How To Become A Body Mechanic: What It Is and Career Path

What is a body mechanic and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a body mechanic. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.4 an hour? That's $50,743 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 5,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreBody MechanicUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $50,743

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.8

Growth Rate 3%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.66%

Asian 1.78%

Black or African American 7.81%

Hispanic or Latino 19.34%

Unknown 4.15%

White 66.27%

Gender

female 4.64%

male 95.36%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress Level

4.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

4.9

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.6

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a body mechanic

Explore body mechanic education requirements

Most common body mechanic degrees

High School Diploma

47.1 %

Associate

19.2 %

Diploma

13.5 %

Start to develop specific body mechanic skills

Skills	Percentages
OSHA	19.89%
Body Repair	11.62%
MIG	10.23%
DOT	8.55%
Body Shop	7.70%

Complete relevant body mechanic training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New body mechanics learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a body mechanic based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real body mechanic resumes.

Research body mechanic duties and responsibilities

Attain ICAR and ASE master technician status.
Utilize sophisticate diagnostic equipment to troubleshoot and correct vehicle computer, electrical, and mechanical, problems.
Utilize sophisticate diagnostic equipment to troubleshoot and correct vehicle computer, electrical, and mechanical, problems.

Prepare your body mechanic resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your body mechanic resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a body mechanic resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Body Mechanic Resume templates

Build a professional Body Mechanic resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Body Mechanic resume.

Apply for body mechanic jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a body mechanic job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do body mechanics rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Body Mechanic reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Cons

Poor wages, physical damage to health, complicated repair procedures due to safety construction, liability due to lack of training, cost of having proper tooling, insurance companies dictating repairs. MSO’s working to monopolize shops, cost of materials