Civil designer vs civil drafter

The differences between civil designers and civil drafters can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a civil designer has an average salary of $58,421, which is higher than the $50,923 average annual salary of a civil drafter.

The top three skills for a civil designer include civil 3d, autocad and civil engineering. The most important skills for a civil drafter are civil 3d, construction drawings, and survey data.

Civil designer vs civil drafter overview

	Civil Designer	Civil Drafter
Yearly salary	$58,421	$50,923
Hourly rate	$28.09	$24.48
Growth rate	7%	-3%
Number of jobs	57,036	9,120
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Associate Degree, 65%
Average age	41	45
Years of experience	6	-

Civil designer vs civil drafter salary

Civil designers and civil drafters have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Civil Designer	Civil Drafter
Average salary	$58,421	$50,923
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $81,000	Between $39,000 And $66,000
Highest paying City	Walnut Creek, CA	Baltimore, MD
Highest paying state	California	Maryland
Best paying company	Parsons	Shalom Baranes Associates
Best paying industry	Construction	Construction

Differences between civil designer and civil drafter education

There are a few differences between a civil designer and a civil drafter in terms of educational background:

	Civil Designer	Civil Drafter
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Associate Degree, 65%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Drafting And Design
Most common college	Carnegie Mellon University	Carnegie Mellon University

Civil designer vs civil drafter demographics

Here are the differences between civil designers' and civil drafters' demographics:

	Civil Designer	Civil Drafter
Average age	41	45
Gender ratio	Male, 82.9% Female, 17.1%	Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.1% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.1% Asian, 11.2% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black 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%
LGBT Percentage	5%	6%

Differences between civil designer and civil drafter duties and responsibilities

Civil designer example responsibilities.

Manage production of full sets of contract documents (grading, drainage, water, sewer, paving and SWPPP).
Create and revise detail drawings (MEP).
Deliver as-built MEP schematics and structural details.
Perform the analysis of guy communication towers using CSA-S37/01 and AISC manual guidelines.
Use Trimble GPS station to survey projects, upload data into trimble geomatics office3.
Direct or participate in surveying to lay out installations and establishreference points, grades and elevations to guide construction.

Civil drafter example responsibilities.

Assist surveyors in the field Revit.
Submit finished plans to TXDOT QC for approval.
Develop attribute links for GIS systems database using AutoCAD.
Prepare complete plan sets for as-built surveys, topo.
Establish fix control points using total stations and GPS equipment.
Involve in the design of subdivisions and commercial sites from conceptual to final.

Civil designer vs civil drafter skills

Common civil designer skills

Civil 3D, 18%
Autocad, 16%
Civil Engineering, 8%
Civil Design, 4%
Site Design, 4%
GIS, 3%

Common civil drafter skills

Civil 3D, 34%
Construction Drawings, 11%
Survey Data, 7%
Sketch, 5%
Aided Design, 5%
Autodesk, 4%