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The differences between field technicians and service technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a field technician and a service technician. Additionally, a service technician has an average salary of $40,379, which is higher than the $37,520 average annual salary of a field technician.
The top three skills for a field technician include customer service, ladders and test equipment. The most important skills for a service technician are plumbing, customer service, and preventative maintenance.
| Field Technician | Service Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $37,520 | $40,379 |
| Hourly rate | $18.04 | $19.41 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 123,149 | 254,533 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Associate Degree, 29% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
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.
Service technicians are assigned in the field to address the concerns of their clients. Service technicians are responsible for the installation, maintenance, or repair of different units or items related to their company's products or services. They should be familiar with their company's products so that they can properly install, maintain, or repair them. They conduct diagnostics and analysis to assess the condition of the unit they are servicing and properly address problems. They also do routine maintenance check-ups. Service technicians are expected to be trustworthy, have good analytical skills, and have good decision-making skills.
Field technicians and service technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Field Technician | Service Technician | |
| Average salary | $37,520 | $40,379 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $48,000 | Between $28,000 And $57,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | DCP Midstream | IBM |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Technology |
There are a few differences between a field technician and a service technician in terms of educational background:
| Field Technician | Service Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Associate Degree, 29% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between field technicians' and service technicians' demographics:
| Field Technician | Service Technician | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.5% Female, 11.5% | Male, 89.2% Female, 10.8% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 5.1% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 1.7% White, 72.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 1% | 1% |