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Maintenance technician vs repair technician

The differences between maintenance technicians and repair technicians 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 technician and a repair technician. Additionally, a maintenance technician has an average salary of $43,293, which is higher than the $41,643 average annual salary of a repair technician.

The top three skills for a maintenance technician include plumbing, HVAC and hand tools. The most important skills for a repair technician are customer service, hand tools, and customer satisfaction.

Maintenance technician vs repair technician overview

Maintenance TechnicianRepair Technician
Yearly salary$43,293$41,643
Hourly rate$20.81$20.02
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs178,450162,051
Job satisfaction4.25-
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 34%Associate Degree, 38%
Average age4747
Years of experience44

What does a maintenance technician do?

Maintenance technicians are technicians who specialize in the preservation of office facilities. They have in-depth knowledge of how various office equipment or fixtures work so that they can immediately identify how to repair them in case of breakdowns. Maintenance technicians perform diagnostics and routine maintenance activities to ensure that everything in the office is running well. They immediately repair problems in fixtures or equipment to avoid any further damages or safety concerns. They should be familiar with occupational safety and health standards to ensure that the office is a safe place to work.

What does a repair technician do?

A repair technician's role focuses on assessing the problem or damage of a device and implementing solutions for it to function again. Although the extent of a technician's tasks will depend on the device or industry of employment, most of it revolves around troubleshooting, providing technical support, installing and writing programs, detaching and re-attaching wirings, welding, and even thoroughly discussing problems and solutions to clients. Furthermore, there are instances when a repair technician must work in a team setting that requires coordination and communication.

Maintenance technician vs repair technician salary

Maintenance technicians and repair technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Maintenance TechnicianRepair Technician
Average salary$43,293$41,643
Salary rangeBetween $31,000 And $59,000Between $27,000 And $63,000
Highest paying CityRichmond, CANew York, NY
Highest paying stateRhode IslandHawaii
Best paying companyAnheuser-BuschSoCalGas
Best paying industryManufacturingManufacturing

Differences between maintenance technician and repair technician education

There are a few differences between a maintenance technician and a repair technician in terms of educational background:

Maintenance TechnicianRepair Technician
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 34%Associate Degree, 38%
Most common majorElectrical Engineering TechnologyElectrical Engineering
Most common college--

Maintenance technician vs repair technician demographics

Here are the differences between maintenance technicians' and repair technicians' demographics:

Maintenance TechnicianRepair Technician
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 95.7% Female, 4.3%Male, 88.3% Female, 11.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 4.6% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 4.6% White, 60.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage2%2%

Differences between maintenance technician and repair technician duties and responsibilities

Maintenance technician example responsibilities.

  • Install, repair and troubleshoot electrical wiring, including switches, outlets, lights, ballast.
  • Monitor and document all temperature readings on boilers, chillers, and dry vac systems beginning and mid shift.
  • Perform preventative maintenance checks and services on exhaust fans, boilers, chiller units, automatic transfer switches, and generators.
  • Repair electrical equipment; replace faulty electrical switches; repair refrigeration equipment.
  • Handle trouble-shooting and repair of mechanical systems refrigerant recovery and charging of HVAC systems.
  • Facilitate commercial plumbing, electrical, light HVAC, and carpentry repairs in a laboratory facility environment
  • Show more

Repair technician example responsibilities.

  • Lead small teams in the development and installation of residential and commercial electrical and HVAC systems to include smart home systems.
  • Repair hardware and software problems for both PC and mac computers.
  • Repair various air tools such as impact wrenches and die grinders for customers.
  • Gain extensive knowledge of all computer models including Compaq, Hewlett Packard and IBM.
  • Surface mount capacitors, resistors, crystals, IC chips, and other components require for repair.
  • Replace defective guitar and amplifier parts such as controls, jacks, resistors, capacitors, A/C cable, etc.
  • Show more

Maintenance technician vs repair technician skills

Common maintenance technician skills
  • Plumbing, 10%
  • HVAC, 8%
  • Hand Tools, 7%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Ladders, 4%
  • Electrical Systems, 4%
Common repair technician skills
  • Customer Service, 17%
  • Hand Tools, 9%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 8%
  • Preventative Maintenance, 6%
  • HVAC, 5%
  • Work Ethic, 5%

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