Installation, maintenance and repair
Tire repairers and changers
Repair and replace tires.
Median pay
$37,710
Growth to 2035
+3%
about as fast as average
Openings a year
12,900
Time to qualify*
1 month
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Tire repairers and changers
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Hazardous conditions
Tire repairers and changers: 44% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- Unbolt and remove wheels from vehicles, using lug wrenches or other hand or power tools.
- Place wheels on balancing machines to determine counterweights required to balance wheels.
- Identify tire size and ply and inflate tires accordingly.
- Raise vehicles, using hydraulic jacks.
- Reassemble tires onto wheels.
- Glue tire patches over ruptures in tire casings, using rubber cement.
- Remount wheels onto vehicles.
- Seal punctures in tubeless tires by inserting adhesive material and expanding rubber plugs into punctures, using hand tools.
Also called: Alignment Technician (Alignment Tech) · Lube Technician (Lube Tech) · Service Technician (Service Tech) · Tire Alignment Technician (Tire Alignment Tech) · Tire Changer · Tire Installer · Tire Repairer · Tire Shop Mechanic
Outlook and AI
Tire repairers and changers held 112,200 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 116,000 by 2035 (+3%, about as fast as average; all jobs: +3.5%).
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