Rail Car Repairers Salary: $75,667 Median Pay (2026 stats)
TL;DR
About 18,300 rail car repairers nationally earn a mean of $75,667. Employment in the series shown fell about 33% from the first to the last year; projections imply about 4.8% annual decline.
Key Statistics
Rail Car Repairers: what the data shows
Common questions about rail car repairers careers, answered from BLS OEWS and O*NET in this repository.
What is a rail car repairers?
Rail Car Repairers is tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics under SOC 49-3043.
U.S. employment in our OEWS extract is about 18,300 workers.
What does a rail car repairers do?
O*NET work activities rated highest for this occupation include Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials, Getting Information, Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment, Handling and Moving Objects, Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings, Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events, and related tasks. See Work Activities for the full list.
How much does a rail car repairers make?
BLS national median annual wage: $65,680 (May 2024 in our extract).
Mean annual wage in our occupational extract: $75,667 — higher than the median, which often reflects top earners in the distribution.
Wage percentiles below are from the California OEWS extract (not national unless noted).
| Wage percentile | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $49,910 |
| 25th percentile | $66,414 |
| Median (50th) | $68,539 |
| 75th percentile | $86,655 |
| 90th percentile | $116,088 |
What education do you need?
For Rail Car Repairers, O*NET incumbent surveys in our extract most often report: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
These are education levels of current workers, not minimum legal requirements.
What skills do you need?
O*NET ratings for this occupation emphasize skills such as Troubleshooting, Repairing, Equipment Maintenance, Critical Thinking, Quality Control Analysis, Operations Monitoring, and knowledge areas including Mechanical, Production and Processing, Design, Administration and Management. See Education & Skills for detail.
Is rail car repairers in demand?
Historical employment trend in our series implies about 4.8% annual decline (compound rate in the extract).
Five-year projected employment change: -21.9%.
Ten-year projected employment change: -39.1%.
Current U.S. headcount: 18,300.
We report federal series only—compare wages, growth, and openings against your target market.
Where do rail car repairerss work?
Top industries by employment share in our OEWS industry extract:
| Industry | Employment | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-industry | 18,300 | 19.7% |
| Cross-industry, Private Ownership only | 16,280 | 17.5% |
| Transportation and Warehousing | 15,650 | 16.9% |
| Rail Transportation | 9,830 | 10.6% |
| Rail Transportation | 9,830 | 10.6% |
| Support Activities for Transportation | 5,750 | 6.2% |
See Industry for charts.
What degrees lead to this career?
Common majors for Rail Car Repairers in O*NET:
See Related degrees.
Employment
Employment and salary information for the Rail Car Repairers workforce.
Employment Over Time
18,300 Workforce in 2023
The Rail Car Repairers workforce has been growing over time.
Historical employment trends for Rail Car Repairers.
Yearly Wage Ranking
$75,667 Average Wage
In 2023, Rail Car Repairers earned an average of $75,667.
Wage ranking compared to other occupations.
Wage Distribution
This chart shows the distribution of average salaries by income buckets for Rail Car Repairers.
Salary distribution for Rail Car Repairers.
Employment Growth Projections
-4.8% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
1,046 Projected Employment (5 years)
Projected growth: -21.9%
816 Projected Employment (10 years)
Projected growth: -39.1%
This occupation is experiencing a decline. Consider related fields with better growth prospects.
Historical employment trends and future projections for Rail Car Repairers.
Industry
Information on the industries that employ Rail Car Repairers and on wages for those in the field.
Occupations by Industries
This graphic shows the share of Rail Car Repairers employed by various industries.
Industry distribution for Rail Car Repairers.
Wage Trends by Industry
15.0% Average Annual Wage Growth Rate
Total, All Industry: 0.3% growth (Current: $75,667)
Historical wage growth trends by industry for Rail Car Repairers.
Geographic Distribution
Employment and wage information by geographic location for Rail Car Repairers.
State employment and wages are from the U.S. BLS OEWS May 2024 state extract. Metropolitan areas use the national MSA file when available.
Top States by Employment
Top States by Employment:
- TX: 2,190 employees, $58,460 avg wage
- NY: 1,560 employees, $84,100 avg wage
- IL: 1,440 employees, $75,280 avg wage
- PA: 1,000 employees, $60,620 avg wage
- GA: 670 employees, $60,500 avg wage
- KY: 670 employees, $56,780 avg wage
- CA: 650 employees, $73,680 avg wage
- MA: 620 employees, $91,000 avg wage
- NE: 610 employees, $69,170 avg wage
- FL: 500 employees, $59,170 avg wage
Top 10 states by employment for Rail Car Repairers.
Top Metropolitan Areas
Top Metropolitan Areas:
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ: 660 employees, $89,430 avg wage
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV: 560 employees, $87,170 avg wage
- Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX: 550 employees, $53,340 avg wage
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN: 480 employees, $69,280 avg wage
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX: 210 employees, $54,340 avg wage
- Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX: 210 employees, $49,630 avg wage
- Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD: 190 employees, $79,490 avg wage
- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI: 140 employees, $58,700 avg wage
- Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN: 130 employees, $56,410 avg wage
- Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA: 120 employees, $85,620 avg wage
Top 10 metropolitan statistical areas by employment for Rail Car Repairers.
Diversity
Demographic information on Rail Car Repairers in the US.
Gender and Age
The workforce of Rail Car Repairers in 2023 was 18,300 people, with 62.0% women and 38.0% men.
Gender and age distribution for Rail Car Repairers.
Races
Racial and ethnic shares when present in the career dataset. If the chart area shows a notice instead, occupational race/ethnicity fields are not yet populated for this extract.
Race and ethnicity distribution for Rail Car Repairers.
Education & Skills
Data on higher education choices and required skills for Rail Car Repairers.
Majors
The most common majors achieved by Rail Car Repairers in 2023 were Business Administration, Engineering, Business.
Common majors for Rail Car Repairers.
Education Levels
The main educational levels achieved by Rail Car Repairers workers.
Education level distribution for Rail Car Repairers.
Skills
Rail Car Repairers need many skills, but most especially Troubleshooting, Repairing, Equipment Maintenance, Critical Thinking, Quality Control Analysis.
Required skills for Rail Car Repairers.
Knowledge & Abilities
Knowledge areas and abilities required for Rail Car Repairers.
Knowledge Areas
The most important knowledge areas for Rail Car Repairers include Mechanical, Production and Processing, Design, Administration and Management, Building and Construction.
Knowledge areas required for Rail Car Repairers.
Abilities
Key abilities needed for Rail Car Repairers include Arm-Hand Steadiness, Control Precision, Manual Dexterity, Multilimb Coordination, Near Vision.
Required abilities for Rail Car Repairers.
Work Activities
Common work activities performed by Rail Car Repairers.
Daily Activities
Rail Car Repairers spend their time on activities such as Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials, Getting Information, Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment, Handling and Moving Objects, Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings.
Most important work activities for Rail Car Repairers.
About
Rail Car Repairers
The average yearly wage for Rail Car Repairers was $75,667 in 2023.
SOC Code
49-3043 - Rail Car Repairers
Insights and Analysis
Compensation snapshot: Rail Car Repairers reports an average salary of $75,667.
Labor market presence: The current workforce is approximately 18,300 workers, indicating sustained demand.
Forward outlook: Projected annual decline is -4.8%, which should inform long-term career planning.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS), and O*NET Online.
All wage figures represent annual averages and may vary by location, industry, and experience level.