Headend technician vs outside plant technician

The differences between headend technicians and outside plant technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an outside plant technician has an average salary of $42,451, which is higher than the $41,700 average annual salary of a headend technician.

The top three skills for a headend technician include RF, troubleshoot and IP. The most important skills for an outside plant technician are ladders, outside plant, and CDL.

Headend technician vs outside plant technician overview

	Headend Technician	Outside Plant Technician
Yearly salary	$41,700	$42,451
Hourly rate	$20.05	$20.41
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	40,731	67,234
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 46%	Associate Degree, 38%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	-	-

Headend technician vs outside plant technician salary

Headend technicians and outside plant technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Headend Technician	Outside Plant Technician
Average salary	$41,700	$42,451
Salary range	Between $32,000 And $53,000	Between $29,000 And $61,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between headend technician and outside plant technician education

There are a few differences between a headend technician and an outside plant technician in terms of educational background:

	Headend Technician	Outside Plant Technician
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 46%	Associate Degree, 38%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Stanford University

Headend technician vs outside plant technician demographics

Here are the differences between headend technicians' and outside plant technicians' demographics:

	Headend Technician	Outside Plant Technician
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 94.4% Female, 5.6%	Male, 96.8% Female, 3.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 6.2% White, 58.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 14.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 6.2% White, 56.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between headend technician and outside plant technician duties and responsibilities

Headend technician example responsibilities.

Project complete while simultaneously managing VoIP project.
Assist the NOC and other technical support departments in isolating and repairing video and data services.
Home and apartment CATV installation.
Experience with various vendor telephony i.e.
Perform security audits on each CMTS.
Add new service groups and transmitters.

Outside plant technician example responsibilities.

Manage and administer documentation of OSP fiber optic plant in support of customer projects, network planning, and municipality requirements.
Move and/or lift items such as ladders, tools, air tanks, cable reels, and test equipment
Install residential and business telephone lines, including premise CAT5 wiring and jack work.
Perform construction work such as digging holes, installing inner duct in various types of conduit systems and open excavations.
Organize projects that include open excavations, placing cables, air pipes and inner duct in various types of conduit systems.
Install and repair T1 and T3 systems.

Headend technician vs outside plant technician skills

Common headend technician skills

RF, 20%
Troubleshoot, 11%
IP, 7%
Digital Video, 6%
FCC, 5%
Fiber Optic, 5%

Common outside plant technician skills

Ladders, 10%
Outside Plant, 10%
CDL, 8%
Test Equipment, 6%
Safety Procedures, 6%
OSHA, 5%

Headend Technician vs. similar jobs

Headend Technician related careers

Headend Technician related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Installation, Maintenance and Repair Industry
Headend Technician
Headend Technician vs Outside Plant Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse installation, maintenance and repair jobs