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Auto body industry statistics 2026
How many body and collision shops there are in the US, how many people they employ, what they take in and what body repairers earn. Official numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and BLS, each with its source and year.
Updated October 24, 2026 · NAICS 811121 (Automotive Body, Paint, and Interior Repair and Maintenance)
Key numbers
- 35,029
auto body, paint and interior repair shops with paid employees.
- 246,720
people worked at those shops.
- $54.35 billion
revenue of body shops with paid employees.
- 53.8%
of body shop locations have fewer than 5 employees.
- $54,890
median annual pay for automotive body and related repairers.
The auto body industry in numbers
Body and collision shops fall under NAICS 811121, automotive body, paint and interior repair and maintenance. Both the number of shops and the number of employees grew from 2022 to 2023.
- 35,029
shop locations with paid employees, up from 34,665 in 2022.
- 246,720
people worked at those shops in mid-March, up from 239,251 a year earlier.
- $14.98 billion
in annual payroll at body shops.
- 18,841
of the 35,029 locations (53.8%) had fewer than 5 employees.
- $54.35 billion
revenue of body shops with paid employees.
- 68,320
body and auto glass businesses without paid employees (NAICS 81112), with $5.29 billion in receipts.
The nonemployer count includes auto glass, because the national file has no separate line for body shops.
What body repair work pays
BLS groups body repairers with auto glass repairers. Most of them work at body, paint and glass shops; others work at car dealers or for themselves. Body repairers earn more than the median of all occupations.
- 185,800
jobs as automotive body and glass repairers.
- $54,890
median annual pay for automotive body and related repairers, with about 163,200 jobs. For body and glass repairers together the median was $52,530.
- $50,980
median annual pay of all occupations, for comparison.
- 60%
of body and glass repairers work at body, paint and glass shops; 16% work at car dealers and 8% are self-employed.
- $60,700
payroll per employee at body shops.
How customers find a local business
These numbers come from consumer surveys, not from official statistics. They describe local customers in general, including drivers looking for a body shop, and are labeled as surveys.
- 97%
of consumers read reviews for local businesses.
- 41%
of consumers “always” read reviews when browsing for businesses.
- 71%
is Google’s share as a review source, down from 83% in 2025.
- 45%
use ChatGPT or other generative AI tools for local recommendations, up from 6% the year before.
- 47%
won’t use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and 31% will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or more.
- 89%
expect business owners to respond to reviews; 74% only care about reviews written in the last three months.
- 54%
are most likely to visit a business’s website after reading positive reviews.
- 76%
of people who searched on a smartphone for something nearby visited a business within a day, and 28% of those searches led to a purchase.
The Google numbers are from 2016, so read them as a direction, not as today’s share.
How to cite this page
You are welcome to use these numbers in articles, reports and presentations. Please name the original agency, and link to this page as the place you found them.
StrideRank. “Auto Body Industry Statistics 2026.” Updated October 24, 2026. https://striderank.com/statistics/auto-body-industry<a href="https://striderank.com/statistics/auto-body-industry">Auto body industry statistics 2026</a> (StrideRank)Click a box to select it, then copy.
Sources and method
All sources accessed October 24, 2026. Each number above links to its source by number.
How we built this page
- Only official or primary sources: federal agencies and the original publisher of a survey.
- Numbers StrideRank worked out from a source, such as shares, changes and pay per employee, are labeled “StrideRank calculation”.
- Survey results are labeled as surveys, with the publisher and year.
Left out on purpose
- Market-size figures from paid research firms, because their methods cannot be checked.
U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (U.S. file, establishments with paid employees)
Employment as of mid-March; establishments with paid employees only.
U.S. Census Bureau via FRED, Total Revenue for Automotive Body, Paint, Interior Repair and Maintenance, All Establishments, Employer Firms (REVEF811121ALLEST)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Automotive Body and Glass Repairers
Also the source for the median pay of all occupations.
U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (U.S. file)
U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2023 (businesses without paid employees)
BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (published February 11, 2026)
Industry survey: representative panel of 1,002 US adult consumers via SurveyMonkey.
Google / Think with Google, How Mobile Search Connects Consumers to Stores (Purchased Digital Diary, May 2016)
Survey of 1,000 smartphone users, of them 634 local searchers. Older data, dated 2016.
Common questions
How many auto body shops are there in the US?
The Census Bureau counted 35,029 auto body, paint and interior repair locations with paid employees in 2023 (County Business Patterns, NAICS 811121), with 246,720 employees. 53.8% of them had fewer than 5 employees.
How big is the collision repair industry?
Body shops with paid employees had $54.35 billion in revenue in 2022, according to the Census Bureau’s Service Annual Survey.
How much do auto body technicians make?
The median annual pay for automotive body and related repairers was $54,890 in May 2025, according to BLS, compared with $50,980 for all occupations.
Can I use these statistics?
Yes. Every number links to its original source, so you can check it and cite the agency directly. If this page helped you, a link back to it as the place you found the numbers is appreciated.
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