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Installation & repair

Motorboat mechanics and service technicians

Typically requires High school diploma or equivalent

What is this page & how do I use it?

This is a research report for one career — the kind an analyst would write for a stock. The rating at the top is the neutral baseline (same for everyone); below it come the cases for and against, how the last official forecast for this career actually aged, and what the education path costs and pays.

How to use it: read the bulls-vs-bears case, then hit Score this career to weigh it against your other options with your own interests factored in.

CareerStar rating
MixedLow uncertainty
top 17% of all 730 careers

Analyst take: Decent prospects — +6% projected growth, low AI exposure (8/100).

56
/ 100
low riskhigh
top row = high reward

Moat (borrowed from investing — the water that defends a castle): how shielded this career is from AI. Wide = well-defended — few automatable tasks, built on skills few other jobs have.

The small grid is a style box (borrowed from Morningstar’s fund reports): the blue square places this career on reward (top row = high) versus risk (left column = low), against all 730 careers. Low uncertainty means the score leans mostly on measured data (growth, pay) rather than forward-looking bets, so it's comparatively solid.

🐂 Bulls say
  • +Low AI exposure — resilient (8% of tasks exposed).
  • +Strong projected growth — outpaces 81% of careers (+6%).
🐻 Bears say
  • Below-median pay ($54,950).
📜 Reality check — how the last forecast for this career fared

In 2014, the U.S. government projected +2.7% growth for this career by 2024. What actually happened: +16.4%. Reality beat the forecast — a reminder that every number on this page is an estimate, and this is how the last one aged. Full back-test →

Was this rating fair?
Projected growth
+6%
Median pay
$54,950
AI exposure
8/100
share of tasks exposed to AI — not job loss

Education & ROI — how to get here

Real outcomes for the college majors that feed this occupation, across 127 bachelor’s programs.

Median earnings
$58,725
1 year after graduating
Typical debt
$27,000
median federal debt
Pay-to-debt
2.2×
first-year pay ÷ debt
Feeder majors
Marine Engineering Technology/TechnicianVehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians
Selective schools offering these majors
Northeastern University
MA · 5% admit rate
$84,641/yr
$92,538 grad pay
LeTourneau University
TX · 38% admit rate
$51,124/yr
$57,103 grad pay
Purdue University-Main Campus
IN · 50% admit rate
$24,591/yr
$72,424 grad pay
North Carolina A & T State University
NC · 50% admit rate
$20,427/yr
$44,440 grad pay
Texas A&M University-College Station
TX · 57% admit rate
$32,696/yr
$72,097 grad pay
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide
FL · 58% admit rate
$24,878/yr
$84,131 grad pay

Earnings & debt from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard; majors mapped to this occupation via the NCES CIP→SOC crosswalk. A grounded ROI snapshot, not a guarantee — pay varies widely by school and specialty.

What this work involves

tradesmechanicalhands-onrepair