Senior drafter vs mechanical designer

The differences between senior drafters and mechanical designers 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 designer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a mechanical designer has an average salary of $62,541, 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 designer are mechanical design, revit, and auto cad.

Senior drafter vs mechanical designer overview

	Senior Drafter	Mechanical Designer
Yearly salary	$44,988	$62,541
Hourly rate	$21.63	$30.07
Growth rate	-3%	2%
Number of jobs	3,189	65,748
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 61%	Associate Degree, 51%
Average age	45	41
Years of experience	12	6

Senior drafter vs mechanical designer salary

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

	Senior Drafter	Mechanical Designer
Average salary	$44,988	$62,541
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $60,000	Between $46,000 And $83,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	Massachusetts
Best paying company	-	Apple
Best paying industry	-	Energy

Differences between senior drafter and mechanical designer education

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

	Senior Drafter	Mechanical Designer
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 61%	Associate Degree, 51%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Drafting And Design
Most common college	Carnegie Mellon University	Carnegie Mellon University

Senior drafter vs mechanical designer demographics

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

	Senior Drafter	Mechanical Designer
Average age	45	41
Gender ratio	Male, 75.4% Female, 24.6%	Male, 89.1% Female, 10.9%
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, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 10.5% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	6%	5%

Differences between senior drafter and mechanical designer 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 designer example responsibilities.

Work with JPL / NASA packaging and fabrication engineering leads (on-site).
Manage documentation of existing projects, perform ECN resolutions.
Produce REVIT models for the mechanical department o HVAC sheet metal and HVAC piping.
Develop company's AutoCAD customize menu, prepare cad department logistics, organize and staff cad department.
Apply mechanical engineering design and manufacturing expertise to develop MR and XR medical imaging devices utilizing AutoCAD.
Experience with ASME and ANSI codes.

Senior drafter vs mechanical designer skills

Common senior drafter skills

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

Common mechanical designer skills

Mechanical Design, 8%
Revit, 7%
Auto CAD, 6%
HVAC, 5%
Engineering Drawings, 4%
Creo, 4%