Senior design drafter vs tool design drafter

The differences between senior design drafters and tool design drafters can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a senior design drafter and a tool design drafter. Additionally, a tool design drafter has an average salary of $60,965, which is higher than the $50,329 average annual salary of a senior design drafter.

The top three skills for a senior design drafter include engineering drawings, aided design and assembly drawings. The most important skills for a tool design drafter are CAD, engineering drawings, and autocad.

Senior design drafter vs tool design drafter overview

	Senior Design Drafter	Tool Design Drafter
Yearly salary	$50,329	$60,965
Hourly rate	$24.20	$29.31
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	37,776	45,672
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 71%	Associate Degree, 70%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	4	4

Senior design drafter vs tool design drafter salary

Senior design drafters and tool design drafters have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Design Drafter	Tool Design Drafter
Average salary	$50,329	$60,965
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $74,000	Between $43,000 And $84,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between senior design drafter and tool design drafter education

There are a few differences between a senior design drafter and a tool design drafter in terms of educational background:

	Senior Design Drafter	Tool Design Drafter
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 71%	Associate Degree, 70%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Drafting And Design
Most common college	LeTourneau University	Northwestern University

Senior design drafter vs tool design drafter demographics

Here are the differences between senior design drafters' and tool design drafters' demographics:

	Senior Design Drafter	Tool Design Drafter
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 82.5% Female, 17.5%	Male, 86.5% Female, 13.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 5.7% White, 73.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 5.7% White, 73.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between senior design drafter and tool design drafter duties and responsibilities

Senior design drafter example responsibilities.

Develop custom macros for SolidWorks to automate many redundant processes.
Create design layouts, parts drawings and assembly drawings using Solidworks.
Check drawings accordingly to ANSI Y14.5.
Produce drawing changes through ECO process.
Provide drafting support to the HVAC engineering team.
Organize and file drawing file according to company's PDM system (Windhill).

Tool design drafter example responsibilities.

Manage the ECN process by assigning the highest priority requests through coordination between engineering staff and drafting personnel.
Transfer data electronically and manipulate product data files in Unigraphics NX9.
Assist engineers with ECOs and ECRs occasionally.
Use ACAD to create/modify installation diagrams for manufacturing.

Senior design drafter vs tool design drafter skills

Common senior design drafter skills

Engineering Drawings, 10%
Aided Design, 8%
Assembly Drawings, 6%
GD, 6%
Autodesk, 5%
Design Drawings, 5%

Common tool design drafter skills

CAD, 51%
Engineering Drawings, 39%
Autocad, 10%

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Senior Design Drafter
Senior Design Drafter vs Tool Design Drafter

Updated January 8, 2025

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