About this episode

Hunt Demarest explores how location and productivity impact auto shop profitability in the latest episode of Business By The Numbers.

Thanks to our partners Promotive, WickedFile, Maverick Shop Owners, and Overdryve Why is a shop charging $300 an hour in Texas still taking home less profit than a shop in Maine charging $30 less? Does where you're located actually decide how much money ends up in your pocket — or is something else driving the gap? In the final installment of a three-part dive into the 2026 Auto Shop Benchmark Report, Hunt Demarest, CPA, breaks down the regional, size, and vehicle-type trends separating the most profitable shops in the country from everyone else. From the Southeast's 17% margins to the Southwest's labor-rate paradox, Hunt unpacks why charging more doesn't always mean keeping more — and why "your shop is no different" is only half true. Hunt also dives into the numbers behind general repair, diesel, and European shops, explains why bigger isn't always better, and closes with a sobering look at the technician shortage now threatening the entire industry. Whether you're running a one-bay diesel shop in the Midwest or a multi-bay European specialty shop in the Northeast, this episode is your roadmap to benchmarking against the right peers — not just the averages. What You'll Learn…

People in this episode

Host: Hunt Demarest

Topics covered

• profit margins
• regional trends
• labor rates
• auto shop benchmarking
• technician shortage
• shop profitability

Keywords

• 2026 Benchmark Report
• auto shop
• profit
• labor rate
• regional trends
• diesel shop
• European specialty shop
• technician shortage

Sponsors

Promotive, WickedFile, Maverick Shop Owners, Overdryve

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Texas, Maine, Southeast, Southwest, Midwest, Northeast

More episodes of Business By The Numbers

• Debt-Free, Cash-Broke: The Reserve Mistake Nobody Warns You About [E231] · July 16, 2026 · 23 min
• The 4 P&L Mistakes Quietly Sinking Your Shop's Profit [E230] · July 9, 2026 · 24 min
• The IRS Flagged His Return: Here's the Playbook That Won the Case [E226] · July 2, 2026 · 28 min
• What the Top 10% of Auto Repair Shops Are Doing Differently — And What the Bottom 10% Refuse to Fix [E227] · June 18, 2026 · 29 min

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