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The differences between mechanical field engineers and design engineers 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 field engineer and a design engineer. Additionally, a mechanical field engineer has an average salary of $82,132, which is higher than the $77,134 average annual salary of a design engineer.
The top three skills for a mechanical field engineer include troubleshoot, outage and gas turbines. The most important skills for a design engineer are C++, UL, and project management.
| Mechanical Field Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $82,132 | $77,134 |
| Hourly rate | $39.49 | $37.08 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 115,757 | 138,173 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A mechanical field engineer is an engineering professional who works on-site on a variety of projects. The responsibilities of this position are inspecting and installing equipment, conducting research, reporting project status, and resolving on-site malfunctions. They also perform administrative tasks, create reports, and ensure adherence to client specifications.
A design engineer is responsible for creating systems and applications based on their expertise. Design engineers work through client specifications based on business needs. A design engineer also provides recommendations on improving existing systems to boost its performance and increase efficiency. Design engineers must have an excellent command of computer systems, programming codes, and technical data to ensure the system's stability and high-quality processes. A design engineer should also have strong analytical and time-management skills to perform tasks and meet deadlines.
Mechanical field engineers and design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Mechanical Field Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $82,132 | $77,134 |
| Salary range | Between $60,000 And $111,000 | Between $57,000 And $102,000 |
| Highest paying City | Hayward, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Technology |
There are a few differences between a mechanical field engineer and a design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Mechanical Field Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between mechanical field engineers' and design engineers' demographics:
| Mechanical Field Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.5% Female, 6.5% | Male, 88.9% Female, 11.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 10.3% White, 72.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |