Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between maintenance foremen and general maintenance mechanics can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a maintenance foreman and a general maintenance mechanic. Additionally, a maintenance foreman has an average salary of $40,478, which is higher than the $37,631 average annual salary of a general maintenance mechanic.
The top three skills for a maintenance foreman include CDL, plumbing and maintenance repairs. The most important skills for a general maintenance mechanic are plumbing, HVAC, and customer service.
| Maintenance Foreman | General Maintenance Mechanic | |
| Yearly salary | $40,478 | $37,631 |
| Hourly rate | $19.46 | $18.09 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 97,927 | 167,937 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 29% | High School Diploma, 46% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
If an office has a human resource specialist that monitors the employees, maintenance workers have what you call a foreman. They are the ones responsible for overseeing and supervising the maintenance work. This includes monitoring, facilitating, and repairing types of machinery and other equipment. A foreman may supervise the laborers, maintenance workers, helpers, and others.
A general maintenance mechanic is responsible for ensuring the cleanliness and orderliness of the facilities and inspecting the condition and performance of the equipment and machinery for business operations and processes. General maintenance mechanics handle equipment repairs and replacement of defective components, requiring them to have extensive knowledge of the mechanical industry. They also install and assemble equipment by analyzing mechanical schematics and blueprints accurately. A general maintenance mechanic creates a comprehensive schedule of inspection, repairs, and quality control checks to preserve the safe standards of the premises.
Maintenance foremen and general maintenance mechanics have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Maintenance Foreman | General Maintenance Mechanic | |
| Average salary | $40,478 | $37,631 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $52,000 | Between $27,000 And $51,000 |
| Highest paying City | Fairbanks, AK | Santa Clara, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Genesee & Wyoming | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a maintenance foreman and a general maintenance mechanic in terms of educational background:
| Maintenance Foreman | General Maintenance Mechanic | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 29% | High School Diploma, 46% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between maintenance foremen' and general maintenance mechanics' demographics:
| Maintenance Foreman | General Maintenance Mechanic | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 96.2% Female, 3.8% | Male, 93.6% Female, 6.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 4.6% White, 62.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 4.5% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 2% | 2% |