Tire Builders salary

SOC 51-9197 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$57,390

per year, nationally

Middle half

$47,900–$64,380

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

20,770

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+2.3%

2,500 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$40,150$74,680

10th: $40,150
25th: $47,900
Median: $57,390
75th: $64,380
90th: $74,680

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where tire builders earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Tennessee	$74,100	91.9	1,360	3.11×
2	North Carolina	$63,950	94.3	3,750	5.68×
3	Illinois	$59,830	100.0	—	—
4	Ohio	$56,370	92.8	780	1.05×
5	Texas	$54,880	97.1	610	0.32×
6	Mississippi	$53,050	87.0	710	4.56×
7	Indiana	$51,170	93.3	1,320	3.09×
8	Iowa	$50,600	87.8	510	2.45×
9	Connecticut	$48,630	103.6	90	0.40×
10	Oregon	$48,380	103.4	250	0.93×
11	New York	$46,550	107.9	530	0.41×
12	Maryland	$46,290	105.0	60	0.17×
13	Kentucky	$46,010	90.2	270	1.01×
14	Oklahoma	$45,830	87.8	—	—
15	Arizona	$45,770	100.7	130	0.31×
16	Pennsylvania	$45,270	97.6	360	0.45×
17	California	$44,790	110.7	360	0.15×
18	Michigan	$44,420	96.2	80	0.14×
19	Georgia	$44,220	96.3	940	1.45×
20	Florida	$44,150	103.4	170	0.13×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where tire builders wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for tire builders

The 9 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$63,060	91.7	310	5.81×
2	Jackson, MS	$55,380	89.0	130	3.58×
3	Fort Wayne, IN	$51,170	92.6	720	23.93×
4	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$48,690	97.3	280	1.56×
5	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$47,190	95.7	90	0.60×
6	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$46,810	95.4	150	1.02×
7	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$44,600	105.4	—	—
8	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$44,570	100.1	740	1.92×
9	Burlington, NC	$39,720	93.2	40	4.63×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where tire builders wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.