Auto mechanic salary in Riverside, CA
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Auto mechanics in the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario, CA area earn a median of $64,210 a year, or $30.87 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $93,860 a year. Across all of California, the median is $64,980, so Riverside pays 1% less than the state as a whole.
- Entry-level starting pay (estimate)
- $17.49/hr
- Jobs in this area
- 7,680
- After cost of living
- $60,320
- Median hourly pay
- $30.87/hr
- vs U.S. median
- +27%
- vs California median
- −1%
- Mean (average) pay
- $63,080 a year · $30.33 an hour
Pay by percentile
What auto mechanics in Riverside, CA earn at each point of the pay range, May 2025: 10% earn less than the 10th percentile, half earn less than the median, and 10% earn more than the 90th.
| Percentile | Hourly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $17.49 | $36,380 |
| 25th percentile | $21.21 | $44,110 |
| Median (50th) | $30.87 | $64,210 |
| 75th percentile | $36.22 | $75,330 |
| 90th percentile | $45.13 | $93,860 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
How Riverside, CA compares
- Riverside ranks 9th of 25 California metro areas for auto mechanic pay.
- Auto mechanics hold about the same share of jobs in the Riverside area as nationally: 4.5 of every 1,000 jobs.
Other California metro areas
Other trades in Riverside, CA
Questions
- Do auto mechanics make more in Riverside or San Jose?
- San Jose pays more: the median is $64,210 in Riverside and $77,840 in San Jose, a 18% difference.
About this data
Wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, occupation 49-3023 (Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics), area code 40140 (Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA). BLS counts wage and salary workers only, so self-employed auto mechanics and business owners aren't included. The cost-of-living figure divides the median by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for 2024 (106.4, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures