Prototype technician vs bench technician

The differences between prototype technicians and bench technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a prototype technician and a bench technician. Additionally, a prototype technician has an average salary of $45,071, which is higher than the $41,317 average annual salary of a bench technician.

The top three skills for a prototype technician include CAD, hand tools and CNC. The most important skills for a bench technician are troubleshoot, PC, and windows.

Prototype technician vs bench technician overview

	Prototype Technician	Bench Technician
Yearly salary	$45,071	$41,317
Hourly rate	$21.67	$19.86
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	48,310	79,375
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 38%	Associate Degree, 55%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	12	12

Prototype technician vs bench technician salary

Prototype technicians and bench technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Prototype Technician	Bench Technician
Average salary	$45,071	$41,317
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $58,000	Between $29,000 And $57,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between prototype technician and bench technician education

There are a few differences between a prototype technician and a bench technician in terms of educational background:

	Prototype Technician	Bench Technician
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 38%	Associate Degree, 55%
Most common major	Automotive Technology	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Purdue University	Northeastern University

Prototype technician vs bench technician demographics

Here are the differences between prototype technicians' and bench technicians' demographics:

	Prototype Technician	Bench Technician
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 87.3% Female, 12.7%	Male, 89.4% Female, 10.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 8.0% White, 70.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 8.0% White, 70.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between prototype technician and bench technician duties and responsibilities

Prototype technician example responsibilities.

Manage and distribute cad standards to contributing design consultants and assist with any design issues as necessary.
Wire and solder all connections to FDA standards.
Finish SLA and SLS parts for mold development.
Experience in reading micrometers, calipers, and blueprints.
Assist purchasing department in outside vendor (PCB fabrication) operations
Use precision measuring tools including calipers, gages, and torques.

Bench technician example responsibilities.

Lead small teams in the development and installation of residential and commercial electrical and HVAC systems to include smart home systems.
Trouble-shoot and repair all boards to component level using oscilloscopes DMM's and spectrum analyzers.
Place fine pitch IC's and other parts as needed.
Repair pads and trace connectors on modems.
Repair and replace components within all iPhone models.
Experience reworking fine pitch devices and BGA components.

Prototype technician vs bench technician skills

Common prototype technician skills

CAD, 11%
Hand Tools, 10%
CNC, 7%
Prototyping, 6%
Calipers, 6%
Autoclaves, 6%

Common bench technician skills

Troubleshoot, 13%
PC, 8%
Windows, 6%
Circuit Boards, 6%
Test Equipment, 5%
Component Level Repair, 4%

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Prototype Technician vs Bench Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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