Lead drafter vs truss designer

The differences between lead drafters and truss designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a lead drafter and a truss designer. Additionally, a truss designer has an average salary of $50,866, which is higher than the $47,538 average annual salary of a lead drafter.

The top three skills for a lead drafter include construction drawings, autocad and engineering drawings. The most important skills for a truss designer are mitek, design software, and auto cad.

Lead drafter vs truss designer overview

	Lead Drafter	Truss Designer
Yearly salary	$47,538	$50,866
Hourly rate	$22.85	$24.45
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	3,266	45,424
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 65%	Associate Degree, 46%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	12	12

Lead drafter vs truss designer salary

Lead drafters and truss designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Lead Drafter	Truss Designer
Average salary	$47,538	$50,866
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $63,000	Between $36,000 And $70,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between lead drafter and truss designer education

There are a few differences between a lead drafter and a truss designer in terms of educational background:

	Lead Drafter	Truss Designer
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 65%	Associate Degree, 46%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Drafting And Design
Most common college	Carnegie Mellon University	Carnegie Mellon University

Lead drafter vs truss designer demographics

Here are the differences between lead drafters' and truss designers' demographics:

	Lead Drafter	Truss Designer
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 83.6% Female, 16.4%	Male, 85.8% Female, 14.2%
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 lead drafter and truss designer duties and responsibilities

Lead drafter example responsibilities.

Lead and train a drafting team in order to transfer all hand drawn layouts to a digital copy using AutoCAD.
Maintain ECO's numbers and BOM's.
Create and revise BOM's as required per drawings and specifications.
Program and operate CNC routers, including maintenance and general care of the machine.
Design with sheet metal, aluminum, and parts to be mill by a CNC machine.
Provide support regarding AutoCAD operation.

Truss designer example responsibilities.

Lead the development of BIM modeling content for the architecture team as a direct report to the executive and lead architects.
Provide engineering drawings, material estimates, GIS.
Develop software creativity skills designing commercial and residential trusses using MiTek 3D truss design software.
Set up and operate both manual and CNC machining equipment.
Program and operate CNC Emco and CNC Hurco fabrication machinery.
Research and purchase materials require for project completion from BOM take-off.

Lead drafter vs truss designer skills

Common lead drafter skills

Construction Drawings, 18%
Autocad, 18%
Engineering Drawings, 16%
Aided Design, 14%
Product Line, 10%
CAD Tech, 3%

Common truss designer skills

Mitek, 20%
Design Software, 17%
Auto CAD, 16%
Layout Design, 13%
Roof Trusses, 6%
Engineering Software, 4%