How much do service advisors make in 2026?
Service advisors are counted in the BLS customer service representatives series: OEWS May 2025 gives SOC 43-4051 a national median of $44,770 a year ($21.53 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $31,750 and the top 10% at $63,590 across 2,595,750 workers. That is an enormous general code shared with our customer service representative record, and it does not reflect how service advisors are actually paid. Most dealership advisors work on a base plus commission structure tied to service gross profit, hours sold per repair order and customer satisfaction scores, and a strong advisor at a busy store routinely earns above the top of this published band. A weak advisor, or one at a store with poor traffic, earns near the bottom. The role is genuinely a sales job wrapped around a technical one: the advisor interprets a customer's description of a problem, translates the technician's findings into recommendations the customer will accept, manages expectations about time and cost, and absorbs the frustration when something goes wrong. The published outlook also needs stating honestly — BLS projects the pooled customer service occupation to decline 5.5% by 2034 — though service advising is more insulated than call centre work because it requires in-person judgement and product knowledge. Roughly 341,700 openings a year arise across the pooled code. → Full service advisor career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $44,770 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Service Advisors earn a national median $44,770/yr ($21.53/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 43-4051); the P10 to P90 range is $31,750 to $63,590.
- Service advisors are pooled into a 2.6 million-worker customer service code that does not reflect their pay structure — most work on base plus commission tied to service gross and hours sold.
- A strong advisor at a busy store routinely earns above the top of the published band, while a weak one or a quiet store produces earnings near the bottom.
- The pooled code is projected to decline 5.5% by 2034, though in-person service advising is more insulated than call centre work because it requires judgement and product knowledge.
US Service Advisor Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do service advisors earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 43-4051; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 43-4051, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a service advisor earn at each career stage?
Service advisor pay follows the size of the service department and how well you sell recommended work. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 43-4051.
By State
Which states pay service advisors the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the pooled national customer service median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. For advisors on commission, dealership volume, brand and labour rate determine earnings far more than the state does.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($51,490), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay service advisors the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations. High-volume metro dealerships generate more repair orders, which is what commission-based advisor pay actually depends on.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a service advisor’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does service advisor pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Service Advisors sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify service advisor wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a service advisor actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Service Advisor Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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