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The differences between customer engineers and field engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a customer engineer, becoming a field engineer takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a customer engineer has an average salary of $101,212, which is higher than the $71,874 average annual salary of a field engineer.
The top three skills for a customer engineer include customer service, technical problems and level agreements. The most important skills for a field engineer are customer service, customer satisfaction, and project management.
| Customer Engineer | Field Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $101,212 | $71,874 |
| Hourly rate | $48.66 | $34.55 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 44,709 | 86,015 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
A customer engineer provides technical support to organizations having issues with their products or services. Duties and responsibilities may vary depending on the sector, but generally include diagnosing and troubleshooting technical problems with products, performing tests, upgrades and diagnostics to prevent delay or downtime caused by-product issues, and keeping updated reports outlining the problems and measures taken to resolve them. A customer engineer is also responsible for discussing service contracts and their benefits with clients.
A field engineer's role will vary on the industry or line of work involved. However, the primary responsibility will mostly revolve around handling equipment and machinery, ensuring that they function effectively and safely. It is also the task of a field engineer to oversee the workflow and workforce, giving directions and recommendations when necessary. Furthermore, a field engineer must develop strategies and plans to improve the site's efficiency, produce progress reports, and coordinate with other workers.
Customer engineers and field engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Engineer | Field Engineer | |
| Average salary | $101,212 | $71,874 |
| Salary range | Between $77,000 And $131,000 | Between $51,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Washington |
| Best paying company | Meta | |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Energy |
There are a few differences between a customer engineer and a field engineer in terms of educational background:
| Customer Engineer | Field Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between customer engineers' and field engineers' demographics:
| Customer Engineer | Field Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.4% Female, 9.6% | Male, 92.7% Female, 7.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 14.3% White, 64.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |