How Automotive Service Advisors Get Paid: Pay Types and Overtime

Service advisors can be paid by the hour, by salary, by commission, or by a mix, and the employer decides which. What the law fixes is smaller: a minimum wage, and whether overtime is owed. Since the Supreme Court decided Encino Motorcars v. Navarro in 2018, dealership service advisors are exempt from federal overtime. This guide lays out each pay type as the U.S. Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics describe it, plus a checklist of questions to ask an employer before you accept a plan.

Compensation Structures

Pay for the same job title varies by employer, so the useful question is which structure a shop uses. The federal sources describe hourly wages, a salary, commissions and draws against commissions, and many plans combine them. The table shows each as the source defines it, plus who it tends to suit, which is our reading and not a rule.

Pay type	How it works, as the source defines it	Who it tends to fit	Source
Hourly wage	Pay for each hour worked. BLS says some repair shops pay technicians on an hourly basis.	Someone who wants a steady, predictable paycheck	BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
Salary	A fixed amount per pay period. DOL notes there is no federal requirement to pay weekly, only to set a regular pay period and pay promptly.	Someone who prefers stability over upside	DOL Fact Sheet 11
Commission	Pay that is a share of goods or services sold. If more than half of earnings in a representative period are commissions, one overtime test is met.	Someone comfortable with income that rises and falls with sales	DOL Fact Sheet 20; 29 U.S.C. 207(i)
Draw against commission	Periodic advances paid during the pay period. DOL says an employer may credit draws against its minimum wage obligation when it settles up at the end of the period.	Someone who needs regular cash flow while commissions build	DOL Fact Sheet 11
Base plus commission	A salary or hourly amount together with commissions. For the overtime test, total commissions must exceed all other pay in the representative period.	Someone who wants a floor and an incentive	DOL Fact Sheet 20
Pay for work completed	BLS describes this for technicians: some shops pay based on the amount of work completed. It does not say the same applies to advisors.	Mainly a technician pay method	BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook

None of the official sources cited here publishes commission percentages or a typical dollar figure for advisors. Treat any plan terms you hear as specific to that employer until you see them in writing.

Commission-based Pay Details

Commission plans are where most of the confusion sits, so here are the parts the Department of Labor spells out. DOL Fact Sheet 11 says an employer must set a regular pay period, can pay on any schedule it chooses, and must pay promptly. It adds that the settlement period for commissions is assumed to match the pay period.

Draws matter for cash flow. The same fact sheet says draws within a pay period may be less than the minimum wage and can be credited against the employer’s minimum wage obligation when it settles up at the end of the period. A draw is an advance on commission, not a fixed paycheck, so ask what happens when commissions fall short of it.

DOL also says tips paid by customers can never count as commissions for the retail and service overtime exemption discussed below.

Salary-based Advisors

A salary gives the same pay each period, but a salary alone does not decide overtime. DOL Fact Sheet 11 lists the dealership overtime exemption in section 13(b)(10)(A) as covering service writers, service advisors, service managers and service salesmen. That means a salaried dealership advisor is not entitled to federal overtime for hours over 40, while a salaried advisor at an employer that does not qualify may be.

The exemption is about overtime only. 29 CFR 779.372(a) calls it an exemption from only the overtime pay provisions of section 7, and Fact Sheet 11 says the federal minimum wage is required for all non-exempt employees.

Hourly Wages In The Industry

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate profile for service advisors in its Occupational Outlook Handbook, so there is no official median to quote for the job itself. The closest official numbers are for automotive service technicians and mechanics, a different job that many readers compare against. They are national figures for May 2025.

BLS measure (technicians, not advisors)	Figure	Year and geography
Median annual wage	$50,620	May 2025, United States
Median hourly wage	$24.34	2025, United States
Lowest 10 percent earned less than	$34,660	May 2025, United States
Highest 10 percent earned more than	$81,790	May 2025, United States
Median wage, automobile dealers	$59,920	May 2025, United States
Median wage, other automotive repair and maintenance	$35,730	May 2025, United States
Median annual wage, all occupations	$50,980	May 2025, United States

Read the table as context, not as an advisor salary. Among the industries BLS lists, the dealer median is $24,190 above the lowest, so employer type alone can matter a great deal.

Overtime: What the Law Says About Service Advisors

Whether an advisor gets time and a half after 40 hours depends on two different federal exemptions. They are often mixed up, so the table separates them.

Question	Section 13(b)(10)(A) dealership exemption	Section 7(i) retail or service commission exemption
What it removes	Federal overtime for covered salesmen, partsmen and mechanics. DOL lists service advisors among those covered at dealerships.	Federal overtime for employees of a retail or service establishment who meet all three tests
Employer test	A nonmanufacturing establishment primarily engaged in selling vehicles to ultimate purchasers; over half of annual dollar volume must come from vehicle sales (29 CFR 779.372)	Retail or service establishment; DOL defines it as one where 75 percent of annual sales is not for resale and is recognized as retail in the industry
Employee test	Primarily engaged in selling or servicing; more than 50 percent of time (29 CFR 779.372)	Regular rate above one and a half times the applicable minimum wage, and more than half of earnings in a representative period are commissions

The history explains why the question is still asked. The Department of Labor first read the dealership exemption as excluding service advisors, courts disagreed, and DOL issued Opinion Letter 1520 in 1978 saying advisors are exempt in most cases. A 2011 DOL rule again treated them as outside the exemption. In Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, decided April 2, 2018, the Supreme Court held that service advisors are salesmen primarily engaged in servicing automobiles and are exempt from the overtime requirement. The Court said FLSA exemptions deserve a fair reading, not a narrow one.

For the second exemption, the regular-rate test has a floor you can calculate. At the federal minimum wage of $7.25, one and a half times the rate is $10.875 an hour, and the advisor’s regular rate must exceed it. DOL Fact Sheet 20 says that if an employee is paid entirely by commissions, or by draws and commissions, or if commissions are always greater than salary or hourly amounts, the more-than-half test is met. If neither exemption applies, overtime is owed for hours over 40. This is general information, not legal advice.

Geographical Variations In Pay

Pay depends on place in two ways: local labor markets, and state law. BLS publishes no state-by-state advisor salary. What the Department of Labor does publish is each state’s minimum wage and overtime rules, updated July 1, 2026, and those differ widely.

State	Basic minimum wage per hour	Overtime note in the DOL table
Texas	$7.25 (adopts the federal rate)	State law excludes employment covered by the federal FLSA
Alabama	No state law, federal $7.25 applies	Federal rules apply
Alaska	$14.00	Premium pay after 8 hours daily or 40 weekly, with exceptions
California	$16.90	Time and a half after 8 hours in a day or 40 in a week; double time after 12 hours in a day (Labor Code 510, with exceptions)
Washington	$17.13	Premium pay after 40 hours weekly

The DOL table shows that some states, such as California and Alaska, set their own overtime rules. Whether an advisor is covered under state law is a state-specific question, so check with your state labor department before assuming the federal answer settles it.

Pay Questions to Ask in an Interview

These questions come straight from the points the federal sources treat as decisive.

1. Is the pay hourly, salary, commission, a draw, or a mix, and what share of a typical month comes from each?
2. If there is commission, what is it a percentage of, and how often is it calculated and paid? (DOL Fact Sheet 11 assumes the commission settlement period matches the pay period.)
3. Is there a draw, and what happens in a month when commissions are lower than the draw?
4. Is the position treated as exempt from overtime, and under which provision?
5. Does the employer primarily sell vehicles, or is it a repair or service business?
6. How are hours and earnings recorded? DOL says accurate records of both are needed to support the commission exemption.
7. Are there any other pay components, such as bonuses or amounts tied to customer survey scores, and how are they calculated? Ask for the formula in writing.
8. What do state minimum wage and overtime rules require where this shop is located?
9. Is the pay plan written, and how are changes announced?

Myths About Service Advisor Pay

Myth	What the sources say
All service advisors earn commission.	The federal sources describe hourly, salary, commission, draw and mixed pay. The employer chooses the form.
Advisors are always owed overtime.	Under Encino v. Navarro, advisors at qualifying dealerships are exempt from federal overtime. Other employers may fall under a different rule.
A draw is the same as a salary.	DOL says draws are advances against commission that can be credited at settlement.
BLS publishes a service advisor average.	BLS has no separate service advisor profile. Its published wage figures are for technicians.

How Pay Plans Can Affect What Customers Hear

A pay plan is a private arrangement between employer and employee, and customers do not need it to get a clear answer. Customers can always ask for a written estimate, which items are needed now and which can wait, and where a recommended service appears in the owner’s manual schedule. Those questions work at every shop. For what the role involves day to day, see our guide to what an automotive service advisor does, and for a related etiquette question, whether you tip auto service advisors.

To compare other roles, see what automotive service technicians make, what a dealership mechanic makes, car salesmen base pay and how to become a car dealership.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Do Service Advisors Make The Most Money?

The BLS and DOL pages cited here do not rank service advisor pay by state or employer type. For technicians, BLS lists automobile dealers highest among four top industries, with a median of $59,920 in May 2025, against $35,730 in other automotive repair and maintenance.

How Much Do Automotive Service Advisors Make In The Us?

BLS has no separate service advisor profile, so there is no official national figure to quote. The closest BLS number is for technicians: a median of $50,620 in May 2025. Pay varies by employer, so ask for the written plan.

How Much Do Dealership Service Advisors Make In Texas?

This page cites no Texas-specific advisor pay figure. The DOL table lists a Texas minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, adopted from the federal rate, as of July 1, 2026. Actual pay depends on the dealer and the plan.

Do Service Advisors Get Overtime?

At a qualifying dealership, generally no under federal law. In Encino Motorcars v. Navarro (2018) the Supreme Court held service advisors exempt from the FLSA overtime requirement. Other employers and some states can differ.

Is A Draw The Same As A Salary?

No. DOL Fact Sheet 11 treats a draw as a periodic advance against commission earnings that may be credited against the minimum wage obligation when the employer settles up at the end of the period.

Conclusion

How a service advisor is paid is set by the employer, so the only reliable figure is the one in your own written plan. The federal rules narrow the surprises: a minimum wage floor, an overtime exemption that the Supreme Court confirmed for dealership advisors, and a commission test that depends on how much of the pay is commission. Use the interview questions above and ask for the plan in writing. This page is general information, not legal advice.

This guide does not cover commission percentages, which vary by employer, or state-specific overtime rules beyond the table above. For wage questions, contact your state labor department or the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division.