TYSONS, Va. (Oct. 23, 2019)—Today, the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) released a midyear version of NADA Data 2019, a biannual financial profile of America’s franchised new-car dealerships highlighting major milestones in the retail automotive industry.

The midyear report underscores the vital economic contributions of new-car franchise dealers nationwide. This year’s report shows that, as of the end of June 2019, the country’s 16,741 franchised light-vehicle dealerships in the United States directly employed more than 1.1 million Americans with an annual payroll of $66.6 billion – up nearly two percent from 2017, according to the most recent data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“In addition to strong direct dealership employment, dealerships are responsible for hundreds of thousands of supporting jobs in local communities across the country,” said NADA senior economist Patrick Manzi. “Dealerships spend billions of dollars in their communities on contracting and other services, further enhancing the economic footprint of the retail automotive industry.”

The average annual earnings for employees at new-car dealerships is $72,800 in 2018, up from $71,916 in 2017, a 1.3-percent increase.

“Dealers are committed to their employees and strengthening the U.S. and local economies. Hence, for the past several years, dealership employees have seen steady increases in their incomes as well as in their total compensation,” Manzi added. “In fact, jobs at dealerships offer higher salaries relative to other retail sectors, and dealers continue to boast one of the highest average salaries of all industries.”

Download the full report here.