Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between service mechanics and shop technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a service mechanic and a shop technician. Additionally, a service mechanic has an average salary of $47,240, which is higher than the $36,798 average annual salary of a shop technician.
The top three skills for a service mechanic include customer service, preventative maintenance and hydraulic systems. The most important skills for a shop technician are preventative maintenance, routine maintenance, and diagnosis.
| Service Mechanic | Shop Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $47,240 | $36,798 |
| Hourly rate | $22.71 | $17.69 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 116,383 | 150,349 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 36% | High School Diploma, 30% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A service mechanic, or often known as a service technician, is an individual who inspects, maintains, and repairs cars and light trucks. Service mechanics must identify the vehicle's problems by using computerized diagnostic equipment and test parts and systems to ensure that they work properly. They must perform basic vehicular care and maintenance such as changing oil, checking fluid levels, and rotating tires. Service mechanics should also explain automotive problems to customers and perform repairs according to the manufacturer ad customer specifications.
Shop Technicians are skilled workers assigned to a retail store. Their main activities depend on the nature of the business their company is in. Usually, Shop Technicians work with machines in the shop. They conduct repair and maintenance work for machines that have long been in the shop. They are also in charge of installing and building new machines as well. Shop Technicians are assigned to manage records of such machines or s other mechanical items in the store. This is part of the administrative activities they may do for the shop.
Service mechanics and shop technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Mechanic | Shop Technician | |
| Average salary | $47,240 | $36,798 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $66,000 | Between $25,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Jose, CA | San Leandro, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Sandia National Labs | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Energy |
There are a few differences between a service mechanic and a shop technician in terms of educational background:
| Service Mechanic | Shop Technician | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 36% | High School Diploma, 30% |
| Most common major | Automotive Technology | Automotive Technology |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between service mechanics' and shop technicians' demographics:
| Service Mechanic | Shop Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 96.8% Female, 3.2% | Male, 91.9% Female, 8.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 2.4% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 2.4% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 2% | 2% |