Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between service engineers and maintenance engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a service engineer, becoming a maintenance engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a service engineer has an average salary of $87,151, which is higher than the $47,133 average annual salary of a maintenance engineer.
The top three skills for a service engineer include customer service, infrastructure and cloud. The most important skills for a maintenance engineer are plumbing, HVAC, and guest rooms.
| Service Engineer | Maintenance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $87,151 | $47,133 |
| Hourly rate | $41.90 | $22.66 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 143,806 | 97,957 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 48% |
| Average age | 41 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A service engineer is responsible for assisting the customers' concerns regarding the products and services offered by the company through technical support solutions. Service engineers conduct preventive maintenance, upgrade systems to boost optimal performance, create product manuals, record the occurring issues, perform adjustments on the systems infrastructure, identify business opportunities to generate more revenues, and analyze current market trends to meet client demands. A service engineer must have excellent communication skills, including extensive knowledge of the technology industry and network systems.
A maintenance engineer is responsible for the maintenance of industrial machinery and inspects equipment defects for immediate troubleshooting or replacement as needed. Maintenance engineers install and upgrade system components to improve system optimization and perform diagnostic systems to locate any adjustments. They also conduct routine checks, assist clients with technical faults, and ensure that the equipment works safely for certain operations. A maintenance engineer must have excellent knowledge of the mechanical industry to address technical malfunctions immediately.
Service engineers and maintenance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Engineer | Maintenance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $87,151 | $47,133 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $122,000 | Between $29,000 And $74,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | Halliburton |
| Best paying industry | Technology | - |
There are a few differences between a service engineer and a maintenance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Service Engineer | Maintenance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 48% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | - |
Here are the differences between service engineers' and maintenance engineers' demographics:
| Service Engineer | Maintenance Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.8% Female, 8.2% | Male, 94.6% Female, 5.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 13.2% White, 69.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 4.4% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 2% |