Mechanical design technician vs mechanical designer

The differences between mechanical design technicians and mechanical designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a mechanical design technician and a mechanical designer. Additionally, a mechanical designer has an average salary of $62,541, which is higher than the $60,714 average annual salary of a mechanical design technician.

The top three skills for a mechanical design technician include CAD, revit and fire protection. The most important skills for a mechanical designer are mechanical design, revit, and auto cad.

Mechanical design technician vs mechanical designer overview

	Mechanical Design Technician	Mechanical Designer
Yearly salary	$60,714	$62,541
Hourly rate	$29.19	$30.07
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	62,685	65,748
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 59%	Associate Degree, 51%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	6	6

Mechanical design technician vs mechanical designer salary

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

	Mechanical Design Technician	Mechanical Designer
Average salary	$60,714	$62,541
Salary range	Between $47,000 And $77,000	Between $46,000 And $83,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	Massachusetts
Best paying company	-	Apple
Best paying industry	-	Energy

Differences between mechanical design technician and mechanical designer education

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

	Mechanical Design Technician	Mechanical Designer
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 59%	Associate Degree, 51%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Drafting And Design
Most common college	Northwestern University	Carnegie Mellon University

Mechanical design technician vs mechanical designer demographics

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

	Mechanical Design Technician	Mechanical Designer
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 89.3% Female, 10.7%	Male, 89.1% Female, 10.9%
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, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 10.5% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between mechanical design technician and mechanical designer 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 designer example responsibilities.

Work with JPL / NASA packaging and fabrication engineering leads (on-site).
Manage documentation of existing projects, perform ECN resolutions.
Produce REVIT models for the mechanical department o HVAC sheet metal and HVAC piping.
Develop company's AutoCAD customize menu, prepare cad department logistics, organize and staff cad department.
Apply mechanical engineering design and manufacturing expertise to develop MR and XR medical imaging devices utilizing AutoCAD.
Experience with ASME and ANSI codes.

Mechanical design technician vs mechanical designer skills

Common mechanical design technician skills

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

Common mechanical designer skills

Mechanical Design, 8%
Revit, 7%
Auto CAD, 6%
HVAC, 5%
Engineering Drawings, 4%
Creo, 4%

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Mechanical Design Technician
Mechanical Design Technician vs Mechanical Designer

Updated January 8, 2025

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