Data technician vs data communications technician

The differences between data technicians and data communications technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a data technician and a data communications technician. Additionally, a data communications technician has an average salary of $51,843, which is higher than the $41,834 average annual salary of a data technician.

The top three skills for a data technician include data entry, java and data management. The most important skills for a data communications technician are POS, computer screens, and RF.

Data technician vs data communications technician overview

	Data Technician	Data Communications Technician
Yearly salary	$41,834	$51,843
Hourly rate	$20.11	$24.92
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	101,074	111,703
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Associate Degree, 41%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	12	12

Data technician vs data communications technician salary

Data technicians and data communications technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Data Technician	Data Communications Technician
Average salary	$41,834	$51,843
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $68,000	Between $32,000 And $82,000
Highest paying City	Santa Clara, CA	-
Highest paying state	California	-
Best paying company	Citi	-
Best paying industry	Energy	-

Differences between data technician and data communications technician education

There are a few differences between a data technician and a data communications technician in terms of educational background:

	Data Technician	Data Communications Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Associate Degree, 41%
Most common major	Business	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Stanford University	Northeastern University

Data technician vs data communications technician demographics

Here are the differences between data technicians' and data communications technicians' demographics:

	Data Technician	Data Communications Technician
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8%	Male, 90.9% Female, 9.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 10.5% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 17.1% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between data technician and data communications technician duties and responsibilities

Data technician example responsibilities.

Manage MDF for all incoming, outbound circuits, cross connects and patches
Manage high profile government DOD datacenter relocation projects.
Manage the day-to-day operations of telecommunication services utilize by DuPont.
Manage network reliability, capacity and performance in conjunction with RF engineering establish guidelines.
Assist DTRs with migration from Unix to Linux throughout the stores.
Configure routers, switches, servers, and desktop PCs for usage on the network.

Data communications technician example responsibilities.

Manage DSL service to remote users through NAS.
Manage the day-to-day operations of telecommunication services utilize by DuPont.
Run cable, terminate cat5, cat6 and voice cable.
Install and label network cabling from cat5e, Cat6, fiber cable, and coaxial cabling (DS3).
Introduce BGP for connectivity to the corporate network.
Wire pots lines and T1 lines to main distribution frame.

Data technician vs data communications technician skills

Common data technician skills

Data Entry, 11%
Java, 10%
Data Management, 7%
Data Collection, 6%
Access Database, 5%
SQL, 5%

Common data communications technician skills

POS, 12%
Computer Screens, 12%
RF, 11%
Test Equipment, 10%
Phone System, 10%
Technical Manuals, 9%

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Data Technician
Data Technician vs Data Communications Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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