Documentation writer vs technical writer

The differences between documentation writers and technical writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a documentation writer and a technical writer. Additionally, a documentation writer has an average salary of $69,677, which is higher than the $65,329 average annual salary of a technical writer.

The top three skills for a documentation writer include technical documentation, subject matter experts and sharepoint. The most important skills for a technical writer are technical documentation, subject matter experts, and powerpoint.

Documentation writer vs technical writer overview

	Documentation Writer	Technical Writer
Yearly salary	$69,677	$65,329
Hourly rate	$33.50	$31.41
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	16,019	75,090
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	2	2

What does a documentation writer do?

A documentation writer helps organizations with documentation tasks for their services/products. These professionals mostly handle factual and highly technical writing for companies like electronics manufacturers, technology corporations, and software companies. Documentation writers produce factual information relating to products in various formats from technical specifications to reference manuals, fact sheets, frequently asked questions, how-to's, and instructions manuals. They can describe complex processes like functions, setup, and installation in clear English. Moreover, these professionals produce the required documents on time and with zero errors.

What does a technical writer do?

Technical Writers specialize in producing easy-to-understand instructional or informational written materials, such as media and journal articles, assessments and guidelines, and legal forms of documentation. For Technical Writers to develop well-versed content, one must conduct thorough research on the topic or idea to ensure factual legitimacy and communicate with those whose expertise aligns with the subject. Aside from producing, Technical Writers can also improve or convert complex written materials such as operating manuals or documents into one that can be easily understood by the general public.

Documentation writer vs technical writer salary

Documentation writers and technical writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Documentation Writer	Technical Writer
Average salary	$69,677	$65,329
Salary range	Between $53,000 And $90,000	Between $48,000 And $87,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Meta
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between documentation writer and technical writer education

There are a few differences between a documentation writer and a technical writer in terms of educational background:

	Documentation Writer	Technical Writer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	English	English
Most common college	Northwestern University	University of Houston

Documentation writer vs technical writer demographics

Here are the differences between documentation writers' and technical writers' demographics:

	Documentation Writer	Technical Writer
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 48.3% Female, 51.7%	Male, 49.7% Female, 50.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 8.8% White, 71.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 8.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between documentation writer and technical writer duties and responsibilities

Documentation writer example responsibilities.

Manage content uploads through SharePoint.
Manage the EDMS system as a super user for the organization.
Manage, and perform administrative QC of electronic clinical submission modules within the Documentum document management system.
Help company achieve ISO registration by determining best practices, writing ISO compliant manufacturing instructions and teaching best manufacturing processes.
Update and QC collateral file inventory.
Analyze technical design documents and work closely with SMEs.

Technical writer example responsibilities.

Analyze the requirements of the RFP to understand the customer s solution needs and to identify potential discriminators for competitive advantage.
Manage consulting projects including UNIX installation and maintenance on various engineering workstation platforms.
Create and manage print and online documentation for Linux and web-base security software.
Manage security program for DoD classify magnetic media, classify documents and physical security systems.
Develop software requirements documents for proprietary medical software device; manage documents through SDLC in fda-regulate environment.
Help company achieve ISO registration by determining best practices, writing ISO compliant manufacturing instructions and teaching best manufacturing processes.

Documentation writer vs technical writer skills

Common documentation writer skills

Technical Documentation, 15%
Subject Matter Experts, 10%
SharePoint, 9%
Software Development, 6%
User Manuals, 6%
GMP, 6%

Common technical writer skills

Technical Documentation, 9%
Subject Matter Experts, 8%
PowerPoint, 6%
Visio, 4%
SharePoint, 4%
Test Procedures, 4%

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Documentation Writer vs Technical Writer

Updated January 8, 2025

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