Civil technician vs structural engineering technician

The differences between civil technicians and structural engineering technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a civil technician and a structural engineering technician. Additionally, a civil technician has an average salary of $55,480, which is higher than the $50,784 average annual salary of a structural engineering technician.

The top three skills for a civil technician include hand tools, RF and GPS. The most important skills for a structural engineering technician are ACI, structural analysis, and shop drawings.

Civil technician vs structural engineering technician overview

	Civil Technician	Structural Engineering Technician
Yearly salary	$55,480	$50,784
Hourly rate	$26.67	$24.42
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	14,681	66,781
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 35%	Associate Degree, 45%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	10	10

Civil technician vs structural engineering technician salary

Civil technicians and structural engineering technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Civil Technician	Structural Engineering Technician
Average salary	$55,480	$50,784
Salary range	Between $40,000 And $75,000	Between $35,000 And $72,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between civil technician and structural engineering technician education

There are a few differences between a civil technician and a structural engineering technician in terms of educational background:

	Civil Technician	Structural Engineering Technician
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 35%	Associate Degree, 45%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Civil Engineering
Most common college	San Diego State University	Carnegie Mellon University

Civil technician vs structural engineering technician demographics

Here are the differences between civil technicians' and structural engineering technicians' demographics:

	Civil Technician	Structural Engineering Technician
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 85.5% Female, 14.5%	Male, 90.5% Female, 9.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 7.5% White, 60.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 9.3% White, 59.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between civil technician and structural engineering technician duties and responsibilities

Civil technician example responsibilities.

Operate MDTs and GPS units.
Test asphalt for nuclear density.
Install all RF equipment as needed on site.
Review RFDS and other RF engineering documents to determine construct-ability and develop SOW/OOM/BOM.
Survey by using GPS and total station systems to get elevations and layouts for projects.
Convert old rasterize substation drawings back into scalable vector format with various AutoDesk programs.

Structural engineering technician example responsibilities.

Manage and distribute cad standards to contributing design consultants and assist with any design issues as necessary.
Mentore other structural engineers on 2D and 3D FEA for several turbines parts.
Train and ACI certify to perform laboratory analysis of soil, concrete, and asphalt properties.
Design government research facility in STAAD using calculate design loads.
Perform tests on RF and digital electronic assemblies and systems to characterize performance, uncover specification deficiencies and repair damage circuitry.
Perform basic electrical and mechanical repairs on all kitchen equipment, refrigeration, plumbing and electrical circuits.

Civil technician vs structural engineering technician skills

Common civil technician skills

Hand Tools, 38%
RF, 20%
GPS, 10%
Data Collection, 10%
Civil Engineering, 6%
DOT, 4%

Common structural engineering technician skills

ACI, 30%
Structural Analysis, 14%
Shop Drawings, 13%
Construction Materials, 10%
Design Drawings, 8%
FEA, 7%

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Civil Technician vs Structural Engineering Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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