Do car battery replacement problems track monthly earnings of newly hired auto repair shop workers across states?
Car battery replacement complaints run higher where monthly earnings of newly hired auto repair shop workers is higherNHTSA owner complaints about car battery replacement run 17% above what the makes sold there would predict in the 10 states with the highest monthly earnings of newly hired auto repair shop workers, and 14% below in the 10 with the lowest.
What it shows: States with more monthly earnings of newly hired auto repair shop workers (dollars) tend to sit higher on the chart across 49 states: a pattern in the data, not proof of cause.
Data: Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators 2024, NAICS 8111, joined to NHTSA owner complaints, downloaded 2026-10-12 · 49 states. Chart: CalcScrape · calcscrape.com
A firm pattern: fewer than 1 in 100 patterns this clear turn out to be false alarms. Weak spot: hold cost of living index equal and only 22% of the monthly earnings of newly hired auto repair shop workers pattern remains, so part of it may be that factor.