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The differences between quality assurance technicians and manufacturing technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a quality assurance technician, becoming a manufacturing technician takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a quality assurance technician has an average salary of $40,027, which is higher than the $37,853 average annual salary of a manufacturing technician.
The top three skills for a quality assurance technician include food safety, GMP and lab equipment. The most important skills for a manufacturing technician are GMP, continuous improvement, and hand tools.
| Quality Assurance Technician | Manufacturing Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $40,027 | $37,853 |
| Hourly rate | $19.24 | $18.20 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 81,534 | 76,490 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 2 |
Quality assurance is an essential part of a company that offers products and services. It is critical that the company's output remains consistent and up to par with community standards. It is the assistant quality assurance manager's role to inspect, monitor, and evaluate the quality of every product. The goal is to establish customer satisfaction and trust. The assistant quality assurance manager works with the head manager and helps generate reports of daily activities for executive evaluations.
A manufacturing technician, or often called a manufacturing production technician, is an individual who is responsible for setting and testing manufacturing machinery or equipment. To set up the machines, manufacturing technicians will use electronic, electrical, mechanical, or computer technologies. They are responsible for gathering data from their part in the manufacturing process and reporting it to their production or manufacturing engineers. When handling machines or equipment, manufacturing technicians must strictly follow their health and safety procedures and protocols.
Quality assurance technicians and manufacturing technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Technician | Manufacturing Technician | |
| Average salary | $40,027 | $37,853 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $60,000 | Between $27,000 And $52,000 |
| Highest paying City | Baltimore, MD | Framingham, MA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | SMTC | Qorvo |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance technician and a manufacturing technician in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Technician | Manufacturing Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Most common major | Biology | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Purdue University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between quality assurance technicians' and manufacturing technicians' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Technician | Manufacturing Technician | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.6% Female, 42.4% | Male, 74.4% Female, 25.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 8.2% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 8.9% White, 59.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |