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The differences between environmental field technicians and field technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an environmental field technician, becoming a field technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an environmental field technician has an average salary of $38,450, which is higher than the $37,520 average annual salary of a field technician.
The top three skills for an environmental field technician include OSHA, data collection and HAZWOPER. The most important skills for a field technician are customer service, ladders, and test equipment.
| Environmental Field Technician | Field Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $38,450 | $37,520 |
| Hourly rate | $18.49 | $18.04 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 76,665 | 123,149 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Average age | 38 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
An environmental field technician, often known as an environmental science and protection technician, is an individual who conducts tests on the environment and determines the impact of a potential source of pollutants. Environmental field technicians investigate pollution sources by performing testing of groundwater samples in the field. They must ensure that proper safety procedures and equipment are utilized as well as implement on-site safety procedures to individual company specifications. Environmental field technicians must also coordinate with construction management to ensure that they are following the comprehensive environmental compliance throughout the phases of construction.
A field technician is responsible for providing technical and maintenance support for the customers by area visits. Field technicians' duties include diagnosing technical problems, replacing malfunction components, upgrading systems for efficiency, running equipment tests to ensure stability, creating draft reports of performed processes, utilizing vehicles and other tools safely, following client's specifications on operating equipment, and adhering to the safety standards. A field technician must have excellent communication and decision-making skills, as well as extensive knowledge of the technological industry.
Environmental field technicians and field technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Environmental Field Technician | Field Technician | |
| Average salary | $38,450 | $37,520 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $48,000 | Between $28,000 And $48,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | - | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | - | DCP Midstream |
| Best paying industry | - | Energy |
There are a few differences between an environmental field technician and a field technician in terms of educational background:
| Environmental Field Technician | Field Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Environmental Science | Business |
| Most common college | Duke University | - |
Here are the differences between environmental field technicians' and field technicians' demographics:
| Environmental Field Technician | Field Technician | |
| Average age | 38 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.5% Female, 14.5% | Male, 88.5% Female, 11.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 10.5% White, 56.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% | Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 1.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 1% |