Statewide pay Government data
Diesel mechanics in California earn a statewide median of $73,950 a year, 23% above the typical U.S. metro, ranking #5 of 50 states and DC. About 20,940 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near California
See all states on the diesel mechanics nationwide.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes diesel mechanic pay for 25 California metros. The highest-paying is San Jose at $88,980, followed by San Francisco and Napa.
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 California's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul buses and trucks, or maintain and repair any type of diesel engines. Includes mechanics working primarily with automobile or marine diesel engines.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3.6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,400 openings a year. Typical training: long-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, diesel mechanics have 163 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 1.9× 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 diesel 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.
Registered apprenticeships Government data
Of diesel mechanic apprentices in California who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 71% completed (U.S.: 66%), about 30 graduates a year. The typical program runs 7,200 hours, about 4 years of full-time work. Union programs had a 72% completion rate, compared with 65% for non-union programs. Search open registered programs near you on the official Apprenticeship Finder.
U.S. Department of Labor, RAPIDS apprentice records (Completion Rate Analysis), FY2020–2024 exits.
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
California 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, truck and auto repair shops filed 277 severe injury reports from 2015 to 2024; the most common cause was contact with objects and equipment (55%). OSHA also opened 4 fatality investigations at truck and auto repair shops in California over the same years (federal and state programs).
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 California Government data
100 schools in California offer vehicle maintenance and repair programs below the bachelor's level, 79 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 $44,168 in their first year out.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Technical Institute of California Inc Rancho Cucamonga, CA · Private for-profit | Associate degree | $34,166 | 539 | $47,922 |
| Universal Technical Institute-Southern California Long Beach, CA · Private for-profit | Associate degree | $37,467 | 423 | $47,922 |
| Antelope Valley Community College District Lancaster, CA · Public | Certificate | $10,365 | 416 | — |
| Universal Technical Institute of Northern California Inc Sacramento, CA · Private for-profit | Associate degree | $37,371 | 394 | $46,617 |
| Los Angeles Trade Technical College Los Angeles, CA · Public | Certificate | $12,597 | 274 | $38,935 |
| Cypress College Cypress, CA · Public | Certificate | $12,047 | 273 | — |
| College of the Sequoias Visalia, CA · Public | Certificate | $10,965 | 212 | — |
| Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa, CA · Public | Certificate | $17,006 | 210 | — |
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 California Official source
The main state licensing office in California is the Contractors State License Board. Licenses all trades by classification (e.g. C-10 electrical; C-36 plumbing). It can point you to the right license for diesel mechanics.
Official California licensing site ↗
Requirements for diesel mechanics vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 14.9% of wage and salary workers in California were union members, above the U.S. rate of about 10% (#8 of 51 states and D.C.), and 16.7% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only diesel mechanics.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in California
All trades in California.