Design drafter vs die designer

The differences between design drafters and die designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a design drafter and a die designer. Additionally, a die designer has an average salary of $74,294, which is higher than the $50,021 average annual salary of a design drafter.

The top three skills for a design drafter include layout drawings, auto cad and engineering drawings. The most important skills for a die designer are CNC, stamping dies, and NX.

Design drafter vs die designer overview

	Design Drafter	Die Designer
Yearly salary	$50,021	$74,294
Hourly rate	$24.05	$35.72
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	39,125	45,135
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 56%	Associate Degree, 57%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	4	4

Design drafter vs die designer salary

Design drafters and die designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Design Drafter	Die Designer
Average salary	$50,021	$74,294
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $67,000	Between $50,000 And $110,000
Highest paying City	Cupertino, CA	-
Highest paying state	California	-
Best paying company	Apple	-
Best paying industry	Finance	-

Differences between design drafter and die designer education

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

	Design Drafter	Die Designer
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 56%	Associate Degree, 57%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Drafting And Design
Most common college	LeTourneau University	Northwestern University

Design drafter vs die designer demographics

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

	Design Drafter	Die Designer
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 80.1% Female, 19.9%	Male, 92.3% Female, 7.7%
Race ratio	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%	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	6%	6%

Differences between design drafter and die designer duties and responsibilities

Design drafter example responsibilities.

Manage the ECN process by assigning the highest priority requests through coordination between engineering staff and drafting personnel.
Use Windchill for file management.
Develop pattern REVIT families for retail fixture manufactures.
Assist with implementation of Revit as main drawing application.
Draft and design mechanical and electrical windows for aircraft and yachts.
Work on plant location to sketch isometric drawings used for pressure analysis.

Die designer example responsibilities.

Sketch design ideas, create technical packets and manage the product development process from concept to creation.
Complete 3D graphics with SOLIDWORKS and draw the orthographic views of fixture with AUTOCAD.
Design fixtures in Solidworks which properly secure parts to be weld using ABB robots for mass production.
Develop test solutions to assist manufactures to quickly and accurately analyze, troubleshoot and identify root cause failure analysis.
Design and hand make men's and women's leather footwear, handbags, and jewelry collections.
Used creative concepting to generate relative imagery for print and embroidery purposes.

Design drafter vs die designer skills

Common design drafter skills

Layout Drawings, 10%
Auto CAD, 6%
Engineering Drawings, 5%
Aided Design, 5%
Assembly Drawings, 5%
Revit, 4%

Common die designer skills

CNC, 17%
Stamping Dies, 13%
NX, 11%
Autocad, 10%
Pro-E, 7%
CATIA, 6%