The Best States for Shops

Collision repairers face varying conditions depending on where in the U.S. they are located

By John Yoswick

A new ranking of the 50 states makes those in the Southeast quadrant of the country appear to be among the best places in the nation in which to operate a collision repair business. North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia top the list, and six of the “Top 10 States for Shops” are in the Southeast region of the country. None of the 10 lowest-ranked states are in the Southeast.

The analysis takes into account nine variables, including the number of licensed drivers, and the number registered vehicles compared to the total number of body shops operating in that state. It is based upon the number of major hail events a state experiences (using 2021 data), and the likelihood of a driver being involved with a collision with a deer or other animal (as reported by State Farm). Because insured vehicles are more likely to be repaired following an accident, it considers the estimated percentage of uninsured drivers in each state (as reported by the Insurance Research Council for 2019). It also incorporates the average backlog of …

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