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The differences between machine designers and designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a machine designer, becoming a designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a machine designer has an average salary of $69,937, which is higher than the $66,347 average annual salary of a designer.
The top three skills for a machine designer include solidworks, machine design and autocad. The most important skills for a designer are sketch, customer service, and graphic design.
| Machine Designer | Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $69,937 | $66,347 |
| Hourly rate | $33.62 | $31.90 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 81,897 | 52,433 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 41 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 12 |
A mechanical designer creates and draws different designs for pieces of machinery and other equipment. They are often patterned with engineers and other related professionals to create a variety of types of machinery. Typically they work in an office setting, with the majority at architecture, manufacturing, and engineering firms. They may also be the person who develops and provides layout designs for customers and clients. A person who is creative, has a background in product development, and possesses analytic skills may be a great fit for the job.
A designer is someone who creates a master plan of the look or workings of something before it will be made. It could be tangible or intangible objects, products, procedures, laws, events, games, graphics, services, and even experiences. Designers are creative thinkers with a great eye to configure the skeletal and structural properties of the targeted output. They work in several fields, such as fashion, architecture, web graphics, and user experience. In spite of the variety of professionals in the design industry, all of them are artistic, passionate, inspiring, and emotionally connected to their projects and brands.
Machine designers and designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Machine Designer | Designer | |
| Average salary | $69,937 | $66,347 |
| Salary range | Between $48,000 And $100,000 | Between $45,000 And $97,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Ana, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Energy Inc. | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Technology |
There are a few differences between a machine designer and a designer in terms of educational background:
| Machine Designer | Designer | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Drafting And Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between machine designers' and designers' demographics:
| Machine Designer | Designer | |
| Average age | 41 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 94.6% Female, 5.4% | Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 10.2% White, 71.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 13% |