Inspection Data, events 2015–2024, all states.
Where to train in Iowa Government data
15 schools in Iowa offer vehicle maintenance and repair programs below the bachelor's level. 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 $50,164 in their first year out.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkwood Community College Cedar Rapids, IA · Public | Certificate | $18,463 | 92 | — |
| Western Iowa Tech Community College Sioux City, IA · Public | Certificate | $14,800 | 85 | $42,099 |
| Des Moines Area Community College Ankeny, IA · Public | Associate degree | $12,609 | 77 | $55,522 |
| Des Moines Area Community College Ankeny, IA · Public | Certificate | $12,609 | 70 | — |
| Eastern Iowa Community College District Davenport, IA · Public | Certificate | $18,295 | 47 | — |
| Iowa Western Community College Council Bluffs, IA · Public | Certificate | $21,692 | 45 | $56,801 |
| Iowa Central Community College Fort Dodge, IA · Public | Associate degree | $19,280 | 32 | $45,462 |
| Iowa Western Community College Council Bluffs, IA · Public | Associate degree | $21,692 | 29 | $53,320 |
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 Iowa Official source
The main state licensing office in Iowa is the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing. It can point you to the right license for auto mechanics.
Official Iowa licensing site ↗
Requirements for auto mechanics vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 6.8% of wage and salary workers in Iowa were union members, below the U.S. rate of about 10% (#28 of 51 states and D.C.), and 8.2% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only auto mechanics.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Iowa
All trades in Iowa.