PAY BY JOB

Car salesperson pay, for employers

What car salespeople earn, from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) medians, what one costs to employ, how the job is paid and whether overtime is owed.

Wages: BLS medians for May 2025. Pay and overtime rules checked on October 6, 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page. For employers. General information, not legal or tax advice: federal rules only, and a state's law can require more.

Car salesperson pay at a glance

Median a year: $44,680
Median an hour: $21.48
BLS period: May 2025
Federal overtime: Exempt, on conditions

What car salespeople earn

National median: $44,680 a year, $21.48 an hour (May 2025)Industry figure: Retail Salespersons in Automobile Dealers (NAICS 441100).The figure is for retail salespeople at car dealerships, not for retail salespeople across all stores.Source: BLS OEWS May 2025, national, Retail Salespersons in Automobile Dealers (NAICS 441100): annual median, series OEUN000000044110041203113 (BLS data API, JSON) (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026; BLS OEWS May 2025, national, Retail Salespersons in Automobile Dealers (NAICS 441100): hourly median, series OEUN000000044110041203108 (BLS data API, JSON) (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026
What the median covers: For car salespeople the median includes commissions.BLS medians include base rate; cost-of-living allowances; guaranteed pay; hazardous-duty pay; incentive pay, including commissions and production bonuses; and tips.They leave out overtime pay; severance pay; shift differentials; nonproduction bonuses; employer cost for supplementary benefits; and tuition reimbursements.The annual figure is the hourly median times 2,080 hours.Source: BLS, May 2025 OEWS Estimates: technical notes (opens in a new tab), read from an archived copy dated August 30, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

Median pay by state

BLS publishes this industry figure for the country only: its state medians cover salespeople in every kind of store, so they would misstate this job, and none is shown.

What one costs to employ

The national median as the year's gross wages, plus your Social Security, Medicare and FUTA. Enter your state unemployment rate and wage base, workers' comp rate, benefits and overhead for your own figure.

WORKED EXAMPLE

One year: a car salesperson at the national median, $44,680 (BLS, May 2025)

26 U.S.C. §§3111, 3301

Gross wagesFor the year, all subject to FICA and FUTA

Social Security, employer share6.2% of wages up to $184,500 (2026)

$2,770.16

Medicare, employer share1.45% of all wages

$647.86

FUTA0.6% of the first $7,000, with the full 5.4% credit

$42.00

State unemploymentYour assigned rate, on your state’s wage base

%on$

Workers’ compensationYour insurer’s rate per $100 of payroll

BenefitsYour share of premiums and retirement contributions

OverheadEquipment, training, and other costs you assign

Wages: $44,680.00Employer taxes and comp: $3,460.02Benefits and overhead: $0.00

Cost of the employee$48,140.02For the year

On top of wages$3,460.02

Multiple of wages1.08×

Adding the employee’s withheld FICA would count $3,418.02 twiceThe employee’s share comes out of the wages you already counted; only your matching share adds cost.

$3,418.02counted twice

Employer cost of one employee for calendar year 2026: 6.2% Social Security on wages up to $184,500 (2026), 1.45% Medicare, and FUTA at 0.6% of the first $7,000 a year with the full 5.4% credit, plus the state unemployment, workers’ compensation, benefits, and overhead you enter, with all wages subject to FICA and FUTA. It leaves out credit reduction states, pay that FICA or FUTA excludes, such as your health plan contributions, and how the cost spreads across pay periods. Other cases and state law can change the result.

State unemployment rates and wage bases: Payroll tax rates by state

How car salespeople are paid

Each way of paying the job, with the federal rule for its regular rate and overtime. Where the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook says how the job is paid, its words are quoted.

Commission: Car salespeople can be paid by commission.The dealership exemption removes overtime only, so commissions and any guarantee must still meet the federal minimum wage. For federal withholding, a commission paid or shown separately may be withheld at the flat 22% supplemental rate; paid with regular wages and not shown separately, it is withheld as one regular payment.Source: 29 U.S.C. 213 (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026; IRS Publication 15 (2026), sections 6 and 7 (opens in a new tab)

Overtime

Exempt, on conditions: Exempt from overtime, not from the minimum wage: a salesperson primarily selling cars or trucks for a dealer that is primarily in the business of selling them to the people who buy them. This is the dealership exemption, not the retail commission rule.Federal rule only: a state's overtime law can require more.Source: 29 U.S.C. 213 (opens in a new tab), checked October 6, 2026; 29 CFR 779.372 (opens in a new tab); DOL Fact Sheet #11: Automobile Dealers Under the FLSA (opens in a new tab)

Industry and workers' comp

HCM industry: Auto dealer groups: Franchise and independent dealers
Workers' comp class codes: Class codes that commonly cover car salespeople, on Worklio Insurance. The class depends on your business and the manual filed in your state.8748 Auto salespersonsAll class codes on Worklio Insurance

WORKLIO HCM

Run payroll for car salespeople in Worklio HCM

Payroll, tax, HR, time, and benefits administration run on one 50-state engine, for companies with 50 to 50,000+ employees. Approve once: hours flow in from time tracking, deductions from benefits, and every pay run posts taxes, filings, comp premiums and the general ledger automatically. For auto dealer groups: commissions imported from your dealer management system, technician flag-hour pay with minimum wage true-ups, and recoverable and non-recoverable draws.

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Sources

The data series, regulation or document behind each figure and rule, as checked.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements with the relevant agency or your advisor. You remain responsible for how you classify and pay each employee.

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