Draftsman/designer vs autocad drafter

The differences between draftsman/designers and autocad drafters can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a draftsman/designer and an autocad drafter. Additionally, a draftsman/designer has an average salary of $52,529, which is higher than the $41,984 average annual salary of an autocad drafter.

The top three skills for a draftsman/designer include design layouts, solidworks and shop drawings. The most important skills for an autocad drafter are construction drawings, layout drawings, and revit.

Draftsman/designer vs autocad drafter overview

	Draftsman/Designer	Autocad Drafter
Yearly salary	$52,529	$41,984
Hourly rate	$25.25	$20.18
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	47,341	2,429
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	12	12

Draftsman/designer vs autocad drafter salary

Draftsman/designers and autocad drafters have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Draftsman/Designer	Autocad Drafter
Average salary	$52,529	$41,984
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $89,000	Between $31,000 And $55,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Garfield, NJ
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Rhode Island
Best paying company	TalentBurst	GPAC
Best paying industry	Technology	Government

Differences between draftsman/designer and autocad drafter education

There are a few differences between a draftsman/designer and an autocad drafter in terms of educational background:

	Draftsman/Designer	Autocad Drafter
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Drafting And Design
Most common college	Carnegie Mellon University	Carnegie Mellon University

Draftsman/designer vs autocad drafter demographics

Here are the differences between draftsman/designers' and autocad drafters' demographics:

	Draftsman/Designer	Autocad Drafter
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 92.2% Female, 7.8%	Male, 72.3% Female, 27.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 7.0% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 7.0% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between draftsman/designer and autocad drafter duties and responsibilities

Draftsman/designer example responsibilities.

Manage and supervise other draftsmen.
Assist with structural steel detailing, machine design, CNC graphics and ceramics machine design projects.
Detail preliminary design drawings to create BOM's, production use shop layouts, and specific details.
Travele to various work sites to dimension and sketch details of the projects.
Develop and maintain current Revit templates for consistency and overall visual quality of projects.
Design and draft building components from red lines create by MEP engineers with revit software.

Autocad drafter example responsibilities.

Update mechanical drawings per engineering change orders using AutoCAD and SolidWorks.
Create as-built drawings for security systems using AutoCAD
Produce complete architectural drawings for several residential projects, including mechanical, electrical and plumbing construction documents.
Create and maintain BOM for each job design
Used GIS mapping coordinates systems to ensure point accuracy.
Create designs consisting of fire alarm systems using AutoCAD MEP.

Draftsman/designer vs autocad drafter skills

Common draftsman/designer skills

Design Layouts, 16%
Solidworks, 10%
Shop Drawings, 5%
R, 4%
HVAC, 4%
Customer Specifications, 3%

Common autocad drafter skills

Construction Drawings, 12%
Layout Drawings, 8%
Revit, 8%
Shop Drawings, 7%
GIS, 5%
Auto CAD, 5%