Contract mechanical designer vs mechanical design drafter

The differences between contract mechanical designers and mechanical design drafters can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a contract mechanical designer, becoming a mechanical design drafter takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a contract mechanical designer has an average salary of $69,294, which is higher than the $58,371 average annual salary of a mechanical design drafter.

The top three skills for a contract mechanical designer include R, BOM and auto cad. The most important skills for a mechanical design drafter are design layouts, creo, and assembly drawings.

Contract mechanical designer vs mechanical design drafter overview

	Contract Mechanical Designer	Mechanical Design Drafter
Yearly salary	$69,294	$58,371
Hourly rate	$33.31	$28.06
Growth rate	2%	-3%
Number of jobs	72,152	54,189
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 49%	Associate Degree, 56%
Average age	41	45
Years of experience	6	4

Contract mechanical designer vs mechanical design drafter salary

Contract mechanical designers and mechanical design drafters have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Contract Mechanical Designer	Mechanical Design Drafter
Average salary	$69,294	$58,371
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $91,000	Between $45,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City	-	Fremont, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Salt River Project
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between contract mechanical designer and mechanical design drafter education

There are a few differences between a contract mechanical designer and a mechanical design drafter in terms of educational background:

	Contract Mechanical Designer	Mechanical Design Drafter
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 49%	Associate Degree, 56%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Drafting And Design
Most common college	Carnegie Mellon University	Northwestern University

Contract mechanical designer vs mechanical design drafter demographics

Here are the differences between contract mechanical designers' and mechanical design drafters' demographics:

	Contract Mechanical Designer	Mechanical Design Drafter
Average age	41	45
Gender ratio	Male, 92.6% Female, 7.4%	Male, 87.7% Female, 12.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 10.2% White, 71.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	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 Percentage	5%	6%

Differences between contract mechanical designer and mechanical design drafter duties and responsibilities

Contract mechanical designer example responsibilities.

Work with JPL / NASA packaging and fabrication engineering leads (on-site).
Correspond with various vendors to select proper HVAC equipment.
Develop detail drawings, mechanize animations, bill of materials, ECO, and ECR's.
Generate ECO to update part specification in accordance with manufacturing requirements.
Create designs and documentation to facilitate manufacture of products including drawings, BOM and material specifications.
Design and automate electro-mechanical machinery to customer specifications.

Mechanical design drafter example responsibilities.

Calculate requirements and manage HVAC systems, including design, development, compliance, testing, troubleshooting and repair.
Incorporate ECO's to update and revise the drawings and BOM's on military aircraft antenna test equipment.
Generate ECR's and ECN's to accommodate customer's requirements.
Convert 2D drawings into 3D assemblies that can be include into SolidWork's PDM environment.
Train manufacturing employees on CNC tube benders and how to utilize manufacturing jig and fixtures.
Supervise 8-member shop including : 2 CNC lathes , 2 manual lathes , 1 milling machine and 3 motor technicians.

Contract mechanical designer vs mechanical design drafter skills

Common contract mechanical designer skills

R, 9%
BOM, 8%
Auto CAD, 7%
Mechanical Design, 6%
Layout Drawings, 6%
Product Development, 5%

Common mechanical design drafter skills

Design Layouts, 6%
Creo, 6%
Assembly Drawings, 6%
Aided Design, 5%
GD, 5%
Auto CAD, 4%

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Contract Mechanical Designer
Contract Mechanical Designer vs Mechanical Design Drafter

Updated January 8, 2025

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