Lidar technician vs laser technician

The differences between lidar technicians and laser technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a lidar technician, becoming a laser technician takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a lidar technician has an average salary of $64,037, which is higher than the $37,370 average annual salary of a laser technician.

The top three skills for a lidar technician include GIS, extraction and CAD. The most important skills for a laser technician are patients, customer service, and laser equipment.

Lidar technician vs laser technician overview

	Lidar Technician	Laser Technician
Yearly salary	$64,037	$37,370
Hourly rate	$30.79	$17.97
Growth rate	-	17%
Number of jobs	14,916	24,920
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 78%	Associate Degree, 35%
Average age	50	45
Years of experience	12	2

Lidar technician vs laser technician salary

Lidar technicians and laser technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Lidar Technician	Laser Technician
Average salary	$64,037	$37,370
Salary range	Between $42,000 And $97,000	Between $30,000 And $46,000
Highest paying City	-	West Fargo, ND
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between lidar technician and laser technician education

There are a few differences between a lidar technician and a laser technician in terms of educational background:

	Lidar Technician	Laser Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 78%	Associate Degree, 35%
Most common major	Geography	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	University of California, Berkeley	California State University - Long Beach

Lidar technician vs laser technician demographics

Here are the differences between lidar technicians' and laser technicians' demographics:

	Lidar Technician	Laser Technician
Average age	50	45
Gender ratio	Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5%	Male, 47.8% Female, 52.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 8.0% White, 70.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 7.5% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	8%	6%

Differences between lidar technician and laser technician duties and responsibilities

Lidar technician example responsibilities.

Develop GIS datasets through detail feature extraction.
Experience at using MicroStation, InterPlot, Geopak, Textpad, and Decartes software.
Update and improve spatial and thematic accuracy of features within the GIS to match LiDAR base data.
Perform peer-reviews and map-editing using MicroStation software.
Assess contractor bid documents and prepare PowerPoint presentations for management by administering proposals to procurement in awarding work to eligible contractors.
Create georeferenced scan strips and exterior orientations using Linux base Toppit software.

Laser technician example responsibilities.

Maintain coating quality using adhesion testing and spectrophotometers, and manage coating hues and reflectance adjustments.
Build solid-state, diode end pump lasers using YAG, YLF, and YVO4 nonlinear crystals.
Operate a CNC laser welding machine which make metallic honeycomb core from sheets of aluminum, steel, and titanium.
Assist physician during dermal fillers and Botox.
Specialize training on Candela laser such as GentleLase and GentleYag.
Design, assemble, and test laser modules using SolidWorks.

Lidar technician vs laser technician skills

Common lidar technician skills

GIS, 28%
Extraction, 23%
CAD, 23%
Troubleshoot, 14%
Digital Terrain Models, 6%
Data Processing, 4%

Common laser technician skills

Patients, 19%
Customer Service, 15%
Laser Equipment, 8%
Laser Safety, 7%
Laser Hair Removal, 6%
Surgical Procedures, 5%