Senior drafter vs mechanical design drafter

The differences between senior drafters and mechanical design drafters can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a senior drafter, becoming a mechanical design drafter takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a mechanical design drafter has an average salary of $58,371, which is higher than the $44,988 average annual salary of a senior drafter.

The top three skills for a senior drafter include autocad, layout drawings and cad standards. The most important skills for a mechanical design drafter are design layouts, creo, and assembly drawings.

Senior drafter vs mechanical design drafter overview

	Senior Drafter	Mechanical Design Drafter
Yearly salary	$44,988	$58,371
Hourly rate	$21.63	$28.06
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	3,189	54,189
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 61%	Associate Degree, 56%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	12	4

Senior drafter vs mechanical design drafter salary

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

	Senior Drafter	Mechanical Design Drafter
Average salary	$44,988	$58,371
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $60,000	Between $45,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City	-	Fremont, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Salt River Project
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between senior drafter and mechanical design drafter education

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

	Senior Drafter	Mechanical Design Drafter
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 61%	Associate Degree, 56%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Drafting And Design
Most common college	Carnegie Mellon University	Northwestern University

Senior drafter vs mechanical design drafter demographics

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

	Senior Drafter	Mechanical Design Drafter
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6%	Male, 87.7% Female, 12.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 7.0% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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 drafter and mechanical design drafter duties and responsibilities

Senior drafter example responsibilities.

Manage the design history of 3D part models, assemblies, and drawings using PDM software.
Produce design and construction drawings electrical and HVAC departments for commercial and residential projects per applicable national codes and regulations.
Create BIM design from concept.
Detail and draft structures in Revit.
Maintain an engineering change notice (ECN) system.
Design HVAC and plumbing layouts on existing architectural xrefs.

Mechanical design drafter example responsibilities.

Calculate requirements and manage HVAC systems, including design, development, compliance, testing, troubleshooting and repair.
Incorporate ECO's to update and revise the drawings and BOM's on military aircraft antenna test equipment.
Generate ECR's and ECN's to accommodate customer's requirements.
Convert 2D drawings into 3D assemblies that can be include into SolidWork's PDM environment.
Train manufacturing employees on CNC tube benders and how to utilize manufacturing jig and fixtures.
Supervise 8-member shop including : 2 CNC lathes , 2 manual lathes , 1 milling machine and 3 motor technicians.

Senior drafter vs mechanical design drafter skills

Common senior drafter skills

Autocad, 25%
Layout Drawings, 7%
CAD Standards, 5%
Engineering Drawings, 4%
Aided Design, 4%
Revit, 4%

Common mechanical design drafter skills

Design Layouts, 6%
Creo, 6%
Assembly Drawings, 6%
Aided Design, 5%
GD, 5%
Auto CAD, 4%

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Senior Drafter vs Mechanical Design Drafter

Updated January 8, 2025

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