Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
Also called: Attendant, Auto Garage Attendant, Auto Self Service Station Attendant, Auto Service Station Attendant, Auto Servicer, Automobile Self-Serve Service Station Attendant, Automobile Service Station Attendant, Automobile Technician
Service automobiles, buses, trucks, boats, and other automotive or marine vehicles with fuel, lubricants, and accessories.
What automotive and watercraft service attendants do
Typical tasks
- Collect cash payments from customers, and make change or charge purchases to customers' credit cards, providing customers with receipts.
- Check tire pressure and levels of fuel, motor oil, transmission, radiator, battery, or other fluids, adding air or fluids as required.
- Perform minor repairs, such as adjusting brakes, replacing spark plugs, or changing engine oil or filters.
- Clean parking areas, offices, restrooms, or equipment, and remove trash.
- Order stock, and price and shelve incoming goods.
- Sell and install accessories, such as batteries, windshield wiper blades, fan belts, bulbs, or headlamps.
- Grease and lubricate vehicles or specified units, such as springs, universal joints, or steering knuckles, using grease guns or spray lubricants.
- Rotate, test, and repair or replace tires.
- Prepare daily reports of fuel, oil, and accessory sales.
- Clean windshields.
- Activate fuel pumps and fill fuel tanks of vehicles with gasoline or diesel fuel to specified levels.
- Test and charge batteries.
Typical path into the job (BLS)
Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants salary
The median annual wage for automotive and watercraft service attendants is $35,670 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $28,630 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $46,060. The mean annual wage is $36,780.
The mean hourly wage of $17.00 is 2.3× the federal minimum wage of $7.25. State minimums are higher in most large states. Minimum wage by state →
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $35,670 → in 3 years $39,200 → in 5 years $41,800 → in 10 years $48,900 (10-year range $42,100–$56,800). The model assumes pay growth of +3.2% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
Outlook score for Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.
Will AI replace Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants? AI replacement risk
How AI is changing this job
A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.
AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →
Labor demand for Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2025–35). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
The same job in Japan
| Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants United States | ガソリンスタンド・スタッフ Japan | |
|---|---|---|
| Median / average pay | $35,670 | ¥3.85M ≈ $24,468 |
| Pay in 10 years (est.) | $48,900 | ¥5.29M |
| Outlook score | 55 | 54 |
| AI replacement risk | 21% Low | 36% Low |
| Workers | 102K | — |
Matched by occupation (SOC code). Yen converted at 157.25 JPY/USD for reference; Japanese figures are averages, U.S. figures are medians, and the surveys define occupations differently.
Skills, education and requirements for Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
Key skills
O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).
Key knowledge areas
What the work involves
Important abilities
Education of workers
Training before entry
Related work experience
Job Zone 2 — some preparation needed (O*NET)
Difficulty of entry: ★★☆☆☆ Fairly easy (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)
How to become automotive and watercraft service attendants
A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.
Career path and how to earn more as automotive and watercraft service attendants
Career-path guidance is being prepared. Pay by percentile is shown in the Pay section.