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The differences between repair technicians and equipment technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a repair technician has an average salary of $41,643, which is higher than the $41,004 average annual salary of an equipment technician.
The top three skills for a repair technician include customer service, hand tools and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for an equipment technician are preventative maintenance, patients, and equipment maintenance.
| Repair Technician | Equipment Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $41,643 | $41,004 |
| Hourly rate | $20.02 | $19.71 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 162,051 | 127,258 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 38% | Associate Degree, 39% |
| Average age | 47 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
A repair technician's role focuses on assessing the problem or damage of a device and implementing solutions for it to function again. Although the extent of a technician's tasks will depend on the device or industry of employment, most of it revolves around troubleshooting, providing technical support, installing and writing programs, detaching and re-attaching wirings, welding, and even thoroughly discussing problems and solutions to clients. Furthermore, there are instances when a repair technician must work in a team setting that requires coordination and communication.
An equipment technician is responsible for handling the operations of company equipment and machinery, inspecting for any malfunctions, and immediately repairing defective components to prevent delays in productivity. Equipment technicians create a report of system failures, referencing documentation to develop consistency with the equipment, and suggest corrective actions. They should also analyze schematics and blueprints for guides on how to maintain the equipment's reliability. An equipment technician must have excellent knowledge of the mechanical industry, especially on enhancing equipment's performance and maximizing operational productivity.
Repair technicians and equipment technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Repair Technician | Equipment Technician | |
| Average salary | $41,643 | $41,004 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $63,000 | Between $29,000 And $56,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | California |
| Best paying company | SoCalGas | Westinghouse Appliances Australia |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Construction |
There are a few differences between a repair technician and an equipment technician in terms of educational background:
| Repair Technician | Equipment Technician | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 38% | Associate Degree, 39% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | - | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between repair technicians' and equipment technicians' demographics:
| Repair Technician | Equipment Technician | |
| Average age | 47 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.3% Female, 11.7% | Male, 89.4% Female, 10.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 4.6% White, 60.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 2.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 6.0% White, 69.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 2% | 9% |