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The differences between environmental protection specialists and environmental technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an environmental protection specialist, becoming an environmental technician takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an environmental protection specialist has an average salary of $59,771, which is higher than the $39,690 average annual salary of an environmental technician.
The top three skills for an environmental protection specialist include hazardous waste, CFR and DOD. The most important skills for an environmental technician are patients, OSHA, and hazardous materials.
| Environmental Protection Specialist | Environmental Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $59,771 | $39,690 |
| Hourly rate | $28.74 | $19.08 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 26,135 | 43,079 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Average age | 39 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
The duties of an environmental protection specialist depend on their line of work or place of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around assessing and determining the level of pollution or damage in an area, gathering samples for scientific purposes, reviewing data and results, and providing recommendations to clients or government agencies. Furthermore, there are also instances where they have to summarize results and produce reports or presentations, coordinate with other specialists and scientists, and develop programs or projects to raise environmental awareness.
An environmental technician is responsible for identifying, evaluating, preventing, and controlling contamination of the environment. They study how it affects human health with the supervision of environmental engineers and environmental scientists. Environmental technicians work by monitoring the environment and look for possible sources of pollution and contamination that can possibly affect public health. They make sure that environmental violations are prevented. In addition, an environmental technician also investigates any complaint that is related to water quality, air quality, and food safety.
Environmental protection specialists and environmental technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Environmental Protection Specialist | Environmental Technician | |
| Average salary | $59,771 | $39,690 |
| Salary range | Between $39,000 And $91,000 | Between $30,000 And $51,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Danbury, CT |
| Highest paying state | California | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | Booz Allen Hamilton | City of Detroit |
| Best paying industry | Government | Energy |
There are a few differences between an environmental protection specialist and an environmental technician in terms of educational background:
| Environmental Protection Specialist | Environmental Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Most common major | Environmental Science | Environmental Science |
| Most common college | Duke University | Duke University |
Here are the differences between environmental protection specialists' and environmental technicians' demographics:
| Environmental Protection Specialist | Environmental Technician | |
| Average age | 39 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.6% Female, 38.4% | Male, 73.3% Female, 26.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 6.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 81.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 8% |