Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between service technicians and repair technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a service technician, becoming a repair technician takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a repair technician has an average salary of $41,643, which is higher than the $40,379 average annual salary of a service technician.
The top three skills for a service technician include plumbing, customer service and preventative maintenance. The most important skills for a repair technician are customer service, hand tools, and customer satisfaction.
| Service Technician | Repair Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $40,379 | $41,643 |
| Hourly rate | $19.41 | $20.02 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 254,533 | 162,051 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 29% | Associate Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 4 |
Service technicians are assigned in the field to address the concerns of their clients. Service technicians are responsible for the installation, maintenance, or repair of different units or items related to their company's products or services. They should be familiar with their company's products so that they can properly install, maintain, or repair them. They conduct diagnostics and analysis to assess the condition of the unit they are servicing and properly address problems. They also do routine maintenance check-ups. Service technicians are expected to be trustworthy, have good analytical skills, and have good decision-making skills.
A repair technician's role focuses on assessing the problem or damage of a device and implementing solutions for it to function again. Although the extent of a technician's tasks will depend on the device or industry of employment, most of it revolves around troubleshooting, providing technical support, installing and writing programs, detaching and re-attaching wirings, welding, and even thoroughly discussing problems and solutions to clients. Furthermore, there are instances when a repair technician must work in a team setting that requires coordination and communication.
Service technicians and repair technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Technician | Repair Technician | |
| Average salary | $40,379 | $41,643 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $57,000 | Between $27,000 And $63,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | IBM | SoCalGas |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a service technician and a repair technician in terms of educational background:
| Service Technician | Repair Technician | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 29% | Associate Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Business | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between service technicians' and repair technicians' demographics:
| Service Technician | Repair Technician | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.2% Female, 10.8% | Male, 88.3% Female, 11.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.1% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 1.7% White, 72.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 4.6% White, 60.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 1% | 2% |