Self-employment method
Automotive Parts, Accessories, and Tire Retailers
63,142 people filed as a nonemployer business under this industry code in 2022 — no payroll, no employees, just them. These are gross receipts reported to the IRS, before any expense is taken out.
Median GROSS RECEIPTS for the year — money in, before rent, materials, fuel, insurance or tax. This is not take-home pay.
Share who grossed under $10,000 for the whole year — before expenses.
The middle half, in gross receipts. A quarter of filers took less than the lower figure.
Source: US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
How often it does not work out
Of the 63,142 people who filed under this code in 2022, 37.53% grossed under $10,000 for the entire year — before a single expense was deducted.
That is a floor, not an estimate. Census publishes GROSS RECEIPTS, not net income. Everyone inside that share earned less than the figure suggests once rent, materials, mileage, insurance and self-employment tax came out — and filers who grossed well above the threshold may still have netted nothing. The true share of people who earn nothing meaningful from this is higher than the number above, never lower.
Denominator: establishments_total = 63,142 · US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
Every filer, by what they grossed
The full distribution Census publishes. The median above is interpolated inside the band that holds the 50th percentile.
| Gross receipts for the year | Filers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5,000 | 15,383 | 24.4% |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 8,315 | 13.2% |
| $10,000 to $24,999 | 11,987 | 19.0% |
| $25,000 to $49,999 | 8,299 | 13.2% |
| $50,000 to $99,999 | 6,833 | 10.9% |
| $100,000 to $249,999 | 6,632 | 10.5% |
| $250,000 to $499,999 | 3,172 | 5.0% |
| $500,000 to $999,999 | 1,668 | 2.6% |
| $1,000,000 to $2,499,999 | 686 | 1.1% |
Who this suits
Median gross receipts of $19,747 put the typical filer somewhere between a serious side income and a failing attempt at a full-time one, and the receipts figure alone cannot tell you which.
63,142 people filed under this code. That is enough that Automotive Parts, Accessories, and Tire Retailers has a going local rate in most places, and enough that you will be quoted against someone else.
A 19.3% share — 12,186 filers — grossed $100,000 or more. That is well above what most codes here manage, and it says the middle of Automotive Parts, Accessories, and Tire Retailers is closer to a business than to a sideline.
Independent motor vehicle and parts selling suits people who understand that the margin is made when the unit is bought, and who can hold stock without it becoming the whole business.
There is no training requirement to file under this code — which is precisely why so many people appear in the bottom bands. Entry being free is not the same as the work being viable.
Who should not do this
Bottom quarter under $5,217, top quarter over $73,762: 14.1x, or $5,712 a month. At this stretch the label has stopped describing one occupation, and every summary statistic about it — including the midpoint — should be treated with suspicion.
The bottom quarter of Automotive Parts, Accessories, and Tire Retailers earns under $5,217 — $44,803 below the $50,020 a typical American job pays. Entering at the bottom and waiting is a live risk here, not a theoretical one, and some people never leave that quarter.
Do not start this with floor plan debt you cannot service through a slow quarter.
23,697 filers out of 63,142 — 37.5% — reported under $10,000 in gross receipts in 2022. At that share the bottom band is not a warning about beginners; it is a description of a large part of the field.
Read that as a floor, not an estimate. Census publishes gross receipts, not net income, so everyone inside that share earned less than $10,000 suggests once costs came out — and filers who grossed well above $10,000 may still have netted nothing.
What the spread tells you
A ratio of 14.1x between the quarters is the signature of a winner-take-most distribution. $19,747 is a real number about a real population, but nobody entering Automotive Parts, Accessories, and Tire Retailers should plan around it.
The middle half of this field earns between $5,217 and $73,762. That is $68,545 of range, with $19,747 sitting inside it as the point half the field is above and half below.
Between $5,217 and $73,762 — the two ends of the middle half — sits $19,747. Moving from the midpoint to the upper quarter is worth $54,015; the whole climb from the lower quarter is $68,545.
$14,530 below the midpoint, $54,015 above it. That asymmetry is extreme even for this data, and it means every summary of Automotive Parts, Accessories, and Tire Retailers that is not a median — including any average you see quoted elsewhere — is describing the top of the range rather than the middle.
Spread across a 2,080-hour year those receipts come to $9.49 an hour at the midpoint, $2.50 at the 25th percentile and $35.46 at the 75th. That is turnover per hour, not pay per hour, and it is not comparable with the $24.04 an hour a typical American job pays.
Straight from the Census bands for Automotive Parts, Accessories, and Tire Retailers: 15,383 filers under $5,000, 8,315 between $5,000 and $9,999, 11,987 between $10,000 and $24,999, 12,158 above $100,000 and 5,526 above $250,000.
What these figures are, and what they are not
These are GROSS RECEIPTS: everything that came in, before expenses. Rent, stock, fuel, insurance and self-employment tax all come out of the $19,747 midpoint before anyone eats, so it is not comparable with a $19,747 wage and should never be read as one.
The hourly number on this page is $19,747 divided by a 2,080-hour year and nothing more. We hold no unpaid-hours or cost data for Automotive Parts, Accessories, and Tire Retailers, so it is arithmetic rather than an effective rate.
How this is calculated · Self-employment failure rates · What credentials cost and pay back · Look up something else