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The differences between mold makers and tool 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 mold maker and a tool designer. Additionally, a tool designer has an average salary of $64,763, which is higher than the $48,841 average annual salary of a mold maker.
The top three skills for a mold maker include grinders, plastic injection molds and cnc machines. The most important skills for a tool designer are jigs, assembly fixtures, and aerospace.
| Mold Maker | Tool Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $48,841 | $64,763 |
| Hourly rate | $23.48 | $31.14 |
| Growth rate | 1% | 1% |
| Number of jobs | 13,896 | 51,666 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 30% | Associate Degree, 48% |
| Average age | 54 | 54 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A Mold Maker creates, adjusts, inspects, maintains, and repairs molds and production equipment. They use various machines, such as lathes, milling machines, grinding machines, and jig borders.
A tool designer is an expert who works to engineer a new equipment's initial design used in industrial manufacturing. Tool designers design machine cutting tools like drills, broaches, and milling-machine cutters. They apply geometric and algebraic formulas along with standard tool engineering data for tool configuration development. Also, they modify tool designs based on production service data or trial for tool life performance and life improvement.
Mold makers and tool designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Mold Maker | Tool Designer | |
| Average salary | $48,841 | $64,763 |
| Salary range | Between $34,000 And $68,000 | Between $47,000 And $87,000 |
| Highest paying City | Monterey, CA | San Jose, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Vicor | Entegris |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a mold maker and a tool designer in terms of educational background:
| Mold Maker | Tool Designer | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 30% | Associate Degree, 48% |
| Most common major | Precision Metal Working | Drafting And Design |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between mold makers' and tool designers' demographics:
| Mold Maker | Tool Designer | |
| Average age | 54 | 54 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 95.6% Female, 4.4% | Male, 92.9% Female, 7.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 2.4% Unknown, 2.8% Hispanic or Latino, 6.5% Asian, 2.7% White, 84.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 2.5% Unknown, 2.8% Hispanic or Latino, 6.6% Asian, 2.7% White, 84.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 3% | 3% |