Optical laboratory technician vs prescription eyeglass maker

The differences between optical laboratory technicians and prescription eyeglass makers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an optical laboratory technician and a prescription eyeglass maker. Additionally, a prescription eyeglass maker has an average salary of $46,581, which is higher than the $32,926 average annual salary of an optical laboratory technician.

Optical laboratory technician vs prescription eyeglass maker overview

	Optical Laboratory Technician	Prescription Eyeglass Maker
Yearly salary	$32,926	$46,581
Hourly rate	$15.83	$22.39
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	40,155	7,127
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 30%	High School Diploma, 100%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

Optical laboratory technician vs prescription eyeglass maker salary

Optical laboratory technicians and prescription eyeglass makers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Optical Laboratory Technician	Prescription Eyeglass Maker
Average salary	$32,926	$46,581
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $42,000	Between $24,000 And $89,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between optical laboratory technician and prescription eyeglass maker education

There are a few differences between an optical laboratory technician and a prescription eyeglass maker in terms of educational background:

	Optical Laboratory Technician	Prescription Eyeglass Maker
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 30%	High School Diploma, 100%
Most common major	Business	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	-	-

Optical laboratory technician vs prescription eyeglass maker demographics

Here are the differences between optical laboratory technicians' and prescription eyeglass makers' demographics:

	Optical Laboratory Technician	Prescription Eyeglass Maker
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 54.9% Female, 45.1%	Male, 85.7% Female, 14.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.9% Asian, 9.3% White, 56.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 5.2% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 10.0% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between optical laboratory technician and prescription eyeglass maker duties and responsibilities

Optical laboratory technician example responsibilities.

Manage filing, scanning & shredding important medical documents in office due to HIPAA privacy laws.
Maintain coating quality using adhesion testing and spectrophotometers, and manage coating hues and reflectance adjustments.
Perform in house testing, controls, correlations, proficiency testing, NCS, PVDT, and EKG.
Transmit orders via POS to the lab.
Perform EKGS by placement of electrodes and gathering the EKG readings.
Verify orders, answer phones, and ensure compliance with HIPAA regulations.

Prescription eyeglass maker example responsibilities.

Communicate medical concepts to patients using layman's terms to facilitate understanding.
Drive for OEE (operating equipment efficiencies), monitor and execute actions to maintain high process performance and gross throughput.

Optical laboratory technician vs prescription eyeglass maker skills

Common optical laboratory technician skills

Equipment Maintenance, 59%
Prescription Glasses, 9%
Dexterity, 5%
Data Entry, 5%
Patients, 4%
Inventory Control, 3%

Common prescription eyeglass maker skills

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Optical Laboratory Technician
Optical Laboratory Technician vs Prescription Eyeglass Maker

Updated January 8, 2025

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