Do traction control warning light: causes and fixes problems track solo operators as a share of all auto repair businesses across states?
Across U.S. states, NHTSA owner complaints about traction control warning light: causes and fixes run higher where solo operators as a share of all auto repair businesses is higher, after adjusting for the makes sold in each state. This is an association across states, not proof that solo operators as a share of all auto repair businesses causes this repair.
State reports of this repair against solo operators as a share of all auto repair businesses, one dot per stateEach dot is a state: how much more (or less) than expected this repair is reported there, adjusted for the makes sold in the state, against its solo operators as a share of all auto repair businesses
How to read it: Each dot is a state. Further right means more solo operators as a share of all auto repair businesses; higher up means more complaints for this repair than expected (1.0 is average). If the dots climb to the right, reports of this repair rise with solo operators as a share of all auto repair businesses.
What it shows: States with more solo operators as a share of all auto repair businesses tend to sit higher on the chart across 40 states: a pattern in the data, not proof of cause.
Data: Census Nonemployer Statistics 2021 and County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 8111, joined to NHTSA owner complaints, downloaded 2026-10-06 · 40 states. Chart: CalcScrape · calcscrape.com
The 10 states with the most solo operators as a share of all auto repair businesses (Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina): reports of this repair run 26% above what the makes sold there would predict, and 10 of 10 are above expected. The 10 with the least (Massachusetts, Washington, Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Minnesota, Utah, Wisconsin): 23% below, and 1 of 10 are above expected.
Split the states into thirds: the third with the least solo operators as a share of all auto repair businesses runs 17% below what the makes sold there would predict, the middle third 1% above, and the third with the most 23% above. It steps up steadily.
For solo operators as a share of all auto repair businesses, after allowing for the 1562 comparisons we ran, luck alone would produce a pattern this strong about 1 time in 10,000 or more. Take out any single state and the solo operators as a share of all auto repair businesses pattern still holds.
Weak spot: compare only states with similar median household income and the pattern keeps about 57% of its strength, so part of it may come from median household income instead of solo operators as a share of all auto repair businesses.
Where more repair work is done by one-person operators with low overhead, prices and the kinds of repairs done differ from chain and dealer shops.