Outside plant technician vs plant technician

The differences between outside plant technicians and plant technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a plant technician has an average salary of $46,164, which is higher than the $42,451 average annual salary of an outside plant technician.

The top three skills for an outside plant technician include ladders, outside plant and CDL. The most important skills for a plant technician are preventive maintenance, ladders, and data collection.

Outside plant technician vs plant technician overview

	Outside Plant Technician	Plant Technician
Yearly salary	$42,451	$46,164
Hourly rate	$20.41	$22.19
Growth rate	8%	5%
Number of jobs	67,234	146,543
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age	45	47
Years of experience	-	4

Outside plant technician vs plant technician salary

Outside plant technicians and plant technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Outside Plant Technician	Plant Technician
Average salary	$42,451	$46,164
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $61,000	Between $31,000 And $67,000
Highest paying City	-	Kent, WA
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	BP America Inc
Best paying industry	-	Utilities

Differences between outside plant technician and plant technician education

There are a few differences between an outside plant technician and a plant technician in terms of educational background:

	Outside Plant Technician	Plant Technician
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	-

Outside plant technician vs plant technician demographics

Here are the differences between outside plant technicians' and plant technicians' demographics:

	Outside Plant Technician	Plant Technician
Average age	45	47
Gender ratio	Male, 96.8% Female, 3.2%	Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 14.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 6.2% White, 56.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 4.6% White, 60.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	2%

Differences between outside plant technician and plant technician duties and responsibilities

Outside plant technician example responsibilities.

Manage and administer documentation of OSP fiber optic plant in support of customer projects, network planning, and municipality requirements.
Move and/or lift items such as ladders, tools, air tanks, cable reels, and test equipment
Install residential and business telephone lines, including premise CAT5 wiring and jack work.
Perform construction work such as digging holes, installing inner duct in various types of conduit systems and open excavations.
Organize projects that include open excavations, placing cables, air pipes and inner duct in various types of conduit systems.
Install and repair T1 and T3 systems.

Plant technician example responsibilities.

Manage documentation on all USDA and HACCP forms.
Perform and manage routine building maintenance tasks, including carpentry, electrical, plumbing, and general maintenance.
Maintain numerous automate scripts to assist in managing Linux systems.
Used spectrophotometers, pH meters, and centrifuges.
Experience working with extruders, film manufacturing and processing.
Follow all company safety rules and good manufacturing practices (GMP's )

Outside plant technician vs plant technician skills

Common outside plant technician skills

Ladders, 10%
Outside Plant, 10%
CDL, 8%
Test Equipment, 6%
Safety Procedures, 6%
OSHA, 5%

Common plant technician skills

Preventive Maintenance, 9%
Ladders, 9%
Data Collection, 8%
Electrical Troubleshooting, 7%
Troubleshoot, 6%
Math, 6%

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Installation, Maintenance and Repair Industry
Outside Plant Technician
Outside Plant Technician vs Plant Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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