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The differences between bench technicians and field technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a bench technician and a field technician. Additionally, a bench technician has an average salary of $41,317, which is higher than the $37,520 average annual salary of a field technician.
The top three skills for a bench technician include troubleshoot, PC and windows. The most important skills for a field technician are customer service, ladders, and test equipment.
| Bench Technician | Field Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $41,317 | $37,520 |
| Hourly rate | $19.86 | $18.04 |
| Growth rate | - | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 79,375 | 123,149 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Average age | 50 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A Bench Technician specializes in installing, maintaining, and repairing electronic equipment and machinery. Although the extent of their responsibilities primarily depends on their place or employment industry, it typically includes conducting inspections and assessments, programming and troubleshooting systems, replacing and fixing components, and producing progress reports as needed. Moreover, a Bench Technician must maintain an active communication line with co-workers while adhering to its safety standards and regulations for a safe and efficient work environment.
A field technician is responsible for providing technical and maintenance support for the customers by area visits. Field technicians' duties include diagnosing technical problems, replacing malfunction components, upgrading systems for efficiency, running equipment tests to ensure stability, creating draft reports of performed processes, utilizing vehicles and other tools safely, following client's specifications on operating equipment, and adhering to the safety standards. A field technician must have excellent communication and decision-making skills, as well as extensive knowledge of the technological industry.
Bench technicians and field technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Bench Technician | Field Technician | |
| Average salary | $41,317 | $37,520 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $57,000 | Between $28,000 And $48,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | - | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | - | DCP Midstream |
| Best paying industry | - | Energy |
There are a few differences between a bench technician and a field technician in terms of educational background:
| Bench Technician | Field Technician | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Northeastern University | - |
Here are the differences between bench technicians' and field technicians' demographics:
| Bench Technician | Field Technician | |
| Average age | 50 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.4% Female, 10.6% | Male, 88.5% Female, 11.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 8.0% White, 70.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 1.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 1% |