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The differences between senior mechanical designers and mechanical design drafters can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a senior mechanical designer, becoming a mechanical design drafter takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a senior mechanical designer has an average salary of $103,765, which is higher than the $58,371 average annual salary of a mechanical design drafter.
The top three skills for a senior mechanical designer include CAD, mechanical design and GD. The most important skills for a mechanical design drafter are design layouts, creo, and assembly drawings.
| Senior Mechanical Designer | Mechanical Design Drafter | |
| Yearly salary | $103,765 | $58,371 |
| Hourly rate | $49.89 | $28.06 |
| Growth rate | 2% | -3% |
| Number of jobs | 71,958 | 54,189 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Associate Degree, 56% |
| Average age | 41 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
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.
Mechanical design drafter develops detailed mechanical equipment designs and specifications needed for assembly and modifies them to repair defects and to minimize problems in the production. He/she often works with architects and engineers either in an office or via job sites with hands-on experience in computer-aided design (CAD) software and building processes, visual aptitude, and mathematical skills. However, the demand for drafters tempered as CAD and building information modeling (BIM) technologies allows architects and engineers to perform tasks that are usually done by a mechanical design drafter.
Senior mechanical designers and mechanical design drafters have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Mechanical Designer | Mechanical Design Drafter | |
| Average salary | $103,765 | $58,371 |
| Salary range | Between $81,000 And $131,000 | Between $45,000 And $75,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Fremont, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Salt River Project | |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior mechanical designer and a mechanical design drafter in terms of educational background:
| Senior Mechanical Designer | Mechanical Design Drafter | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Associate Degree, 56% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Drafting And Design |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between senior mechanical designers' and mechanical design drafters' demographics:
| Senior Mechanical Designer | Mechanical Design Drafter | |
| Average age | 41 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 94.1% Female, 5.9% | Male, 87.7% Female, 12.3% |
| 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, 3.0% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 5.7% White, 73.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 6% |