Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics in Idaho

Wrenches, screwdrivers and gloves on an organized repair workbench.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$39,373

after federal, FICA and Idaho tax

Tax takes

$9,047

18.7% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$43,065

Idaho costs less than average

One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.

Median here

$48,420

Kept after tax

$39,373

Worth in national money

$43,065

State rank

36

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • The nominal figure here is modest. Idaho pays this job a middle wage of $48,420, 36 of 51 states and about 4.35% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
  • Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 297 among 476 occupations Idaho publishes pay for.
  • Here is where Idaho does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $48,420 you keep $39,373, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,065 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $53,990, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • Idaho's $48,420 median for automotive service technicians and mechanics places it 36 of 51 states, about 4.35% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
  • Position 297 of 476 in Idaho places automotive service technicians and mechanics in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
  • After federal, FICA and Idaho income tax, retained pay for automotive service technicians and mechanics on $48,420 is $39,373. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,065 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $53,990 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$34,570
Half earn under$48,420
Top tenth earn over$77,710
This salary$48,420

Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.

The same pay, somewhere else

The state median for this job

Compare with
+$1,713take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Idaho$39,373
Take-home in Texas$41,085
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$785

The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.

State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.

What you would need there

The state median for this job

Moving to
$0$49,370
$49,370in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$46,288
Raise you would need+$950
Prices in Texas97 vs 91

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of automotive service technicians and mechanics in Idaho earn under $48,420 and half over. The published range runs $34,570 at the tenth percentile to $77,710 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
  • That $39,373 take-home in Idaho comes from $48,420. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 297 of 476.
  • Two cautions on $43,065, the adjusted value of that $48,420 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Idaho. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 297 of 476 locally.
  • Figures are distribution medians for automotive service technicians and mechanics in Idaho, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,570 to $77,710; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
  • Retained pay of $39,373, from $48,420, assumes a single Idaho filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 297 of 476 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 51 for it.
  • This $43,065 adjusted figure, worked from $48,420, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 297 of 476 in the state. The occupation ranks 297 of 476 locally.

Questions people ask

Is this the average pay for the job?

It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $53,990, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.

Why is the pay range for this job so wide?

Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $34,570 and the top tenth $77,710 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.

What does this pay actually buy where I live?

Further than the number implies. Idaho is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $43,065 in national terms.

Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?

Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Idaho adds its own income tax on top — which is why $39,373 of this wage survives to your account.

Can I compare this job across every state?

All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.

How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?

The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Idaho is $53,990. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.

What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?

Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($34,570) and the ninetieth ($77,710) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.

What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?

Idaho's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $43,065 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.

What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?

Take-home of $39,373 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.

Is this occupation's state coverage complete?

State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.