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Museum assistant vs museum technician

The differences between museum assistants and museum 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 museum assistant and a museum technician. Additionally, a museum technician has an average salary of $40,953, which is higher than the $40,072 average annual salary of a museum assistant.

The top three skills for a museum assistant include museum exhibits, front desk and museum visitors. The most important skills for a museum technician are collections database, museum collection, and artifact.

Museum assistant vs museum technician overview

Museum AssistantMuseum Technician
Yearly salary$40,072$40,953
Hourly rate$19.27$19.69
Growth rate12%12%
Number of jobs5225,697
Job satisfaction-3
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 77%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

Museum assistant vs museum technician salary

Museum assistants and museum technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Museum AssistantMuseum Technician
Average salary$40,072$40,953
Salary rangeBetween $23,000 And $67,000Between $24,000 And $67,000
Highest paying City-Washington, DC
Highest paying state-Delaware
Best paying company-Smithsonian Institution
Best paying industry--

Differences between museum assistant and museum technician education

There are a few differences between a museum assistant and a museum technician in terms of educational background:

Museum AssistantMuseum Technician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 77%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common majorFine ArtsHistory
Most common collegeHarvard UniversityHarvard University

Museum assistant vs museum technician demographics

Here are the differences between museum assistants' and museum technicians' demographics:

Museum AssistantMuseum Technician
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 34.5% Female, 65.5%Male, 39.0% Female, 61.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 7.4% Asian, 5.1% White, 76.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%Black or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.4% Asian, 5.2% White, 76.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage13%13%

Differences between museum assistant and museum technician duties and responsibilities

Museum assistant example responsibilities.

  • Aid development and implementation of NPS cataloging standards.
  • Participate in re-cataloging projects involving artifact research, condition assessment, and storage planning.
  • Assist in training fellow employees in NPS museum cataloging methodology.
  • Conduct back-room tours in the department of anthropology for invite visitors.
  • Maintain archival museum and fossil preparation records and treatment folders, transferring information to NPS archives catalog system.
  • Research and document descriptions about each artifact.
  • Show more

Museum technician example responsibilities.

  • Assist with planning, designing, and prototyping new exhibits.
  • Prepare daily animal diets and perform cleaning duties to USDA and AZA standards.
  • Perform an array of prototyping, fabrication, assembly, integration, and installation of exhibits.
  • Organize and catalog anthropology, mineral science and paleobiology collections.
  • Create and run excel macros on ceramic artifacts providing statistical analysis data.
  • Create and run excel macros on ceramic artifacts providing statistical analysis data.

Museum assistant vs museum technician skills

Common museum assistant skills
  • Museum Exhibits, 17%
  • Front Desk, 8%
  • Museum Visitors, 8%
  • Museum Events, 6%
  • Educational Programs, 6%
  • Press Releases, 4%
Common museum technician skills
  • Collections Database, 11%
  • Museum Collection, 11%
  • Artifact, 11%
  • NPS, 9%
  • Pest Management, 8%
  • Cataloging, 8%

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