Auto mechanic salary in Watertown, NY
Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025
Auto mechanics in the Watertown–Fort Drum, NY area earn a median of $47,280 a year, or $22.73 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paid 10% make over $69,490 a year. Across all of New York, the median is $54,120, so Watertown pays 13% less than the state as a whole.
- Entry-level starting pay (estimate)
- $16.79/hr
- Jobs in this area
- 350
- After cost of living
- $53,920
- Median hourly pay
- $22.73/hr
- vs U.S. median
- −7%
- vs New York median
- −13%
- Mean (average) pay
- $50,700 a year · $24.37 an hour
Pay by percentile
What auto mechanics in Watertown, NY 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 | $16.79 | $34,920 |
| 25th percentile | $18.84 | $39,190 |
| Median (50th) | $22.73 | $47,280 |
| 75th percentile | $28.80 | $59,900 |
| 90th percentile | $33.41 | $69,490 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.
How Watertown, NY compares
- Watertown ranks 12th of 13 New York metro areas for auto mechanic pay.
- Auto mechanics are more concentrated in the Watertown area than nationally: 8.8 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.9 times the U.S. share.
Other New York metro areas
Other trades in Watertown, NY
Questions
- Do auto mechanics make more in Watertown or Rochester?
- Rochester pays more: the median is $47,280 in Watertown and $58,530 in Rochester, a 19% 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 48060 (Watertown-Fort Drum, NY). 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 (87.7, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures