Transportation and Material Moving · Holland code RCE

Parking Attendants

Park vehicles or issue tickets for customers in a parking lot or garage. May park or tend vehicles in environments such as a car dealership or rental car facility. May collect fee.

Also called: Parking Attendant, Parking Lot Attendant, Valet Attendant, Valet Parker, Hiker, Parking Cashier, Parking Ramp Attendant, Valet Parking Attendant.

O*NET 53-6021.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $35,150; Middle half earn $29,960 to $37,670. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 61% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Take numbered tags from customers, locate vehicles, and deliver vehicles, or provide customers with instructions for locating vehicles.
Inspect vehicles to detect any damage.
Greet customers and open their car doors.
Issue ticket stubs or place numbered tags on windshields, log tags or attach tag to customers' keys, and give customers matching tags for locating parked vehicles.
Perform cash handling tasks, such as making change, balancing and recording cash drawer, or distributing tips.
Patrol parking areas to prevent vehicle damage and vehicle or property thefts.
Explain and calculate parking charges, collect fees from customers, and respond to customer complaints.
Park and retrieve automobiles for customers in parking lots, storage garages, or new car lots.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Speaking3.5 / 5
Active Listening3.3 / 5
Critical Thinking2.9 / 5
Writing2.8 / 5
Mathematics2.8 / 5
Monitoring2.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service3.5 / 5
English Language3.1 / 5
Transportation3.0 / 5
Public Safety and Security2.7 / 5
Mathematics2.5 / 5
Production and Processing2.4 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic77
Investigative0
Artistic2
Social34
Enterprising35
Conventional68

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

parking valet · DE Parkservice-Mitarbeiter/Parkservice-Mitarbeiterin · FR voiturier/voiturière

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Taxi and cab drivers and chauffeurs (8213)173,900 employed
Road transport drivers n.e.c. (8219)27,400 employed
Delivery drivers and couriers (8214)287,500 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Plant and machine operators and assemblers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Plant and machine operators and assemblers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€39,630
Netherlands	€37,567
Austria	€37,304
Sweden	€36,005
Germany	€34,433
Ireland	€32,617
France	€28,550
Italy	€28,330
Spain	€24,409
Portugal	€11,309
Poland	€10,259

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.84. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (53-6021).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test