Mechanical design technician vs mechanical design drafter

The differences between mechanical design technicians and mechanical design drafters can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a mechanical design technician, becoming a mechanical design drafter takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a mechanical design technician has an average salary of $60,714, which is higher than the $58,371 average annual salary of a mechanical design drafter.

The top three skills for a mechanical design technician include CAD, revit and fire protection. The most important skills for a mechanical design drafter are design layouts, creo, and assembly drawings.

Mechanical design technician vs mechanical design drafter overview

	Mechanical Design Technician	Mechanical Design Drafter
Yearly salary	$60,714	$58,371
Hourly rate	$29.19	$28.06
Growth rate	2%	-3%
Number of jobs	62,685	54,189
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 59%	Associate Degree, 56%
Average age	41	45
Years of experience	6	4

Mechanical design technician vs mechanical design drafter salary

Mechanical design technicians and mechanical design drafters have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Mechanical Design Technician	Mechanical Design Drafter
Average salary	$60,714	$58,371
Salary range	Between $47,000 And $77,000	Between $45,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City	-	Fremont, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Salt River Project
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between mechanical design technician and mechanical design drafter education

There are a few differences between a mechanical design technician and a mechanical design drafter in terms of educational background:

	Mechanical Design Technician	Mechanical Design Drafter
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 59%	Associate Degree, 56%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Drafting And Design
Most common college	Northwestern University	Northwestern University

Mechanical design technician vs mechanical design drafter demographics

Here are the differences between mechanical design technicians' and mechanical design drafters' demographics:

	Mechanical Design Technician	Mechanical Design Drafter
Average age	41	45
Gender ratio	Male, 89.3% Female, 10.7%	Male, 87.7% Female, 12.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 10.4% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 5.7% White, 73.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	6%

Differences between mechanical design technician and mechanical design drafter duties and responsibilities

Mechanical design technician example responsibilities.

Provide mechanical design and sustaining engineering expertise to troubleshoot manufacturing defect trends and achieve a more robust and producible product.
Design and model changes to drawings for support of fabrication and installation of HVAC, plumbing and major commercial/industrial/residential pipe systems.
Engineer air-conditioning, heating, refrigeration, plumbing, and electrical power supply for renovate building spaces.
Convert and clean-up architectural background drawings and establish mechanical and plumbing drawings.
Create BOM for the lines; compose design documentation utilizing technical drawings and engineering specifications.
Design and manufacture documentation for custom smart power distribution products including customer specifications and vendor BOM's.

Mechanical design drafter example responsibilities.

Calculate requirements and manage HVAC systems, including design, development, compliance, testing, troubleshooting and repair.
Incorporate ECO's to update and revise the drawings and BOM's on military aircraft antenna test equipment.
Generate ECR's and ECN's to accommodate customer's requirements.
Convert 2D drawings into 3D assemblies that can be include into SolidWork's PDM environment.
Train manufacturing employees on CNC tube benders and how to utilize manufacturing jig and fixtures.
Supervise 8-member shop including : 2 CNC lathes , 2 manual lathes , 1 milling machine and 3 motor technicians.

Mechanical design technician vs mechanical design drafter skills

Common mechanical design technician skills

CAD, 17%
Revit, 10%
Fire Protection, 9%
Solidworks, 8%
Assembly Drawings, 6%
BIM, 6%

Common mechanical design drafter skills

Design Layouts, 6%
Creo, 6%
Assembly Drawings, 6%
Aided Design, 5%
GD, 5%
Auto CAD, 4%

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Mechanical Design Technician
Mechanical Design Technician vs Mechanical Design Drafter

Updated January 8, 2025

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