Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between senior mechanical designers and design engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a senior mechanical designer and a design engineer. Additionally, a senior mechanical designer has an average salary of $103,765, which is higher than the $77,134 average annual salary of a design engineer.
The top three skills for a senior mechanical designer include CAD, mechanical design and GD. The most important skills for a design engineer are C++, UL, and project management.
| Senior Mechanical Designer | Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $103,765 | $77,134 |
| Hourly rate | $49.89 | $37.08 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 71,958 | 138,173 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A Senior Mechanical Designer is responsible for creating effective mechanical designs for their company and developing mechanical concepts in accordance with project requirements. They assist the engineering manager in coaching other mechanical engineers to develop design skills.
A design engineer is responsible for creating systems and applications based on their expertise. Design engineers work through client specifications based on business needs. A design engineer also provides recommendations on improving existing systems to boost its performance and increase efficiency. Design engineers must have an excellent command of computer systems, programming codes, and technical data to ensure the system's stability and high-quality processes. A design engineer should also have strong analytical and time-management skills to perform tasks and meet deadlines.
Senior mechanical designers and design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Mechanical Designer | Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $103,765 | $77,134 |
| Salary range | Between $81,000 And $131,000 | Between $57,000 And $102,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior mechanical designer and a design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Mechanical Designer | Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior mechanical designers' and design engineers' demographics:
| Senior Mechanical Designer | Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 94.1% Female, 5.9% | Male, 88.9% Female, 11.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 11.4% White, 71.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |