According to the Avito Job service, a leading automotive industry database, the highest paying roles are identified by median earnings rather than peak salaries alone. This approach gives a clearer sense of typical compensation across roles and regions, reflecting what a typical worker can expect rather than occasional outliers.
From Avito Job’s data, the three positions with the highest median salaries in the automotive sector are:
- programmers with an automotive specialization — 140 000 rubles per month
- road workers — 90,000 rubles per month
- taxi drivers — 84,000 rubles per month
Trailing just a notch, truck drivers, drillers, and upholsterers share the fourth place in terms of median pay. Specialists in these fields typically report around 80 000 rubles per month. This cluster reflects the ongoing demand for skilled labor across heavy transport, field operations, and interior finishing.
The top five well-paid professions in the automotive sphere are completed by car painters and metal specialists, each with median earnings near 75 000 rubles per month. This spread shows how specialization within vehicle construction and maintenance translates into steadier income across regions.
To ensure clarity, the median salary is the midpoint: half of workers earn more, and half earn less. This measure helps readers understand the typical experience rather than focusing on extreme cases.
Today the automotive sector is increasingly tech oriented. Production lines are becoming automated, vehicle equipment is advancing, and digital sales channels are expanding. This evolution fuels strong demand for automotive specialists and signals ongoing growth across the industry.
Over the next five years, national programs are planned to build and rebuild more than 110,000 kilometers of roads. This initiative will require seasoned road workers, oil rig operators, and operators of special equipment, which in turn sustains rising demand for these roles.
Salary by region
Regional variation is notable. Moscow leads with an average in the automotive field around 80 000 rubles, followed by St. Petersburg at 75 000 rubles. Sochi sits in third place with about 71 000 rubles, while Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, and Novosibirsk cluster around 60 000 rubles. Rostov-on-Don and Tyumen complete the top five with roughly 55 000 rubles.
Overall, in the second quarter of this year, the median salary across the automotive profession hovered around 50 000 rubles when all regions are taken into account. This figure highlights how earnings vary by location even as the sector grows.
In Moscow, several roles command notably high pay. Upholstery tailors for car interiors can earn about 125 000 rubles, tractor operators around 120 000 rubles, truck drivers approximately 120 000 rubles, and car service managers about 120 000 rubles per month. These figures illustrate how leadership, specialized hands, and technical oversight translate into strong compensation in the capital.
In St. Petersburg, the top earners include car wash and gas station managers at roughly 115 000 rubles, followed by drilling machine operators at 110 000 rubles and car refiners at 100 000 rubles. These patterns reflect the city’s mix of service-focused roles and skilled trades that sustain high regional pay levels.
Among the regions, notable salary records include car service managers in Novosibirsk at about 250 000 rubles, mechanics in Nizhny Novgorod around 225 000 rubles, bulldozer operators in Tyumen near 160 000 rubles, team leaders of car mechanics in Nizhny Novgorod around 150 000 rubles, and programmers for transport companies in Naberezhnye Chelny at about 130 000 rubles. These numbers underscore how seniority, specialized expertise, and management responsibilities drive higher earnings in specific markets.
A final note on the image accompanying this article: Depositphotos serves as the visual reference for the topic, illustrating the broader context of automotive work and its evolving landscape.