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Building drafter vs design drafter

The differences between building drafters and design drafters can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a building drafter, becoming a design drafter takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a building drafter has an average salary of $53,715, which is higher than the $50,021 average annual salary of a design drafter.

The top three skills for a building drafter include autocad, and . The most important skills for a design drafter are layout drawings, auto cad, and engineering drawings.

Building drafter vs design drafter overview

Building DrafterDesign Drafter
Yearly salary$53,715$50,021
Hourly rate$25.82$24.05
Growth rate-3%-3%
Number of jobs6,87939,125
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 33%Associate Degree, 56%
Average age4545
Years of experience124

Building drafter vs design drafter salary

Building drafters and design drafters have different pay scales, as shown below.

Building DrafterDesign Drafter
Average salary$53,715$50,021
Salary rangeBetween $36,000 And $79,000Between $37,000 And $67,000
Highest paying City-Cupertino, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-Apple
Best paying industry-Finance

Differences between building drafter and design drafter education

There are a few differences between a building drafter and a design drafter in terms of educational background:

Building DrafterDesign Drafter
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 33%Associate Degree, 56%
Most common majorDrafting And DesignDrafting And Design
Most common collegeUniversity of Michigan - Ann ArborLeTourneau University

Building drafter vs design drafter demographics

Here are the differences between building drafters' and design drafters' demographics:

Building DrafterDesign Drafter
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 95.7% Female, 4.3%Male, 80.1% Female, 19.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 7.0% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 5.7% White, 73.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between building drafter and design drafter duties and responsibilities

Building drafter example responsibilities.

  • Learned and utilize AutoCAD by practicing several drawing types from restaurants to hotels.
  • Render complete assemblies of conveyor systems to customer's specifications using SolidWorks.
  • Utilize extensive skills in CADD technology, complement by construction industry expertise to provide tailor designs meeting customer needs.

Design drafter example responsibilities.

  • Manage the ECN process by assigning the highest priority requests through coordination between engineering staff and drafting personnel.
  • Use Windchill for file management.
  • Develop pattern REVIT families for retail fixture manufactures.
  • Assist with implementation of Revit as main drawing application.
  • Draft and design mechanical and electrical windows for aircraft and yachts.
  • Work on plant location to sketch isometric drawings used for pressure analysis.
  • Show more

Building drafter vs design drafter skills

Common building drafter skills
  • Autocad, 100%
Common design drafter skills
  • Layout Drawings, 10%
  • Auto CAD, 6%
  • Engineering Drawings, 5%
  • Aided Design, 5%
  • Assembly Drawings, 5%
  • Revit, 4%

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