Capacity planner vs project planner

The differences between capacity planners and project planners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a capacity planner and a project planner. Additionally, a capacity planner has an average salary of $103,430, which is higher than the $86,926 average annual salary of a project planner.

The top three skills for a capacity planner include infrastructure, project management and SQL. The most important skills for a project planner are project management, project planning, and microsoft project.

Capacity planner vs project planner overview

	Capacity Planner	Project Planner
Yearly salary	$103,430	$86,926
Hourly rate	$49.73	$41.79
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	19,024	56,558
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	2	2

What does a capacity planner do?

In the manufacturing industry, a capacity planner is primarily in charge of overseeing production facilities, developing detailed strategies to optimize their daily operations. They gather and review data from different departments, conduct research and analyses to determine the consumer and market demands, and assess production procedures to identify the strengths and weaknesses of existing systems. A capacity planner utilizes their research findings to develop detailed plans and product roadmaps, including recommendations and solutions against problem areas.

What does a project planner do?

A project planner is responsible for determining project management procedures according to business requirements and client specifications. Project planners schedule deliverables of outputs for every milestone to ensure that the team follows the track of guidelines, adhering to the company policies and project plans. They write status reports, conduct cost expenses analysis, and strategize techniques in maximizing the team's productivity and efficiency. A project planner also identifies opportunities to improve project workloads and adjust procedures as necessary to meet the highest goals and objectives.

Capacity planner vs project planner salary

Capacity planners and project planners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Capacity Planner	Project Planner
Average salary	$103,430	$86,926
Salary range	Between $74,000 And $144,000	Between $63,000 And $118,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Davis, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Netflix	Novo Nordisk
Best paying industry	-	Hospitality

Differences between capacity planner and project planner education

There are a few differences between a capacity planner and a project planner in terms of educational background:

	Capacity Planner	Project Planner
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Capacity planner vs project planner demographics

Here are the differences between capacity planners' and project planners' demographics:

	Capacity Planner	Project Planner
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 68.1% Female, 31.9%	Male, 65.1% Female, 34.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 7.8% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 7.0% White, 60.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between capacity planner and project planner duties and responsibilities

Capacity planner example responsibilities.

Manage bandwidth usage on copper-base colocation devices, central office switches and routers.
Manage various projects to implement MRP system correctly and cut supply cost and turn round time from supplier.
Supervise NPI chip fulfillment process - manage wafer starts to meet internal qualification and board level build plan.
Develop capacity planning and performance system for all mainframe and Unix systems
Maintain WAN/LAN IP capacity for S.E.
Provide ERP training to new personnel.

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Project planner example responsibilities.

Utilize SharePoint and manage content to display and capture progress report information.
Manage logistics of all facets of the transition from housing, moving, inter-service agreements and education.
Manage event day logistics, including staging, set-up and strike; adherence to event schedule, and guest hospitality.
Follow EPC projects from the engineering office to the construction site to manage the execution and performance of the construction effort.
Manage retrofit projects for progressive stamping equipment.
Experience with CMMS (maximo), including writing job plans and pm's.

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Capacity planner vs project planner skills

Common capacity planner skills

Infrastructure, 15%
Project Management, 10%
SQL, 7%
Tableau, 6%
Historical Data, 5%
Data Centers, 4%

Common project planner skills

Project Management, 20%
Project Planning, 8%
Microsoft Project, 4%
Project Scope, 4%
Primavera P6, 4%
Project Controls, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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