At a collision repair shop, dealership body shop, insurance carrier, or specialty estimating firm, you prepare the estimates that drive auto collision repair — examining damage, applying repair methodology, and producing the documentation that supports authorization and execution of the repair work.
Repair estimates require physical inspection translated into industry-standard documentation — measuring damage, identifying which parts need replacement versus repair, calculating labor hours per repair-time guides, applying paint and refinish formulas, and producing the line-item estimate in CCC ONE, Mitchell, or Audatex. The estimator works between the shop's production team, the insurer (for insurance work), and the customer through the estimate-and-supplement cycle. Estimate quality, gross-margin contribution, and supplement-success outcomes are the operating measures.
Variance is wide: at high-volume body shops the work runs heavy on production-pressure rhythms; at dealership body shops it integrates with the dealer's service operation; at carrier-side estimating positions the work serves volume across many shops. The OEM-procedure dimension has grown substantially as modern vehicles require manufacturer-prescribed repair steps that traditional methods sometimes overlooked.
This role fits people who are mechanically grounded, comfortable with estimating-software depth, and steady through the production-and-dispute work shop estimating involves. I-CAR Platinum, ASE Collision, and ongoing OEM-procedure CE anchor advancement. The trade-off is the supplement-and-rework cycle work the role typically generates and the customer-and-shop frustration the role sometimes absorbs at the friction points.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Business Operations roles →At a collision repair shop, dealership body shop, insurance carrier, or specialty estimating firm, you prepare the estimates that drive auto collision repair — examining damage, applying repair methodology, and producing the documentation that supports authorization and execution of the repair work.
Median pay for a Collision Repair Estimator is about $77K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $57K to $102K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Writing, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, and Critical Thinking.
Most people in this role hold an associate's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to decline about 8.2% through 2034, with roughly 7,790 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Body Shop Estimator, Insurance Appraiser, and Reinspector.
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